KURTIS J. WIEBE RECEIVES SHUSTER AWARD

Named "Outstanding Comic Book Writer" for work on GREEN WAKE

Image Comics and Shadowline congratulate Kurtis J. Wiebe, who was named Outstanding Comic Book Writer by the Joe Shuster Awards for his work on his series GREEN WAKE and THE INTREPIDS.

Wiebe was named the winner of the Shuster Award on September 15 in a ceremony in Montreal, Quebec. Name after Superman's co-creator, the artist Joe Shuster, the award recognizes outstanding work by Canadian comic book creators. The judges noted that Wiebe "was selected primarily for his work on the profound and affecting Green Wake."

Published by Jim Valentino's Image Comics imprint Shadowline, GREEN WAKE is a murder mystery set in a dream-like town where the residents forget their pasts and no one ever leaves. The art is by Riley Rossmo, who is also the artist on the Wiebe-penned DEBRIS and co-writer and artist on REBEL BLOOD.

"We are especially proud of Kurtis, a rising star in one of Image's and Shadowline's best years in a very long time," said Valentino. "It's great to see talent acknowledged and appreciated in this manner. Well done."

In an interview at IGN, Wiebe spoke about the very personal nature of the series, which he created while going through a divorce. "When I won the [Shuster] award for that series it made me realize that this series, despite its early end... had profoundly affected those that read it," he said. "It mattered to them. That's a huge victory to me and made it very worthwhile to struggle through the writing process which was, really, a grieving period in my life."
GREEN WAKE encompasses ten issues and is collected into two trade paperback volumes.
Wiebe is one of Image/Shadowline's most prolific creators. His other Shadowline titles include GRIM LEAPER, PETER PANZERFAUST, and DEBRIS.

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.