BLUE ESTATE IS LOCKED AND LOADED

Image Comics Collects Mobsters, Strippers and Mayhem in Blue Estate Vol. 1


Berkeley, CA – August 10th, 2011 –BLUE ESTATE takes place on the mean streets of Los Angeles, where an alcoholic hit man and a desperate starlet dodge Russian mobsters, Italian gangsters, ninjas, hippies and the L.A.P.D. in a scheme to steal millions from a psychotic action movie hero.

This September, Image Comics will proudly present the first collection of BLUE ESTATE, written by Viktor Kalvachev (PHERONE, DMZ, The Incredibles) and Emmy Award-winning screenwriter Andrew Osborne with artwork from a variety of artists, including Viktor Kalvachev, Nathan Fox (Fluorecent Black, Invincible Iron Man, Pigeons From Hell), Toby Cypress (RODD RACER, Batman/Nightwing) and Robert Valley (Massive Swerve, Gorillaz, Tron TV series).

BLUE ESTATE deals with a low-rent private eye trying (and failing) to escape the long shadow of his respected cop father. But a chance encounter with a B-list action star drags the wannabe gumshoe into a world of strippers, mobsters… and the wildest (and only!) case of his career! See who lives, who dies, and who gets the Tiger Blood knocked outta them in the first four issues of the fast, funny smash hit new crime series from Image Comics.

BLUE ESTATE has already garnered rave attention from retailers, reviewers and fans:

“BLUE ESTATE takes the best of Guy Ritchie and Quentin Tarantino but remains unabashedly original.” - USA Today

"BLUE ESTATE is a slice of absurd depravity that’ll tickle your ribs, but probably with a loaded weapon.” 4 out of 5 stars - Comic Book Resources

“For those that enjoy a good pulp-filled crime story with a healthy dose of pop culture humor…” - IGN

“BLUE ESTATE contains everything you could want in an exciting story.“ - Comic Vine

“In summation – BLUE ESTATE: buy it, read it, love it, cherish it.” 10 out of 10 - Comic Buzz

“One of the best new series this year!” - PopMatters

“A very cool, hip and fun entry in into the detective/crime/mob genre with very stylish art.Worth a read!” - Weekly Comic Book Review

“All in all, BLUE ESTATE delivers the B-12 shot of energy the comic book industry needs every now and again.” - The Outhouse

BLUE ESTATE, VOL. 1 TP will also feature several never-before-seen extras, including a special “Making of a Page” chapter, a "Creating a Character" section of sketches and development phases for key characters, a clay sculpture character gallery and a special introduction from Blue Estate’s very own star, Bruce Maddox!

BLUE ESTATE, VOL. 1 TP, a 120-page full color paperback, will be on sale in stores September 14th for $12.99 and is available to order in the July 2011 edition of Diamond Previews (JUL110455, ISBN: 978-1-60706-429-9). For more information, please visit www.BlueEstateComic.com or www.facebook.com/BlueEstate.

ABOUT VIKTOR KALVACHEV

With art and design credits ranging from DMZ, The Nocturnals and Penthouse to video games like The Incredibles: Escape from Nomanisan Island, Viktor is also the creative force behind the graphic novel Pherone and the massively multiplayer online virtual world, VIE.

ABOUT ANDREW OSBORNE

An Emmy-award winning screenwriter with credits including the Sundance premiere On_Line, his own feature debut Apocalypse Bop and the Discovery Channel game show Cash Cab, Andrew has also written film, comic and interactive scripts for Warner Bros., MTV, HBO, Orion, MPCA, Platinum Studios and enVie Interactive, among others. He enjoys being part of the BLUE ESTATE team, and would like to thank our readers for their fresh, minty breath.

ABOUT TOBY CYPRESS

Raised in New Jersey on early morning Thundarr the Barbarian cartoons, and late night Frankenstein movies. Graduated from art school to create and illustrate comics like Rodd Racer, The Tourist, Kursk and Batman/Nightwing “Bloodborne”. Got married for a year before his wife got bored, now single again to create comics in peace.

ABOUT NATHAN FOX

An early addiction to cartoons, commercials and video games led Nathan to work as an artist on projects including Dogs of War, the story Fluorescent Black for Heavy Metal, Zodiac (Marvel), Pigeons from Hell (Dark Horse), DMZ (Vertigo), Harley Quinn (DC), and will soon be the regular artist for Todd McFarlane’s HAUNT series.He's also worked as an illustrator for Wired, Rolling Stone, The New York Times Magazine and ESPN Magazine, among others.

ABOUT ROBERT VALLEY

In addition to directing his own short film Massive Swerve and illustrating the story Boy Zero for Heavy Metal, Robert has worked as a storyboard artist on Firebreather, a character designer for the Tron TV series, a cinematics animation director for Dance Central and an animation director for Beatles Rock Band and Gorillaz.

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.