SHINKU KICKS SOME SKULLS
Skullkickers #7 Soon to Preview Ron Marz & Lee Moder’s New Shinku Series

BERKELEY, CA – 9 May 2011 – The veteran team of writer Ron Marz (WITCHBLADE, ARTIFACTS) and artist Lee Moder (Wonder Woman, Legion of Super-Heroes) are reuniting with an all-new series at Image Comics. Making its debut in June, SHINKU is the creative team’s first creator-owned work for Image, and readers can get a sneak peek in the back of the equally blood-soaked pages of SKULLKICKERS #7.

"It's an amazing time for creator-owned comics and I really feel that the more diversity and excitement created by new original creations, the better the industry as a whole will be," said SKULLKICKERS creator Jim Zubkavich. "Ron and Lee are veterans with incredible track records, and I'm proud to help show SHINKU to an audience that enjoys action and entertainment."

"This is a story I've had rolling around my head, in one form or another, for a decade,” explained Marz. “So finally getting to tell it, and getting to tell it with the right creative team, is an absolute joy. When a creative team clicks, it's like a jazz combo improvising. Everybody riffs off of everybody else, and produces something greater than any of the parts. I feel like that's what we've got going on here."

In the first issue of SHINKU, readers are introduced to the sole survivor of a once-proud samurai clan: Shinku. In modern Japan, Shinku still secretly continues the charge of her ancestors, waging a solitary war against a clan of powerful vampires that have eluded detection for centuries. Marz and Moder have merged samurai and vampire lore in this epic fusion of martial arts and horror that has Comic Book Resources calling it, “a vampire tale that returns the creatures of the night to their monstrous roots.”

Marz spoke of his early inspiration for the new series: "I grew up watching Universal and Hammer horror films on Saturday afternoons, so where I come from, undead creatures who want to drink your blood are the bad guys, not tortured, sensitive souls. This story is the bastard child of those movies, plus some Akira Kurosawa samurai majesty and some John Woo action.

"I'm always talking about comics needing more genre diversification,” Marz concluded. “Hopefully SHINKU provides some of that by mixing horror, martial-arts action and samurai adventure."

SHINKU #1 (APR110409), a 32-page full color action/horror comic book priced at $2.99 will be available in stores on June 1st. A five-page preview of SHINKU #1 will be on display in the back of SKULLKICKERS #7 (MAR110598), due in stores May 25th for $2.99.

ABOUT RON MARZ
Ron Marz has been writing comics for two decades, starting his career with a lengthy run on Silver Surfer for Marvel. Since then, he has worked for virtually every major publisher and compiled a long list of credits, including stints on Green Lantern for DC, Star Wars for Dark Horse,WITCHBLADE for Top Cow, and as a staff writer for CrossGen Comics. He currently writes WITCHBLADE, MAGDALENA and ARTIFACTS for Image-based Top Cow, among other projects. His creator-owned work includes DRAGON PRINCE at Top Cow; Samurai: Heaven and Earth, and Pantheon City, at Dark Horse; and the vampire tale SHINKU at Image.

ABOUT IMAGE COMICS
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 five major houses: Todd McFarlane Productions, Top Cow Productions, Shadowline, Skybound 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.