Comics
Image Comics Releasing 10 Franchise Firsts Priced At A Buck
Image just announced their Image Firsts line of comics. These are the reprints of ten key first issues of Image’s most acclaimed titles. They will only cost a dollar and include “The Walking Dead”, “Spawn”, “Chew”, “Youngblood”,”Savage Dragon”, “Invincible”, “Witchblade, “Girls”, “Age of Bronze” and “Proof”. Leading up to Free Comic Book Day on May 1, two Image Firsts titles will be released every week starting on March 31. Continue on for the press release and release schedule.
“As discussions for Free Comic Book Day began, many of our retail partners brought up how helpful it would be to have additional, inexpensive supplements to our featured title, Silverline’s FRACTURED FABLES, as a way of bringing in an even wider range of fans,” explained Image Comics Publisher Eric Stephenson. “We developed the ‘Image Firsts’ program to showcase the great variety of titles we have to offer. Between the superheroics of SPAWN, INVINCIBLE, WITCHBLADE, SAVAGE DRAGON and YOUNGBLOOD to the science fiction of GIRLS and PROOF to Eric Shanower’s historical epic, AGE OF BRONZE, and the horror of THE WALKING DEAD and CHEW, there’s something for every reader, old and new.”
IMAGE FIRSTS SCHEDULE
MARCH 31
IMAGE FIRSTS: YOUNGBLOOD #1
story ROB LIEFELD & JOE CASEY
art & cover ROB LIEFELD
32 PAGES / FC
$1.00
The original celebrity superheroes make their debut in this remastered tale by Rob Liefeld and Joe Casey.
IMAGE FIRSTS: THE WALKING DEAD #1
story ROBERT KIRKMAN
art & cover TONY MOORE
32 PAGES / BW
$1.00
A continuing tale of survival horror in a post-apocalyptic world.
APRIL 7
IMAGE FIRSTS: SPAWN #1
story TODD McFARLANE
art & cover TODD McFARLANE
32 PAGES / FC
$1.00
Todd McFarlane’s arcane superhero discovers the truth behind his unholy resurrection.
IMAGE FIRSTS: CHEW #1
story JOHN LAYMAN
art & cover ROB GUILLORY
32 PAGES / FC
$1.00
Bizarre culinary crimes investigated by the FDA’s premier psychic detective.
APRIL 14
IMAGE FIRSTS: SAVAGE DRAGON #1
story ERIK LARSEN
art & cover ERIK LARSEN
32 PAGES / FC
$1.00
A lone supercop fights against a city of organized supercrime.
IMAGE FIRSTS: AGE OF BRONZE #1
story ERIC SHANOWER
art & cover ERIC SHANOWER
32 PAGES / BW
$1.00
Eric Shanower’s epic retelling of the Trojan War.
APRIL 21
IMAGE FIRSTS: WITCHBLADE #1
story DAVID WOHL & CHRISTINA Z
art & cover MICHAEL TURNER
32 PAGES / FC
$1.00
The only weapon powerful enough to keep the forces of Darkness and Light at bay is in the hands of a New York cop.
IMAGE FIRSTS: GIRLS #1
story JOSHUA LUNA
art & cover JONATHAN LUNA
32 PAGES / FC
$1.00
A small town trapped in an invisible dome becomes the epicenter of an alien invasion unlike any other.
APRIL 28
IMAGE FIRSTS: INVINCIBLE #1
story ROBERT KIRKMAN
art & cover CORY WALKER
32 PAGES / FC
$1.00
When a teenager inherits his father’s superpowers, he learns there’s much more to being a superhero than he ever anticipated.
IMAGE FIRSTS: PROOF #1
story ALEX GRECIAN
art & cover RILEY ROSSMO
32 PAGES / FC
$1.00
The supernatural world of Korean folk horror movie Exhuma grows larger with the arrival of prequel spinoff webtoon Maengjong this weekend, Variety reports today.
Naver Webtoon debuts Maengjong on May 30.
The series hails from Haemuri (Olgami) and will trace the high school origins of how shaman duo Hwarim and Bonggil, played by Kim Go-eun and Lee Do-hyun in the 2024 film, came together to face occultish threats.
The story is set to begin when “Hwarim, who has been concealing her identity following a childhood encounter with a snake spirit called Jin, crosses paths with Bonggil at their school.”
Variety notes that Exhuma director Jang Jae-hyun participated in the project’s early concept stage.
“We are presenting ‘Maengjong,’ a new series capturing the appeal of the horror-occult genre, ahead of the full summer season,” said Lee Jeong-geun, Naver Webtoon’s Korea webtoon content leader. “With the high school story of Hwarim and Bonggil, who left a strong impression in the film ‘Exhuma,’ enhanced by Haemuri’s characteristic tense direction, we expect it will be a welcome work for genre fans.”
“It is meaningful that the spin-off story of ‘Exhuma,’ loved by many audiences, expands by meeting the new grammar of webtoon,” said Lee Hyeon-jeong, managing director of the film business division at Showbox, which distributed the film. “We hope it will be a fresh experience for both film fans and webtoon readers.”
Exhuma was a breakout hit in 2024, becoming the first Korean occult film to surpass 10 million ticket buyers and the country’s highest-grossing film of the year. I wrote in my review that “the intricately woven Exhuma delivers one of the year’s biggest surprises in horror so far.”
The bond between Hwarim and Bonggil was one of the film’s highlights, making this prequel webtoon a must for fans.
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