Tomorrow is a very unique day in the comic book industry.
Seventeen years ago, a group of disgruntled and extremely talented artists left Marvel and DC Comics, the two largest publishers in the industry. The illustrators were rebelling against not owning the copyright and rights to characters they created. To take a stand, Todd McFarlane, Marc Silvestri, Jim Lee, Erik Larson, Whilce Portacio, Rob Liefeld, and Jim Valentino formed their own company, Image Comics, which allowed these high-profile creators the opportunity to own all characters they created.
Image Comics started off rocky. But three of the new owners found success. Todd McFarlane found the most initially, his launch of the comic book Spawn finding an immediate niche with comic book fans. Erik Larson also had success with his title, Savage Dragon. It took a few years, but Marc Silvestri’s company, Top Cow, became a force in the industry with titles like The Darkness and Witchblade. The others have put out work but nothing extremely noteworthy.
Ultimately, the creators who were so united by their convictions in the early 1990’s have splintered away from one another, each owning their own comic book studio and futures.
That changes tomorrow.
But first, a chat today with the creators of Image United!
In an event that could be very cool or utterly fail, six of those initial seven creators are coming together for a six-issue comic book story arc called Image United. With one writer guiding them, Image United will bring the characters these illustrators made famous into one story. What is even cooler than that is each artist will draw their respective characters in every panel of the arc; for instance, if Spawn and Witchblade show up together on page 5 of Issue #2, McFarlane and Silvestri will be working together on that page. The logistics of this is mindbogling, the artists having to pass around incomplete pages, but the end effect could be great fun.
The only creator not entirely taking part is Jim Lee. Lee, who is arguably the most talented illustrator of the bunch, entered into an agreement with DC Comics several years ago that prevents him from using his creation, WildC.A.T.s, in Image United. Lee does, however, offer his penciling talents on a cover for Image United featuring the anit-Spawn and his domination over the other characters. It is nice work and will surely fetch a good price on the secondary market.
Image United will be available tomorrow in fine comic bookstores everywhere, but there is a great event taking place today. Tonight at 7 pm EST / 4 pm PST, on Newsarama, the creators of Image United will be coming together to chat to their fans!
Click HERE to learn more about the chat.
It is your opportunity to read what they have to say about the project and ask questions of your own. These creators are a part of comic book history; don’t miss out on this opportunity!
Image United #1 goes on sale tomorrow! Check it out!
