THE RATING GAME
Image Comics Announces Rating System

Berkeley, CA – 21 June 2011 – Image Comics titles will soon adopt a rating system consistent with that instituted by DC Comics in January of this year. This rating system will be used for both print and digital releases.

Beginning with July 2011 titles, all Image titles will use the following rating system:

E - EVERYONE (all ages, may contain minimal violence)
T - TEEN (12 and up, may contain mild violence or mild profanity)
T+ - TEEN PLUS (16 and up, may contain moderate violence, moderate profanity use and suggestive themes )
M - MATURE (18 and up, may contain nudity, profanity, excessive violence and other content not suitable for minors)

"Retailers have been asking us to more clearly define which audiences our various comics are aimed at for some time, and we're pleased to finally comply with those requests," said Image Comics Publisher Eric Stephenson. "It's been nearly a decade since the comics industry began the process of abandoning the Comics Code Authority, but during that time there hasn't been one consistent rating system. The system DC employs is by far the clearest, so it makes sense to go with that."

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 four major houses: Todd McFarlane Productions, Top Cow Productions, Shadowline and Image Central. Image publishes comics and graphicnovels in nearly every genre, sub-genre, and style imaginable. It offers science fiction, romance, horror, crime fiction, historical fiction, humor and more bythe finest artists and writers working in the medium today. For more information, visit www.imagecomics.com.