LONELY HEART BLUES

The Li'l Depressed Boy's Beginnings In Print For the First Time Ever

Berkeley, CA – 3 October 2011 – Before THE LI'L DEPRESSED BOY found a home at Image Comics, S. Steven Struble built the character's story online as a popular web comic. Now Image Comics is collecting his early strips and short stories that have never seen print in THE LI'L DEPRESSED BOY, VOL. 0 TP this December.

Before current series artist Sina Grace illustrated LDB's world in his carefree and deceptively simple brushwork style, many well-known artists gave the character his first experiences with life and love.  THE LI'L DEPRESSED BOY, VOL. 0 TP collects the work of Sam Keith, Jim Valentino, Jim Mahfood, and more in early THE LI'L DEPRESSED BOY short stories, all awash in appropriate shades of blue. Grace has also contributed an all-new short story, never before seen online or in print. And it's all wrapped up in a gorgeous new cover by Lindsay Jane!

"I'll always have a soft spot for these early strips. I cut my teeth on them," said Struble. "They were a fun experiment that helped form both me as a writer and LDB as a character. On top of that, I got to work with some of my favorite artists."

Grace added: "It's an incredible honor that Image Comics continues to support the series by publishing the fantastic strips of previous LDB contributors, and showcasing some of my public displays of learning to draw. I'm hoping the new story makes up for my previous blunders."

THE LI'L DEPRESSED BOY's origin story will soon be unveiled! Before disastrous road trips. Before style-points. Before Jazmin. Join LDB as he takes his first steps on his search for love!

THE LI'L DEPRESSED BOY, VOL. 0 TP (OCT110459, ISBN: 978-1-60706-476-3), a 96-page full-color indie romance trade paperback for $9.99, will be on sale in stores December 7. THE LI'L DEPRESSED BOY, VOL. 1 TP (APR110424, ISBN: 978-1-60706-390-2) is on sale in stores now. For more information about the source of THE LI'L DEPRESSED BOY, visit www.depressedboy.com.

ABOUT S. STEVEN STRUBLE

S. Steven Struble moved to Amarillo, TX to write comic books. Surprisingly, this plan actually worked out! In his spare time he also colors other people's comics and competes on the poetry slam circuit.

ABOUT SINA GRACE

When not handling the duties as Editorial Director for Skybound Entertainment, Sina Grace draws comic books (THE LI'L DEPRESSED BOY), kids' books (Among the Ghosts with Amber Benson), and big-people books (Cedric Hollows in Dial M for Magic) in coffee shops all around Los Angeles.

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.