Friday, June 11, 2010

Tales of Monkey Island® Sails to the

PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3TM) June 15

Telltale Supporting Award-Winning Series’ PlayStation®Network Debut with Special Price

Offer Extended to PC/Mac Versions at www.telltalegames.com



SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – June 11, 2010 – Celebrating the long-awaited release of Tales of Monkey Island on the PlayStation®3 (PS3TM) system, Telltale – a leading independent digital publisher and developer of episodic interactive entertainment – announced today that the entire Tales of Monkey Island five-episode series will be available for $19.99 on PlayStation®Network and on Telltale’s website www.telltalegames.com.



Tales of Monkey Island can be purchased and downloaded in North America from the PlayStation Store at this great price starting June 15, 2010. In celebration of the release, PC and Mac customers can also purchase the full series now from Telltale’s website for $19.99!



“Tales of Monkey Island has been an incredible hit, and we’re excited to bring it to PS3 gamers next week,” says Telltale Senior VP of Marketing Steve Allison. “If you haven’t grabbed Tales of Monkey Island yet, now is a great time.”

Tales of Monkey Island will also be released on PlayStation Network in Europe, with final dates to be announced shortly.





About Tales of Monkey Island

Tales of Monkey Island has proven to be the most successful launch to date of an episodic series for Telltale, Inc. with critics and gamers finding their sea legs and responding positively to the first episodic Monkey Island game. In the tradition of the great old movie serials with cliffhanger endings, Tales of Monkey Island unfolds over five chapters with each episodic installment raising the stakes on Guybrush Threepwood's quest to eradicate the insidious Pox of LeChuck, reunite with his wife and vanquish his arch rival.



About Telltale, Inc.

Telltale is a leading independent digital publisher of interactive stories playable on every major gaming platform. Founded in 2004 by LucasArts veterans with decades of experience, Telltale has quickly become an industry leader, establishing the model for downloadable game seasons and releasing more than 30 games to date. Telltale's titles have won numerous awards including, "Adventure Game of the Year" accolades from publications such as IGN, PC Gamer, GameSpy, and Adventure Gamers, and have been recognized by mainstream outlets ranging from USA Today, to The New York Times to Variety. Telltale currently develops and publishes episodic series on PlayStation®3, PC, Mac, Wii™, Xbox 360™, iPhone and iPad.



About LucasArts

LucasArts, a division of Lucasfilm Entertainment Company Ltd., is a leading developer and publisher of interactive entertainment software worldwide for video game console systems, computers and the Internet. Based in San Francisco, Calif., as well as on the Internet at www.lucasarts.com, LucasArts was created in 1982 by George Lucas to provide an interactive element to his vision of a state-of-the-art, multifaceted entertainment company.

LucasArts and the LucasArts logo are registered trademarks of Lucasfilm Ltd. © 1990-2010 Lucasfilm Entertainment Company Ltd. & ® or TM as indicated. All rights reserved. Telltale and the Telltale Games logo are trademarks of Telltale, Inc.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Telltale Releasing Globally Popular Wallace & Gromit Game to

Celebrate iPad’s International Growth

Crafty inventor and his craftier pet will bring new kind of fun to revolutionary device



SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – June 10, 2010 – Telltale Inc, the leading independent digital publisher and developer of episodic interactive entertainment, today announces a new game for iPad: Wallace & Gromit The Last Resort! Audiences of all ages around the world will soon have the inventive, fun and engaging adventure of Aardman Animations’ Wallace & Gromit at their fingertips with the iPad.



“Each Telltale Wallace & Gromit game is like an interactive film for players to immerse themselves in and guide the on-screen action, solving conundrums and experiencing the story,” said Dan Connors, CEO of Telltale Games. “The iPad is one of the most exciting gaming platforms to design and develop games for as it allows us to bring a unique kind of storytelling and experience to our fans, which they can interact with directly on the vast iPad screen.”



In The Last Resort, Wallace and his faithful pooch Gromit, embark on an ambitious new venture laced with unexpected (and always amusing) complications. When foul weather throws a spanner into their holiday plans, Wallace & Gromit bring the beach to 62 West Wallaby, constructing a makeshift resort (complete with waterslide) — in their basement! It’s a lovely holiday but keeping customers satisfied is tricky business, especially when one of them is clocked on the head by an unknown assailant. It is up to Wallace & Gromit to find the clues and solve the mystery and figure out whodunnit, with a little help from Wallace's latest invention, the Deduct-o-matic (and your iPad!). This family friendly game will be available at the affordable price of $4.99 USD, £2.99 and €3.99.



Wallace & Gromit: The Last Resort will join Telltale’s recently released Sam & Max: The Penal Zone on iPad, which leading journalists have acclaimed as a “must-have” iPad app. Wallace & Gromit is expected to join Sam & Max at the iTunes App Store in the near future.



About Wallace & Gromit

Wallace

An endearing and affable inventor. Ever enthusiastic, Wallace's hair-brained, over-ambitious, yet well intentioned ideas consistently get him and his faithful hound into trouble. A definite penchant for cheese and crackers, not to mention fashionable knitwear!



Gromit

Wallace's long-suffering loyal pooch. Gromit cares greatly for Wallace even though he's often railroaded into his master’s mad-cap plans. Though cultured and sensitive, preferring order and the quiet life, Gromit displays amazing courage and heroism when it comes to getting his master out of self-made scrapes. Always showing astonishing initiative, Gromit is definitely the intelligent one of the pair.



About Telltale, Inc.

Telltale is the first and only studio to release interactive episodic content on a monthly schedule. The studio's landmark Sam & Max series, based on the independent comics by Steve Purcell, paved the way for episodic gaming with two award-winning seasons available on PC and Wii, and coming soon to Xbox LIVE® Arcade. Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People, based on the Homestarrunner.com web cartoons, soon followed as the first episodic series for WiiWare™. Telltale's latest series, Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures, is now releasing monthly on PC and will debut this spring on Xbox LIVE Arcade.



Telltale's other games include two installments in Ubisoft's CSI series, based on the most popular television franchise in the United States, and two games based on the best-selling Bone comics by Jeff Smith. Telltale's games have won numerous awards, including Adventure Game of the Year accolades from publications such as IGN, PC Gamer, GameSpy, and Adventure Gamers, and have been recognized by mainstream outlets ranging from The New York Times to Variety to Playboy. USA Today ranked Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures among five downloadable games to watch for in 2009.



Telltale currently develops and publishes episodic series on PC, Wii, and Xbox 360, with plans to expand to additional platforms and channels in the coming year. For more information, visit http://www.telltalegames.com.



About Aardman

Aardman, based in Bristol (UK), co-founded and run by Peter Lord and David Sproxton, is a world leader in animation. It produces feature films, television series and television commercials for both the domestic and international market. The studio has won over 400 international awards, including 4 Oscars(R).



Aardman's multi-award winning productions are novel, entertaining, brilliantly characterized and full of charm that reflects the unique talent, energy and personal commitment of the very special people who make up the Aardman team. The studio's work is often imitated and yet the company continues to lead the field producing a rare brand of visually stunning and amusing independent and commercial productions. www.aardman.com
FIRST BLOOD AND SECOND CHANCES
Image Comics collects the hard-to-find origin stories of the Perhapanauts

Berkeley, CA - 10 June 2010 - How did Big Foot, a chupacabra, the Mothman and an assortment of other people, human and fantastic alike, become part of an organization dedicated to protecting the world from the strange and terrible creatures that lurk in the dark? THE PERHAPANAUTS, VOL. 0: DARK DAYS by writer Todd Dezago and artist Craig Rousseau will answer that question on September 8, 2010.

THE PERHAPANAUTS, VOL. 0 collects in one massive tome, for the first time, the time-lost tales of the Perhapanauts from their hard-to-find FIRST BLOOD and SECOND CHANCES miniseries! See the origins and early adventures of the most mysterious, thrilling and, at times, hilarious paranormal team in comics! This is where it all started! The book also features several back-up stories and a pin-up gallery by some of the industry's finest!

“Arisa, Big, Choopie, and all the agents of Bedlam had the start somewhere,” states Dezago. “DARK DAYS collects their origin stories with all the action, supernatural crime fighting and humor you expect of THE PERHAPANAUTS! We’re pumped to make these stories accessible to new and old fans alike.”

THE PERHAPANAUTS, VOL. 0: DARK DAYS, a 240-page full color trade paperback for $17.99, will be in stores September 8, 2010.

Image Comics is a comic book and graphic novel publisher founded in 1992 by a collective of best-selling artists. Image has since gone on to become one of the largest comics publishers in the United States. Image currently has five partners: Robert Kirkman, Erik Larsen, Todd McFarlane, Marc Silvestri and Jim Valentino. It consists of four major houses: Todd McFarlane Productions, Top Cow Productions, Shadowline and Image Central. Image publishes comics and graphic novels in nearly every genre, sub-genre, and style imaginable. It offers science fiction, romance, horror, crime fiction, historical fiction, humor and more by the finest artists and writers working in the medium today. For more information, visit www.imagecomics.com.
First Production Still from THE WALKING DEAD

AFTER THE FIRST COURSE
Image Comics' CHEW marks the first quarter of its run with a special 15th issue

Berkeley, CA - 9 June 2010 - CHEW is a certified hit, and to celebrate CHEW's 15th issue, which marks the end of the first quarter of the book's run and hits store shelves September 29, writer John Layman and artist Rob Guillory are thanking fans with a slew of special features.

"We wanted to do something really special for CHEW #15," says Layman. "Honestly, we never thought we'd make it this far, and we wanted to do something above-and-beyond for the fans and retailers who have supported us."

Layman adds, "We're going 60 issues, and CHEW #15 is the quarter mark of the run. This is a big issue in a lot of ways. We introduce the last two remaining major supporting characters in the book, which would be eventful enough. But there are also a couple of shocking events -- one so big, it's really going to fundamentally change the book. So, we thought we'd commemorate the issue with something special. Extra pages. A tri-fold poster cover. And we're giving you all the goodies for $2.99 -- the same price as a regular issue of CHEW!"

"Nothing will be the same after CHEW #15," declares Guillory. "That's not hype. Not a gimmick. The status quo of this book is about to be annihilated."

CHEW #15 is the final chapter of "Just Desserts" and the biggest story in CHEW history, figuratively and literally. As we reach the one-quarter mark of the CHEW run, the last remaining major characters are introduced and an event transpires that is so shocking and unexpected it changes the book forever, fundamentally and irrevocably.

CHEW #15, a full-color 32-page comic book from Image Comics featuring more story pages and a tri-fold poster cover, will be available for $2.99 on September 29, 2010.

Image Comics is a comic book and graphic novel publisher founded in 1992 by a collective of best-selling artists. Image has since gone on to become one of the largest comics publishers in the United States. Image currently has five partners: Robert Kirkman, Erik Larsen, Todd McFarlane, Marc Silvestri and Jim Valentino. It consists of four major houses: Todd McFarlane Productions, Top Cow Productions, Shadowline and Image Central. Image publishes comics and graphic novels in nearly every genre, sub-genre, and style imaginable. It offers science fiction, romance, horror, crime fiction, historical fiction, humor and more by the finest artists and writers working in the medium today. For more information, visit www.imagecomics.com.

Wednesday, June 09, 2010

Telltale Games Announces Multi-Title Video Game

Development Deal with Universal Partnerships & Licensing



Back to the Future and Jurassic Park to Come to Multiple

Gaming Platforms this Winter



SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – June 9, 2010 –Telltale Games, the leading independent digital publisher and developer of episodic interactive entertainment, today announced a multi-year, two-title video game development deal with Universal Partnerships & Licensing. Telltale Games has secured the rights to create video games based on two of Universal Pictures’ most popular intellectual properties, Back to the Future and Jurassic Park. The first game released under the agreement will be a Telltale Games “season” based on the successful Back to the Future series of films.



With more than five million episodes delivered to date across all major video game platforms, Telltale is the acknowledged leader in digitally delivering episodic content to consumers. The agreement broadens Telltale’s product offerings into new genres and new styles of gameplay.



“Our partnership with Universal is an exciting next step in our continued growth as a mass-market games publisher and developer,” said Dan Connors, CEO of Telltale Games. “We are all huge fans of both of these franchises. For Back to the Future and Jurassic Park, we will leverage Telltale’s expertise in story-telling and game design to deliver on the unique elements of each series, with our goal being to create compelling cinematic adventures paying homage to each franchise.”



Jurassic Park and Back to the Future are two of the most successful film trilogies ever, grossing over $3 billion dollars at the box office collectively.



“Telltale Games has succeeded in establishing a unique combination of digital and physical distribution models, and their reputation for quality production is well earned,” said Bill Kispert, Vice President and General Manger, Digital Platforms, Universal Partnerships & Licensing. “Telltale’s episodic story-telling is an ideal means by which to add compelling new content to these important franchises.”



Look for the first video game based “season” of Back to the Future from Telltale this winter, followed shortly by Jurassic Park. Telltale will release more information on both game series at a later date.



About the Jurassic Park franchise


Since Universal Pictures and Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment first joined forces to unleash an adventure over 65 million years in the making, Jurassic Park has become the “premier” and “authentic” dinosaur brand the world over. When Jurassic Park was released in 1993, it became an instant phenomenon. In the years that followed, two additional films were released – The Lost World: Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park III – bringing the trilogy’s worldwide box office total to more than $2 billion. The franchise continues to resonate with consumers worldwide via consumer products, popular attractions at Universal Studios Theme Parks and annual airings of the three films on a multitude of television networks.



About the Back to the Future franchise



From the Academy Award®-winning filmmakers Steven Spielberg and Robert Zemeckis comes Back to the Future - the original, groundbreaking adventure that sparked one of the most successful trilogies ever! Starring Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd, the phenomenally popular Back to the Future films literally changed the future of the adventure movie genre. Powered by innovative special effects, unforgettable songs and non-stop action, Back to the Future is an unrivaled adventure that stands the test of time. Back to the Future immerses you in all the breathtaking action, groundbreaking comedy and sheer movie-making magic of one of the most brilliantly inventive, wildly entertaining motion picture triumphs in Hollywood history!
About Universal Partnerships & Licensing

UP&L oversees Universal’s consumer product licensing, film and home entertainment promotions, and all corporate alliances for Universal’s theatrical, home entertainment, theme parks and stage productions. This dedicated division is also responsible for monetizing the studio’s vast library of films and characters through licensing, branding and marketing opportunities. UP&L is part of NBC Universal, one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience. Formed in May 2004 through the combining of NBC and Vivendi Universal Entertainment, NBC Universal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group, and world-renowned theme parks. NBC Universal is 80%-owned by General Electric, with 20% owned by Vivendi.



About Telltale, Inc.



Telltale is a leading independent digital publisher of interactive stories playable on every major gaming platform. Telltale is also the pioneer of episodic delivery of content developing games as series and successfully releasing on a schedule to create a longer consumer engagement for each release. Founded in 2004 by LucasArts veterans with decades of experience, Telltale has quickly become an industry leader, establishing the model for successful episodic game creation and digital publishing. Telltale has sold more than 3.5 million episodes since 2005. Telltale’s reputation for quality has been established across more than 25 published releases that have cumulatively earned an average Metacritic score above 80%. Telltale's titles have won numerous awards including, "Adventure Game of the Year" accolades from publications such as IGN, PC Gamer, GameSpy, and Adventure Gamers, and have been recognized by mainstream outlets ranging from USA Today, to The New York Times to Variety. Telltale currently develops and publishes episodic series on PlayStation(R) 3, PC, Mac, Wii (TM), Xbox 360 (TM) and iPad.
WALK LIKE THE DEAD
Image Comics reprints THE WALKING DEAD COMPENDIUM, VOL. 1 just in time for the AMC series

Berkeley, CA - 9 June 2010 - Starting this October, you’ll be able to watch The Walking Dead on AMC. You can prepare to join The Walking Dead by picking up the new printing of THE WALKING DEAD COMPENDIUM, VOL. 1 TP on September 1.

THE WALKING DEAD COMPENDIUM, VOL. 1 collects the first 48 issues of the ongoing series by writer Robert Kirkman with art by Charlie Adlard and Tony Moore. It weighs in at more than 1000 pages of zombies and the people who try to survive them.

“This is the perfect opportunity to catch up with THE WALKING DEAD before the AMC series debuts,” states Kirkman. “It’s a great way to get started with the series or to catch up with your favorite Walking Dead characters.”

In THE WALKING DEAD, an epidemic of apocalyptic proportions has swept the globe, causing the dead to rise and feed on the living. Society has crumbled, and a handful of survivors lead by Rick Grimes fight to live in a world ruled by the dead.

THE WALKING DEAD COMPENDIUM, VOL. 1, a 1088-page black and white trade paperback collecting the first 48 issues of the series, will be available for $59.99 on September 1, 2010. The AMC series debuts in October.

Image Comics is a comic book and graphic novel publisher founded in 1992 by a collective of best-selling artists. Image has since gone on to become one of the largest comics publishers in the United States. Image currently has five partners: Robert Kirkman, Erik Larsen, Todd McFarlane, Marc Silvestri and Jim Valentino. It consists of four major houses: Todd McFarlane Productions, Top Cow Productions, Shadowline and Image Central. Image publishes comics and graphic novels in nearly every genre, sub-genre, and style imaginable. It offers science fiction, romance, horror, crime fiction, historical fiction, humor and more by the finest artists and writers working in the medium today. For more information, visit www.imagecomics.com.
or Immediate Release:
FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKS ANNOUNCES THE ACQUISITION OF SIGNIFICANT OBJECTS STORY COLLECTION

SEATTLE, WA, JUNE 14, 2010 --- Since its debut, Significant Objects [ http://www.significantobjects.com ], the bold online inquiry into the relationship between narrative and the value of everyday objects, has been the subject of speculation by everyone from NPR to litbloggers to The New York Times’ Freakonomics crew. Some theorized about the project’s hypothesis, others about its methods and results.

Some just wanted to know: Will there be a book?

This last question can now be answered: Yes!

A collection of one hundred Significant Objects stories, seductively illustrated by top artists, will be published in 2011 by Fantagraphics Books.

This represents the most pleasing plot twist yet to the story of a very unlikely project that began as an experiment, turned into an experimental literary magazine secretly published on eBay, and currently raises money for youth tutoring nonprofits.

Founded by Joshua Glenn and Rob Walker, SignificantObjects.com appeared out of nowhere last summer, and has published an extraordinary series of 200 stories and counting – by William Gibson, Curtis Sittenfeld, Sheila Heti, Colson Whitehead, Nicholson Baker, Meg Cabot, Lydia Millet, Jonathan Lethem, and other talented writers – about ordinary stuff like novelty items, discarded souvenirs, and tasteless kitchenware picked up cheap at thrift stores and yard sales. The goal: To see if commissioning great stories about these insignificant things would increase their value – as measured in actual eBay auctions.

The LA Times’s Jacket Copy blog summarized the project’s questions: “Can a good story make something more valuable? What if it’s entirely untrue?”

Significant Objects and its contributing writers sold piles of flea-market flotsam for thousands of dollars and, as The Economist’s More Intelligent Life blog put it, “proved Walker and Glenn’s theory that stories add immeasurable value to objects.”

The New York Times’s Freakonomics blog gaped at the “supersonic premium” which Significant Objects managed to create. “Is it the intrinsic utility and beauty of a commodity that creates its value,” the Boston Globe’s Brainiac blog queried, “or the stories we tell ourselves about them?”

Some observers suggested the Significant Objects experiment had invented a new business model: “This is just one (fun) example of many of content creators smartly using infinite goods (the stories) to make a scarce good (the trinket) more valuable, and putting in place a business model to profit from it,” according to Techdirt. Cool Hunting speculated that the project had created “the first pay scale for writers based on emotional impact.”

Of course, Significant Objects was never just about the marketplace. Most importantly, it was about writers “finding magic in unexpected things,” as NPR’s All Things Considered put it. The project has published first-rate fictions by best-selling novelists and pathbreaking up-and-comers, by literary stars and experimentalists, writers for The Daily Show and other TV programs, innovative improv comics, cartoonists, journalists, and writers of young-adult fiction, mysteries, thrillers, sci fi and much more.
“The roster of authors is beyond impressive.” — the blog BookSlut

“It’s a heck of a great idea and Walker and Glenn have assembled a really terrific collection of writers to participate” — Media Bistro’s UnBeige blog

“Like a Salvation Army staffed by brilliant writers, Significant Objects has created a new kind of online journal — publishing and selling on eBay” — the blog GalleyCat

“If this is a cynical marketeer’s scam,” a columnist for The Independent (UK) suggested, “then consider me conned. Significant Objects combines one of the oldest of all media — the near-improvised short story — with the reinvigorated writer-reader relationship afforded by Web 2.0.”

The experiment, in short, was a smash hit. With enthusiastic reader/buyers from Texas to Alaska, from New York to California, and everywhere in between, Significant Objects decided to funnel auction proceeds from its second and third volumes of stories to the tutoring programs 826 National and Girls Write Now.

Does the project point the way towards a new business model for literary publishing? Are we 21st-century skeptics in thrall to talismans and totems? Once the auction sales figures have been correlated with, say, narrative exposition strategy, will Significant Objects reveal the key to the relationship between narrative and value?
All of these questions and more will be addressed (and some answered) by the Significant Objects book, which will not only feature one hundred moving, absurd, surprising, and always entertaining stories from the project's three volumes. Thanks to Fantagraphics, it will also feature new illustrations by artists from the worlds of comics, skate graphics, rock posters, children’s books, and the commercial and gallery arts.

The Significant Objects book will change the way you look at things, forever.
About the Editors of SIGNIFICANT OBJECTS

Joshua Glenn is a Boston-based journalist, editor, and cultural semiotics analyst. He cofounded the website HiLobrow.com; he’s been a columnist for the Boston Globe’s Ideas section and a contributing editor to other publications. He edited the nonfiction collection Taking Things Seriously (2007) and coauthored, with Mark Kingwell, The Idler’s Glossary (2008). In the 1990s he published the critical-culture zine Hermenaut.

Rob Walker writes Consumed, a column that mixes business and anthropology, for The New York Times Magazine. He is the author of Buying In: The Secret Dialogue Between What We Buy and Who We Are, named by Salon as one of the best nonfiction books of 2008. His work has appeared in many media outlets, from The Wall Street Journal to The New Republic, from GQ to public radio program Marketplace. He is often called on as an expert on consumer culture, most notably in the recent Gary Hustwit documentary Objectified.

About FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKS

Fantagraphics Books ( www.fantagraphics.com ) has been the world’s leading publisher of comics and graphic novels since 1976, with titles by Robert Crumb, Charles M. Schulz, Joe Sacco, Daniel Clowes, Chris Ware and many others. In 2007, the company launched its prose division, which includes books by Alexander Theroux (Laura Warholic), Stephen Dixon (What Is All This?), Monte Schulz (This Side of Jordan), and now Significant Objects.

For more information about Significant Objects or arrange an interview with the editors, contact Eric Reynolds at Fantagraphics Books: 206.524.1967 x218 or reynolds@fantagraphics.com. For information on all subsidiary rights, contact Gary Groth, President & Co-Publisher, Fantagraphics Books: 206.524.1967 x 217 or groth@fantagraphics.com.
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Tuesday, June 08, 2010

ELLTALE’S SAM & MAX: THE DEVIL’S PLAYHOUSE FOR PS3

ON SALE THIS JUNE!

FOR A LIMITED TIME, THE ENTIRE NEW SAM & MAX SEASON IS AVAILABLE ON THE PLAYSTATION NETWORK FOR $24.99





Hey PS3 owners. Like to fight Giant Space Apes? Burning to help our little buddy Max locate his brain? Have yet to pick up the latest Sam & Max season, The Devil’s Playhouse on PS3? If the answer to any of these questions is “yes”, well it is your lucky day!



PlayStation Network and Telltale Games will be offering a limited time special on the entire The Devil's Playhouse season in North America -- the full five-episode season will be available for the low price of $24.99 (regularly $34.99).



That's just $5 per episode!



This limited time promotion begins today (June 8) and is scheduled to run only through June 29! So get on over to the PlayStation Store while you can and grab yourself a fistful of Sam & Max at a special price!



For more info, be sure to visit: www.samandmaxgames.com/thedevilsplayhouse
IF BARACK OBAMA WERE A GUARDIAN OF THE GLOBE...
Chris Giarrusso tells the story of the "real" GUARDIANS in backups to the miniseries

Berkeley, CA - 8 June 2010 - In August, we'll know more about the new GUARDIANS OF THE GLOBE: Brit, Outrun, Kaboomerang, Yeti and Bulletproof. But what about the GUARDIANS OF THE GLOBE that never were: Invincible, Spawn, Rick Grimes, Barack Obama and Gary Popper? Chris Giarrusso, creator of G-MAN, will tell their tale in a series of one-page backup stories that will run with each issue of GUARDIANS OF THE GLOBE.

"The response to the Guardians of the Globe teasers was astounding," says GUARDIANS co-writer Robert Kirkman. "So many people wanted to see a Guardians team made up of Invincible, Spawn, Rick Grimes, Barack Obama, and Gary Popper. Ask, and you will receive!"

Giarrusso states, "I'll be featuring President Barack Obama in a comic. As far as I know, this is something that has never been done before. A move like this is bound to stir up a lot of heated controversy, but I have the opportunity to do something historically groundbreaking in these strips."

As the Viltrumite War rages on within the pages of INVINCIBLE, the ranks of the Guardians of the Globe are suddenly depleted. The world is in danger and the team is in search of new blood. It's the biggest recruitment drive since Omni-Man slaughtered the original members. But will it be in time to stop The Order? This series is a can't-miss action extravaganza, with one-page backups featuring the Guardians of the Globe that never were: Invincible, Spawn, Rick Grimes, Barack Obama, and Gary Popper!

GUARDIANS OF THE GLOBE #1 (of 6) -- a 32-page full-color comic written by Robert Kirkman and Benito Cereno, illustrated by Ransom Getty, and featuring a backup story by Chris Giarrusso -- will be on sale for $3.50 on August 25, 2010. Giarusso's G-MAN, VOL. 1: LEARNING TO FLY, a 96-page full-color trade paperback for $9.99, and G-MAN, VOL. 2: CAPE CRISIS, a 128-page full-color trade paperback, will both be in stores September 29, 2010.

Image Comics is a comic book and graphic novel publisher founded in 1992 by a collective of best-selling artists. Image has since gone on to become one of the largest comics publishers in the United States. Image currently has five partners: Robert Kirkman, Erik Larsen, Todd McFarlane, Marc Silvestri and Jim Valentino. It consists of four major houses: Todd McFarlane Productions, Top Cow Productions, Shadowline and Image Central. Image publishes comics and graphic novels in nearly every genre, sub-genre, and style imaginable. It offers science fiction, romance, horror, crime fiction, historical fiction, humor and more by the finest artists and writers working in the medium today. For more information, visit www.imagecomics.com.

Monday, June 07, 2010

PRESS RELEASE:

For immediate release: June 5, 2010



NOMINEES ANNOUNCED FOR 2010 EAGLE AWARDS

VOTING in the 2010 Eagle Awards is now open. After compiling votes from around the world including not just the UK and the USA but also more than 40 other countries including Finland, Israel, Russia, Taiwan, Ghana, Costa Rica, Croatia and Chile, the top five nominees in each of 29 categories have been chosen by the thousands of participants. To cast your vote for your 2009 favourites, log on to http://www.eagleawards.co.uk/vote.aspx



Voting is to close at midnight (British Summer Time) on Sunday July 4, 2010. The winners will be announced later this year at a venue yet to be determined.



For press enquiries and further details on the Eagle Awards, contact Cassandra Conroy: eagleawards@gmail.com.

2010 EAGLE AWARDS NOMINEES
Favourite Newcomer Writer
Al Ewing

Jonathan Hickman

Kathryn Immonen

Kieron Gillen

Mike Lynch



Favourite Newcomer Artist
David Lafuente

Declan Shalvey

Jamie McKelvie

John Cullen

Matt Timson



Favourite Writer
Alan Moore

Geoff Johns

John Wagner

Tony Lee

Warren Ellis



Favourite Writer/Artist
Bryan Lee O'Malley

Darwyn Cooke

David Mazzucchelli

John Byrne (nomination withdrawn at Mr Byrne’s request)

Paul Grist



Favourite Artist: Pencils
Frank Quitely

Guy Davis

Ivan Reis

J.H. Williams III

Stuart Immonen


Favourite Artist: Inks
Butch Guice

Charlie Adlard

Gary Erskine

Kevin O'Neil

Mark Farmer



Favourite Artist: Fully-Painted Artwork
Adi Granov

Alex Ross

Ben Templesmith

J.H. Williams III

James Jean



Favourite Colourist
Ben Templesmith

Christina Strain

Dave Stewart

Laura Martin

Len O'Grady



Favourite Letterer
Annie Parkhouse

Chris Eliopoulos

Nate Piekos (Blambot)

Richard Starkings (Comiccraft)

Simon Bowland

Todd Klein



Favourite Editor
Axel Alonso

Matt smith

Nick Lowe

Stephen Wacker

Tom Brevoort



Favourite Publisher
DC/Vertigo/WildStorm

IDW

Image Comics

Marvel

Rebellion/2000AD



Favourite American Colour Comicbook
B.P.R.D.

Batman and Robin

Captain Britain and MI13

Chew

Doctor Who

Phonogram - The Singles Club

Scalped



Favourite British Colour Comicbook
2000AD

Spandex

The Beano

The Dead: Kingdom Of Flies

The DFC



Favourite American Black and White Comicbook
I Kill Giants

Scott Pilgrim

The Venger: Dead Man Rising

Usagi Yojimbo

Walking Dead



Favourite British Black and White Comicbook
Chloe Noonan

Dragon Heir

Futurequake

Space Babe 113

Whatever Happened To The World's Fastest Man?



Favourite New Comicbook
Batman and Robin

Chew

Doctor Who

Rí Rá

Unwritten



Favourite Manga
Fullmetal Alchemist

GoGo Monster

Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service

Pluto

Reya



Favourite European Comicbook
Chimpanzee Complex

Largo Winch

L'Histoire Secrete

Requiem Chevalier Vampire

Rí Rá



Favourite Single Story Published During 2009
Doctor Who : The Time Machination

Doctor Who: Black Death White Life

From the Pages of Bram Stoker's Dracula: Harker

Phonogram The Singles Club 4 : Konichiwa Bitches

R.E.B.E.L.S. Annual #1: Starro the Conqueror



Favourite Continued Story Published During 2009
Doctor Who: The Forgotten

Judge Dredd: Tour of Duty

Phonogram: The Singles Club

Scalped #19-24: The Gravel in your Gut

Walking Dead #61 - 65: Fear The Hunters



Favourite Cover Published During 2009
2000AD #1631 (D'Israeli/Dirty Frank)

Batgirl #2

Batman & Robin #4 (Frank Quitely)

Batman and Robin #3

Doctor Who: The Forgotten #6



Favourite Original Graphic Novel Published During 2009
Asterios Polyp

Grandville

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century

Mouse Guard: Winter 1152

The Hunter



Favourite Reprint Compilation
Captain Britain by Alan Moore & Alan Davis Omnibus

Charley's War: Underground and Over the Top

Doctor Who: The Forgotten

Saga of the Swamp Thing

The Rocketeer: The Complete Adventures



Favourite Magazine about Comics
Back Issue

Comics International

Comics Journal

Tripwire

Wizard



Favourite Comics-Related Book
Comic Book Design (Gary Millidge)

Peter and Max

The Insider's Guide to Creating Comics and Graphic Novels - Andy Schmidt

The Marvel Art of Marko Djurdjevic

War Stories (Mike Conroy)



Favourite Comics-Related Movie or TV Show
Heroes

Smallville

Surrogates

The Big Bang Theory

Watchmen



Favourite Comics Related Website
2000ad online

Bleedingcool.com

comicbookresources.com

Forbidden Planet International Blog

Newsarama



Favourite Web-Based Comic
Freak Angels

Order of the Stick

PVP

Sin Titulo

xkcd.com



Roll of Honour
Brian Bolland

Dick Giordano

Joe Kubert

John Hicklenton

Peter David



ABOUT THE EAGLE AWARDS:
Introduced in 1976, the Eagles are the comics industry's longest established awards. Unique in that they reflect the people's choice, they are awarded by fans who vote for their favourite in each category of the awards. They are named after the fondly remembered 1950's British comic anthology Eagle, and were originated by two British fans, Mike Conroy and Richard Burton. The awards proved to be successful, with American publishers such as Marvel Comics announcing their victories with pride. They have relaunched in 2010 with a new look, a new mandate and a new vision for the future.

ABOUT CASSANDRA CONROY:

Cassandra Conroy has been a regular presence on the UK convention scene for several years. In 2008, her father Mike Conroy handed over the running of the Eagle Awards to Cassandra, who has worked on Eaglemoss’s Classic Marvel Figurine Collection and DC Comics Super Hero Collection.



ABOUT MIKE CONROY:

Formerly editor of Comics International, Europe's trade paper, veteran comics journalist and historian Mike Conroy is the founder of the Eagle Awards. Established in 1976, they are one of the comics industry’s earliest established and most coveted international prizes. Sought after to talk about comics and movies on TV and radio, Mike has written extensively on those subjects for various publishers and magazines. He is the author of 500 Great Comic Book Action Heroes its sequel 500 Comic Book Villains and War Stories: A Graphic History as well as a major contributor to Comix: The Underground Revolution. His former position on CI followed his 10-year reign as the magazine's news editor. For over 12 years, his monthly Frame to Frame – the comics industry’s longest-running column discussing the interaction between movies and comics – had been a feature in CI, which he had been associated with since the magazine's very beginnings in 1991. Contact him at: demigod@btconnect.com.
Hey gang,
After much waiting, TUMOR will be available from your local comic book shop this coming Wednesday the 9th. To find your nearest comic shop visit http://comicshoplocator.com/ and ask them for TUMOR from Archaia Comics. if they didn't already order it, they should be able to order it from Diamond, no problem.

Also, to celebrate, I'm doing a couple of events on Wednesday. First off, at Collector's Paradise in Winnetka. I'll be there from 12 till 2pm, and you can find out more info here: http://comicsandcards.net/wordpress/2010/06/tumor-hc-release-signing-this-wednesday/

Then, at 7pm, come and join me at Meltdown Comics in Hollywood for a release party and signing. There will be beer, food, and much celebrating. More info on that event here: http://www.meltcomics.com/blog/2010/06/01/store-signing-josh-fialkov-thursday-june-3rd-7pm-8pm/

If you run a shop in L.A. and would like me to swing by and sign copies, just drop me a line, and I'll see what to do. If you're a journo interested in promoting the book, same thing.

And please, if you're a fan of what Noel and I do, let people know about the book and the events. Independent comics rely entirely on word of mouth and recommendations, so, every good word helps.

Over the next few weeks, I'll be slowly disappearing as Christina and I will be welcoming our first child into the world, so, in case I don't get to say it, thank you all for the support and love the past year.

See you next week!

j.

www.thefialkov.com