Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Halloween Weekend Haunts Comic Shop

Events all weekend long at Challengers Comics + Conversation!



(Chicago IL, October 20 2009) Challengers Comics’ Halloween Spooktacular starts the weekend of October 24th 2009. Fun for all ages begins Saturday at noon with an event featuring Scary Godmother creator Jill Thompson. Ms. Thompson will be signing copies of her brand new comic series Beasts of Burden as well as any of her other books, doing full color sketches, and best of all, she’ll be hosting an all-ages read-along for her book Magic Trixie vol.1 as this month’s ChallengeJuniors read-along event. On Sunday, October 25th, pumpkin carving will begin at noon. Special guest, pumpkin carving master Joel Querbin will be on hand to teach everyone how it’s done. Pumpkins and carving tools will be available for $10 so you can simply come and join the fun. Challengers Comics is located at 1845 N. Western Ave #2R, Chicago, IL 60647.

Tricks, treats and goodies will be handed out at both events. All of Jill Thompson’s full color sketches will benefit PAWS Chicago. Costumes are encouraged on the 24th as the staff will be costumed as well! If you plan to attend the pumpkin carving Sunday event please send an rsvp to patrick@challengerscomics.com so Challengers will know how many pumpkins to have on hand.

To see more about Challengers Comics visit www.challengerscomics.com. To be added to their mailing list for events and news email patrick@challengerscomics.com. As always Challengers encourages frequent and lively conversation on comics as an art form as well as entertainment.

About Challengers Comics + Conversation:

Challengers Comics + Conversation, voted Best Comic Book Store in 2009 by Chicago Magazine, opened their doors in April 2008 with the goal to run a store that puts community back into comic book buying and to show that comic books are an exciting and viable art form. Owners W. Dal Bush and Patrick Brower have been life long friends and comic book fans and have a combined 36 years of comic retail experience between them. Challengers is a place to gather, to communicate and to enjoy to comic books as an art form.

Challengers Comics – Challenge yourself! – www.challengercomics.com

About Jill Thompson:


Jill Thompson is the most well-known female comic book artist working in the comics industry today. She has worked for nearly every comic book publisher there is. Her works include Wonder Woman, Swamp Thing and the award winning Sandman. Thompson’s own creation Scary Godmother has reached every home in America with the TV adaptation produced by Mainframe Entertainment. To see her website visit www.jillthompsonart.com .
THE ANCHOR #1
SELLS OUT
IN LESS THAN ONE WEEK!



GOES TO SECOND PRINTING



October 20th, 2009 - Los Angeles, CA - BOOM! Studios is proud to announce today that THE ANCHOR #1 has sold out in less than one week.

Fans should keep in mind, while Diamond Comic Distributors is completely sold out, first printings of THE ANCHOR #1 may still be found at a direct market retailer near you.

The second printing of THE ANCHOR #1 is available to order immediately through BOOM!’s new relationship with Haven Distributors, and is also immediately available to order through Diamond Comic Distributors. Haven Distributors will have THE ANCHOR #1 available to ship to retailers next week, while Diamond orders will hit retailers at the end of November.

The second print of THE ANCHOR #1 carries a Diamond Code of SEP098046 and a Haven Code of ANCHBOO001A.

THE ANCHOR #1 second print features a negative variant of Rafael Albuquerque's B cover for issue one.

Hitting store shelves last week, THE ANCHOR #1 has garnered numerous accolades from critics across all spectrums:
“Don't you just love when a new comic you've been looking forward to finally come out...and exceeds all your high hopes?" – Project Fanboy

"This is a great read, quick to get through, yet immense in it's imagery. BOOM! Studios has been putting out some quality work, which, for being such a young company, is awesome. I've begun to look forward more to what they're putting out next than what larger companies are doing with their established characters. Keep it coming!"– Comics Bulletin

"If you're looking for something new I highly recommend you check out the Anchor #1" – Cammy's Comic Corner

“...quite effective...” – Eye On Comics


THE ANCHOR #1 features the first installment of this epic ongoing series written by Phil Hester, with ominous interior art by Brian Churilla. The first printing shipped with two covers in a 50/50 split and a third cover that was offered as a 1-in-10 incentive.

This past month, BOOM! Studios announced that in addition to Diamond carrying BOOM!'s second prints, Haven Distributors will also be carrying all BOOM! second prints. Retailers needing more information on how to order from Haven Distributors can call 1-877-HAVEN-50 or sign up on their website here: http://www.havendistro.com/retailers.html

About BOOM! Studios
BOOM! Studios (www.boom-studios.com) is a unique publishing house specializing in high-profile projects across a wide variety of different genres from some of the industry's biggest talents, including Philip K. Dick's DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP?, The Henson Company's FARSCAPE, and the original Mark Waid series IRREDEEMABLE. BOOM! recently launched its youth imprint, BOOM! Kids, with Pixar's THE INCREDIBLES, CARS, and TOY STORY, as well as Disney's THE MUPPETS. This year, BOOM! Studios celebrates its fourth anniversary.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

PRESS RELEASE - PRE-RELEASE BUZZ EXPLODES COWBOY NINJA VIKING INTO AN ONGOING SERIES!
Image Comics' highly anticipated mini-series of insane proportions goes ongoing due to pre-release reception!

20 October 2009 (Berkeley, CA) - On the verge of COWBOY NINJA VIKING's debut, Image Comics announces writer AJ Lieberman and artist Riley Rossmo's highly anticipated action-packed mini-series with a multiple personality twist will expand to regular ongoing series!

"Even before its release, COWBOY NINJA VIKING has seen a reception much like CHEW's explosive launch, making it evident writer AJ Lieberman and artist Riley Rossmo shouldn't be contained to a mere four issues," Image Comics Vice President Jim Valentino said. "In a time where it's very hard to launch an all-new title, the pre-release buzz for this book has been massive. We're extremely excited to keep it going for a long time coming. Considering we've had to already double our print run to meet demand, we think the fans will highly enjoy the now ongoing series."

COWBOY NINJA VIKING is the birth child of Doctor Sebastian Ghislain, a psychotherapist who recruits Multiple Personality Disorder patients to create a unit of counter-intelligence agents called the Triplets. But what happens when those guys become out of control assassins? That’s when the deadliest Triplet of them all, COWBOY NINJA VIKING, is called in to take down his own brethren. In order to ensure the timely schedule, the series will ship in monthly arcs with two month gaps in between each storyline.

COWBOY NINJA VIKING #1 (AUG090294), a 24-page full color Golden Age-format comic book for $3.50, will be in stores October 21, 2009.


Image Comics is a comics and graphic novels publisher formed in 1992 by a collective of best-selling artists. Since that time, Image has gone on to become one of the largest comics publishers in the United States. There are currently five partners in Image Comics (Robert Kirkman, Erik Larsen, Todd McFarlane, Marc Silvestri, and Jim Valentino), and Image is currently divided into four major houses (Todd McFarlane Productions, Top Cow Productions, Shadowline, and Image Central). Image comics and graphic novels cover nearly every genre, sub-genre, and style imaginable, offering science fiction, romance, horror, crime fiction, historical fiction, humor, and more by the finest artists and writers working in the medium today. Visit www.imagecomics.com.
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STUDIO 407 INVADES CELLPHONES EVERYWHERE


Comixology will release Studio 407 comics on Comics by comiXology for the iPhone


Hollywood, CA - October 20, 2009 -Studio 407 announced today that it has signed a non-exclusive agreement with comiXology for distribution of three of its titles on the iPhone. The first titles to be released will be Night and Fog, Smuggling Spirits, and Hybrid. The titles will be available through Comics by comiXology this October just in time for Halloween.


“Digital Comics are definitely changing the playing field,” explained Alex Leung, head of Studio 407 Comics. “We have always been on the edge of artistic innovation and this is the natural next step for us.”


The Comics by comiXology app is the market leading comic book store application, and heralds an entirely new comic book publishing and connected commerce model. With the Comics by comiXology app, comic book enthusiasts can read their comics in a format designed to preserve the comic book experience on an iPhone or iPod touch, and locate and connect with local retailers to purchase the printed version of the titles. Through relationships with comic book retailers, Comics by comiXology will increase both digital and print sales of comics and deliver a powerful mobile marketing tool for comic book publishers and retailers. Comics by comiXology offers a “guided view” that keeps the entire page of a comic intact, unlike other solutions where the page is cut into individual pictures the user browses like a photo application.


“One of the game-changing elements of our platform is the wide distribution of smaller publishers that have professional work that deserve a second look,” said David Steinberger, CEO of comiXology. “Studio 407 has great books, and we’re very happy to be able to provide them this avenue to reach a new audience.”
To view the Comics by comiXology application store visit http://itunes.com/apps/Comics. To see more of the products from Studio 407 you can visit www.studio-407.com. Retailers should email info@studio-407.com to get the release information mailing list.
Images for use with this press release can be found here: www.sphinxgroup.com/id41.html

About comiXology: Since 2007 comiXology. has been working to expose more people to the world of comics, through comiXology.com and related applications. ComiX ology.com, brick-and-mortar comic book retailer tools, iPhone and Blackberry apps and digital comics are all connected through the comiXology platform.

About Studio 407: Studio 407 brings together the imagination and creative talents of writers and artists from North America and Asia to generate a flow of distinct and kinetic East-meets-West entertainment. A writer driven studio that blends innovation with tradition, Studio 407 is dedicated to publishing the highest quality in comics and manga across a wide variety of genres. From capes to kung fu, giant robots to vampires, and secret agents to mad scientists; at Studio 407, we sweat the details. www.Studio-407.com