Robinson and Hinkle’s story, although taking inspiration from real sources, is fictional. “Honestly, in reality Eric [Stephenson] didn’t come to me with Airboy, I conceived the whole thing with me in it and all the drinking, drugs, and sex and took the idea to him,” said Robinson. “There was never any intended Airboy relaunch. It was all made up by me.”

A humorous blend of fiction and reality (and a healthy dose of embellishment) AIRBOY begins the renewed journey of a character much beloved at one point, but forgotten today.

“Oh and our characters are quite like they’re depicted in the comic, including our weak wills, depravity, and cowardice,” added Robinson.

Image Comics Eric Stephenson himself even makes a cameo appearance in the story.

“As the writer of Starman, James is one of comics’ preeminent writers, and when he first started talking to us about doing more creator-owned work at Image, I was thrilled,” said Eric Stephenson, Publisher at Image Comics. “Saviors has been fantastic, obviously, but that in no way prepared me for the absolute insanity of AIRBOY—and I mean that in the absolute best way possible. What James and Greg have come up with here is nothing short of inspired mayhem.”

A rise in “super powered” individuals dates back to the closing days of World War II after the deployment of the atomic bomb. In response, Geoffrey Warner (then known as The Grey Raven) spearheaded the campaign to bring heroes together in Chicago…and struck a contract with the city for the heroes’ services. But while C.O.W.L. once stood as a beacon of hope against an epidemic of organized crime and a loose “brotherhood” of villains, the organization is now in a position where it must prove its worth to an ever more disillusioned public…while overcoming great threats from both inside and outside its offices.

Although Geoffrey, aka The Grey Raven is the character responsible for first organizing the heroes under one banner, C.O.W.L., he’s not the only character readers will get to know. “While Geoffrey is definitely a major player, both within C.O.W.L and within the story, the book is very much an ensemble piece, allowing us to explore C.O.W.L. from a number of different viewpoints,” said Siegel. “These characters range from some of the “top tier” heroes, to members of the Investigations and Patrol Divisions. We’ve also got spouses, reporters, Chicago Police Detectives, jailers, and City Hall.”

The concept for C.O.W.L. has been marinating with Higgins for quite some time. Its first appearance was in his college film, THE LEAGUE. “As someone who loves history, comics, and crime fiction, 1960s Chicago was always the perfect era for C.O.W.L. In fact, it’s what got me to take the idea of organized superheroes seriously,” said Higgins. “Between the politics and labor unions in Chicago, and the rise of Marvel Comics, the early ’60s are one of my favorite periods in American History.”

“With this I project tried to play around a little with references for comics and illustration,” explained Reis. “Stuff like ’80s graphic novels, noir and ’60s illustration, to create a fun and exciting way to tell the story.”

DeConnick admitted the tricky dilemma she set up for herself in wanting to work with the Women in Prison trope but still honor feminism. “I have a profound and abiding love for exploitation films, but as a feminist, I also find many (if not most) of them deeply problematic—for reasons that are both obvious and that I can’t expound on without sounding like an academic paper,” said DeConnick. “These are two WILDLY mixed feelings. And I love mixed feelings. It happens that mixed feelings are the perfect soil composition for fiction.”

“Kelly Sue pretty much sold me on this with the title. It’s called Bitch Planet—how can you not love that?” said Eric Stephenson, Publisher at Image Comics. “But seriously, it’s a true pleasure to have Kelly Sue working on a second title at Image, and even better that she’s doing it with Valentine De Landro. Mark my words, this is your new favorite comic.”

A science-fiction take on the Women in Prison exploitation feature, BITCH PLANET follows five prisoners on an all-female penal planet, ready to make their escape by way of a gladiatorial exhibition against a team of visiting male prisoners. DeConnick summed BITCH PLANET up with, “there are five women, all ridiculous and real, and all very different. One shouldn’t be there. The other four are unrepentant and guilty as Hell.”

Casanova escaped the complicated and stressful life of a dimension-hopping, identity-shifting, sexually voracious killing machine and we last saw him wandering out of the wreckage of a UFO that landed in the Hollywood Hills.

It’s our Los Angeles. It’s our Earth. And he remembers absolutely nothing of his past.

“There has literally never been a better jumping-on point for new readers,” said Fraction. “Our main character has no idea what’s happened in the other Casanova books either… If that weren’t enough, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Chabon joins series co-creator Gabriel Bá to create a dazzling array of backup stories that explore the worlds—and the people—Casanova left behind.”

The CASANOVA series has roots with Image and the Publisher himself has been a long-time fan. “Casanova is one of my all-time favorite comics, and I think I’ve been pretty open about how gutted I was when Matt and the twins chose to take it elsewhere a few years back, so it should really go without saying that I am incredibly thrilled to have this book back at Image,” said Eric Stephenson, Publisher at Image Comics. “Anyone who is as big a fan of Casanova as I am is going to be amazed by everything the guys have planned this time around.”

The first of the series will be 8HOUSE: KIEM, written by Graham and drawn by Xurxo Penalta and follows a soldier who must project her mind into the body of her dead twin in order to fight monsters on a distant comet.

The second of the series is titled 8HOUSE: ARCLIGHT, written by Graham and featuring art by Marian Churchland (BEAST). ARCLIGHT will bring readers the chilling story of a high-ranking lady of one of the houses who has her mind trapped in a monster’s body. She will soon learn that the monster trapped in her body has taken over her old life in her absence.

The last of the series will be 8HOUSE: MIRROR, and will be written by Emma Ríos (PRETTY DEADLY) and drawn by Hwei Lim. 8HOUSE: MIRROR will examine what it means to be “human” and promises to take readers on an ironic space opera battle between self-absorbed humans intent on their own survival and noble monsters striving to save their worlds.

“Brandon Graham possesses one of the most irreverent creative minds in comics, which is what led me to tap him for the Prophet relaunch a couple years back,” said Eric Stephenson, Publisher at Image Comics. “Brandon’s work on Prophet also revealed he has a keen eye for talent, so in addition to being one of the most creatively adventurous project we publish all year, 8House is also one of the most gorgeous.”

Bill Willingham (Fables, Elementals) and Barry Kitson (Batman, Fables) reveal that the magic and gods of legend and lore are not just oral history, but real…and now they’re back in the forthcoming series RESTORATION.

Millennia ago, a group of some of the more forward-seeing movers and shakers in the world got together and decided to remove magic from the world—our world. They called themselves The Brotherhood of the Cauldron, because, in the first stages of their massive project, they would feed captured magical items and beings into a large magic cauldron, which would render them down into their most basic magic essence, which could then be bottled and stored away, much like we store the unwanted residue of our nuclear programs.

The world settled down into manageable natural laws that were always the same for everyone. Magic was gone. Until one day something terrible went wrong and the gods and monsters broke loose. Suddenly, all at once, magic came rushing back into the world.

“Bill Willingham was in the early vanguard for creator-owned comics, as well as one of comics’ most unique and interesting voices, and it’s a huge thrill to be working with him here at Image,” said Eric Stephenson, Publisher at Image Comics. “Likewise, it’s fantastic to welcome Barry Kitson back to Image for his first project here in over a decade. Restoration is going to be a fantastic ride, and different from everything else on the stands!”

Now the gods wish to keep their freedom—and magic—while the rest of the world seeks to imprison them. Will there be war? And who will win?

Kate Kristopher, once the most famous explorer on Earth—an Earth that’s far more fantastical than the one we know, filled with demons, gorgons, phantom ninjas, and various other monsters of lore—is forced to return to the adventurous life she left behind when a family secret threatens to destroy everything she spent her life protecting.

Kate’s character can be described as a contemporary Indiana Jones. “We’re looking at the 21st Century, where it’s at and where it’s going, and considering what the Adventurer for its time might be like—what would Indiana Jones be like if created in 2014? What’s after Lara Croft?” said Keatinge. “We’re at a much different time than the pulps and serial Indiana Jones and, to an extent, Lara Croft, were rooted in—information from all remote corners of the world comes from great ease, where we’re more knowledgeable about other cultures, where technology enables us to access we could only dream about. Where do you go from there?”

Leila del Duca was brought on for SHUTTER’s art by Keatinge himself. “Joe Keatinge was the first industry name who showed real interest in my work and I really enjoyed his writing on Glory and Hell Yeah,” del Duca explained. “When he pitched Shutter to me, I was ecstatic about the concept. Joe’s imagination is incredible and he’s writing me a script perfect for my interests, with lush visuals and diverse subject matter.”

Twelve gods will be briefly reincarnated in order to perform miracles like superheroes and bask in celebrity fame. But for the first time, there may be a thirteenth god reincarnated, and lucky number thirteen is tipping the delicate balance.

“The idea of playing superheroes as celebrity isn’t exactly new,” explained Gillen. “However, it’s always played cynical. The celebrity characters are always the debased bad guys, or at least the cautionary tale and wandering from the road of truth. It’s always implicitly arguing that these people are worse than the heroes who came before them because they’re on the cover of a magazine and they do a bit of coke. We’re not interested in that. We’re anti-that. We’ve all had pop-stars save our life.”

As if superhero-like gods reincarnated isn’t enough to draw readers in, Gillen promises a hefty dose of drama and mystery as well. “There’ll be a lot of fights, drama, emotions, secrets, and kissing,” hinted Gillen. “Worth noting is the question of whether the lead ends up being a God is the story to begin with. As far as the world knows, there’s only twelve gods who appear. There may be a mystery going on.”

WYTCHES takes the mythology of witches to a far creepier, bone-chilling place than readers have dared venture before. “I like taking classic monsters and reimagining them in a fresh, contemporary, and much scarier way,” said Snyder.

Snyder and Jock have worked together previously on the Batman story “The Black Mirror” in the pages of Detective Comics and Snyder knew from the get-go that he wanted Jock on board.

“It’s great to finally have Scott Snyder back at Image,” said Image Comics Publisher Eric Stephenson. “We loved working with Scott on SEVERED, and he has only gotten better since then, so it’s really wonderful that he’s teaming up with Jock on what is without a doubt one of the creepiest books we have ever published.”

A contemporary fantasy epic with a spy thriller aesthetic, PARADIGMS will showcase art by Butch Guice (Captain America, Superman) and explore a world that exists beyond, or more specifically behind, ours. In the shadows where magic is real, warring clans of sorcerers battle for power and the favor of their gods.

A sci-fi thriller of dead worlds, lost secrets, and hidden dangers, CERULEAN, with art by Frazer Irving (MORNING GLORIES, BEDLAM, Batman), follows the last survivors of the destruction of Earth as they struggle to rebuild civilization on a distant planet full of its own mysteries.

In the GREAT BEYOND, featuring art by Morgan Jeske (ZERO, SEX) a “post-life community” values the size of your bank account over morals and values—and your place in the hereafter is determined by it. But then polite society is rocked by the apparent suicide of one of its own.

“I knew I wanted 2014 to be a big year for my creator-owned work, but I never dreamed I’d get the opportunity to work with so many incredible artists! Collaborating with a legend like Butch, a visionary like Frazer, or an exciting new star like Morgan, it just makes you want to tell great stories with them and do the best work you possibly can. And it’s always great to be doing it at Image, which has been like home to me the entirety of my career. I really believe in what we’re doing here, and I can’t wait for people to see what’s next.”

PARADIGMS, CERULEAN, and GREAT BEYOND are all new, ongoing science-fiction/fantasy series coming to Image Comics in 2014.