Media Release -- Top Cow Productions, Inc. proudly announced today the upcoming release of the penultimate installment of Cyberforce/Hunter-Killer #4 the first crossover between Top Cow's Cyberforce and Hunter-Killer teams. Cyberforce/Hunter-Killer #4 is written by Mark Waid (Amazing Spider-Man, Strange), who co-created Hunter-Killer with Top Cow's CEO and founder Marc Silvestri in 2005, with artwork by Kenneth Rocafort (Madame Mirage, Pilot Season: The Core), who drew the final four issues of the initial Hunter-Killer Season One series.

In Cyberforce/Hunter-Killer #4, both the Cyberforce and Hunter-Killer teams have discovered that Morningstar and Cyberdata are working towards a frightening global-spanning goal, but will the two teams be able to trust each other enough to survive the encounter against their true foes?

Silvestri created Cyberforce as the first comic book title to be produced by his newly-formed company in 1992. Hunter-Killer was created in 2005 by Silvestri and Waid. Cyberforce/Hunter-Killer picks up after Hunter-Killer: Season One wrapped up.

Cyberforce/Hunter-Killer #4 will arrive in stores on November 18th and features covers by Rocafort and Whilce Portacio (Image United).

Two cover variants will be offered for Cyberforce/Hunter-Killer #4, one by series artist Rocafort and another by Top Cow "Artist Pit" alumni Joe Benitez (Soulfire, Teen Titans). The fully colored Benitez cover is revealed for the first time now.

Cyberforce/Hunter-Killer #4 will retail for $2.99 as part of Top Cow's own initiative to keep all of their regular comics priced at $2.99 for the duration of the 2009 calendar year.

"Getting this reception a second time around has us all very excited," Kirkman said. "HAUNT is having a tremendous launch at a period in time when the economy doesn't really lend itself to people taking a chance on something new. Not only did the first issue set a recent sales record for Image, but as of last week the reprint and second issue are both gone despite very significant overprints. Todd and I are very appreciative of the fans and retailers supporting HAUNT. We hope to reward them back with years of stories to come."

HAUNT centers on a pair of brothers, Kurt and Daniel Kilgore, who act more like adversaries than family. Kurt, a secret agent, and Daniel, a less than holy priest, bond in a way neither of them expects after Kurt's untimely death. A surprise fusing of Kurt's ghost with Daniel's body creates a chain reaction, turning the brothers into the character, Haunt. While both distribution-level sell out issues will return with all-new printings in December, earlier printings may be available in small quantities at your local comic book store.

HAUNT #1 3rd Printing and HAUNT #2 2nd Printing, both 32-page full color comic books for $2.99, will be in-stores alongside HAUNT #3 (OCT090361) on December 2nd, 2009.

Beast GN, $15.99
Frank Frazettas Dark Kingdom #2 (of 4)(Cover A Frank Frazetta), $3.99
Frank Frazettas Dark Kingdom #2 (of 4)(Cover B Tim Vigil), $3.99
Frank Frazettas Dark Kingdom #2 (of 4)(Nat Jones Sketch Variant Cover), AR
Haunt #1 (Todd McFarlane Foil Cover Collectors Edition Signed/Numbered Edition; signed by Robert Kirkman & Todd McFarlane), AR
Jersey Gods #9, $3.50
Phonogram 2 Singles Club #5 (of 7), $3.50
Strange Adventures Of HP Lovecraft #4 (of 4), $4.99
Tracker #1 (of 5)(Cover A Francis Tsai), $2.99
Tracker #1 (of 5)(Cover B Darick Robertson), $2.99
Walking Dead #67, $2.99
Walking Dead Book 4 HC (New Printing), $34.99
Witchblade #132 (Cover A Stjepan Sejic ), $2.99
Witchblade #132 (Cover B Nelson Blake II), $2.99

In comparison, this is what Image says is coming out next week according to their website:

BEAST OGN
story, art & cover MARIAN CHURCHLAND
152 PAGES, FC, $15.99

COWBOY NINJA VIKING #2
story AJ LIEBERMAN art & cover RILEY ROSSMO
24 PAGES, FC, $3.50

FRANK FRAZETTA’S DARK KINGDOM #2 (of 4)
story MARK KIDWELL, art TIM VIGIL, covers FRANK FRAZETTA, TIM VIGIL & NAT JONES
32 PAGES, FC, $3.99

JERSEY GODS #9
story GLEN BRUNSWICK art DAN McDAID cover MIKE ALLRED
32 PAGES, FC, $3.50

STRANGE ADVENTURES OF H.P. LOVECRAFT #4 (of 4)
story MAC CARTER, art TONY SALMONS, cover ADAM BYRNE
48 PAGES, FC, $4.99

VIKING #4
story IVAN BRANDON, art & cover NIC KLEIN
24 PAGES, FC, $2.99

WALKING DEAD #67
story ROBERT KIRKMAN art & cover CHARLIE ADLARD & CLIFF RATHBURN
32 PAGES, BW, $2.99

ComicList: Image Comics for Wednesday, November 11, 2009, by Charles LePage.

Now that you've read the list, subscribe via email or RSS, use the ComicList Printable Checklist, and catalogue your comics with Collectorz.com Comic Collector!

PLEASE NOTE- Not all of these titles will actually arrive in all stores. Let me know if any of the names or numbers are wrong. To find a local comic book shop, please browse The Master List of Comic Book & Trading Card Stores.

With such high demand for the character, Haunt makes an appearance in a back up story featured in this month's Image United #1, releasing November 25th. The six-page story features the art of dream team Greg Capullo, Ryan Ottley, Todd McFarlane, and FCO Plascencia. Written by Robert Kirkman, the story takes place between Haunt issues 3 and 4, and showcases brothers Daniel and Kurt, as they try to figure out how to use the new power they've acquired.

If you haven't picked up your copy of Haunt #1 or #2, find a comic book shop near you at comicshoplocator.com. You don't want to miss out on this gripping new series! And don't forget to check out Image United #1, when it comes to comic book shops later this month.

Remember, when you order any of these titles, whether here or at your local comic book shop, NOW instead of waiting closer to the release date, you save money AND you save the time of hunting down the issue after it sells out. To find a local comic book shop, please browse The Master List of Comic Book & Trading Card Stores.

Product Changes, New Printings & Variant Editions

• Image Comics has announced that Jim Lee, an original founder of Image, will provide a cover for Image United #1, featuring the pantheon of Image superheroes at the hands of the resurrected Al Simmons.

Click here for the complete Image Comics Extended Forecast

Written by Kirkman and featuring art from Top Cow alumni Joe Benitez (Soulfire, The Darkness), Pilot Season: Demonic #1 centers on the story of Scott Graves and his inner demon—only his demon manifests itself in his real life. Providing him strength, the demon is only satiated when Scott kills. In a conflicted Faustian bargain, Scott will continue to kill as long as the demon promises not to make him kill his wife and daughter. Stalking the night as Demonic, a vigilante known for savagely slaughtering the wicked, Scott must asks himself how long he can continue living this way and if the demon is in fact real. Pilot Season: Demonic #1 features a cover by co-creator Silvestri.

Pilot Season: Demonic #1 will carry the price of $2.99 as part of Top Cow's ongoing initiative to maintain their price point at $2.99 throughout 2009 for all of their regular comic books. A total of five new properties will be introduced in Pilot Season 2009 from co-creators Kirkman and Silvestri. Previously announced has been Pilot Season: Murderer in stores in October. A bargain priced issue titled Pilot Season: Declassified introduces readers to all five concepts for only one dollar.

An annual Top Cow tradition since 2007, Pilot Season allows fans the opportunity to choose the next two Top Cow series based on a selection of one-shot Pilot Season "pilot" issues through online voting. The inaugural Pilot Season initiative garnered more than four million votes from fans across the globe.

About Top Cow Productions Inc.

Top Cow Productions, Inc. (www.topcow.com), a Los Angeles-based entertainment company, was founded in December of 1992 by artist Marc Silvestri, who also co-founded Image Comics earlier that same year. Top Cow currently publishes its line of comic books in 21 languages in over 55 different countries. The company has launched 20 franchises (18 original and two licensed) in the industry's Top 10, seven at #1, a feat accomplished by no other publisher in the last two decades. Its flagship franchise, WITCHBLADE, was TNT's #1 original film of 2000 and the subsequent TV series was released on DVD on July 29, 2008. A feature film, co-produced by Platinum Studios, Inc. and Arclight Films, is slated to begin production in Australia with director Michael Rymer. WITCHBLADE is also the first American property to be fully adapted in Japan as an original anime and manga by Studio GONZO in 2006. Top Cow's other flagship property, THE DARKNESS, was developed into a major next-generation video game release by Starbreeze and 2K Games and achieved platinum sales status. WANTED, an Eisner-nominated miniseries published by Top Cow from 2003-2005, is now a major motion picture from Universal Pictures starring Angelina Jolie, James McAvoy and Morgan Freeman. Virtually all of Top Cow's other properties are in development as feature films, live-action television, animation or video games. Top Cow has also successfully licensed and merchandised its franchises into toys, statues, clothing, lithographs, puppets, posters, magnets, shot glasses, lighters, lunch pails, wall scrolls, mouse pads, die-cast cars, calendars, Christmas ornaments, Halloween masks, trading cards, standees, video games and roleplaying games.

"Things just got real," IMAGE UNITED writer Robert Kirkman said. "Having all seven founders truly united propels the crossover to a whole new level. That's a commonly used phrase, but it's definitely the case here. This is exactly the moment fans have been hoping for and I'm very happy to say Jim delivered. That said, if you think this is cool, just wait for what happens next!"

IMAGE UNITED is a six-part crossover encompassing the entire Image superhero universe and features each Image founder illustrating their own characters. Since its announcement, the crossover has set headlines with New York Times, USAToday and other massive media outlets for its once-in-a-lifetime approach to the superhero crossover. Lee's cover is available for order in addition to those by Erik Larsen, Rob Liefeld, Jim Valentino, Whilce Portacio, Marc Silvestri and Todd McFarlane.

IMAGE UNITED #1, a full-color 32-page comic book for $3.99, will be in-stores November 25th, 2009.

"The number and quality of the submissions really blew me away. I mean, I knew there were a lot of talented comic artists out there, but I hadn’t expected so many to try this out," Murray said. "Judging was very difficult. We had to grade the entries on multiple counts: the fidelity to the model sheets produced by Frank, the story-telling displayed, the quality of the layouts—all of these factors came into play. We managed to pick the final four artists, but choosing a winner out of the four was extremely difficult since each artists had what we were looking for in terms of quality and clear storytelling skills. Frank and I went back and forth till the very last minute on who the winner should be, with Axel beating out the competition."

Axel Medellin will be illustrating next year's 50-GIRLS-50 based off a story conceived and co-written by Cho and Murray. In addition, he will be working alongside Cho as he works off the NEW ULTIMATES illustrator's character and world designs. Cho will also be providing covers for every issue.

Cho added, "Thank you all for the time and effort you put into this. Also for the simple humanity and kindness you showed each other within the various threads of the 50-GIRLS-50 blog. I was as impressed by that as I was by the artistry of your entries."

50-GIRLS-50, a full-color 32-page comic book for $2.99, will be released in early 2010.

When asked why he chose Liefeld to step in for art duties on Spawn, McFarlane says, "I was looking for good artistic help, and remembered inking over Rob on his New Mutant covers back in the Marvel days, and most recently a little bit of Image United. I thought it would be a fun experiment to see what Capullo layouts, Liefeld pencils, and my inks looked like together on a handful of pages."

In this month's Spawn, reporter Marc Rosen connects the miracle patient stories to the healer, and Sam, Twitch, and Detective Rowand make headway in the association between Bill Winston's suicide and Nortego's gang.

Spawn #196, a 32-page full-color comic book hits retailer shelves late November. To find a comic shop check out comicshoplocator.com.

Age Of Bronze #29, $3.50
Haunt #1 (Todd McFarlane Foil Cover Collectors Edition), AR
Haunt #2 (Ryan Ottley Cover), $2.99
Haunt #2 (Todd McFarlane Cover), $2.99
Haunt #2 (Todd McFarlane Black and White Incentive Cover), AR
Savage Dragon #154, $3.50
Sky Pirates Of Neo Terra #2, $2.99
Tyrese Gibsons Mayhem #3 (Of 3)(Tone Rodriguez Regular Cover), $2.99
Tyrese Gibsons Mayhem #3 (Of 3)(Jim Lee Variant Incentive Cover), AR

In comparison, this is what Image says is coming out next week according to their website:

AGE OF BRONZE #29
story, art & cover ERIC SHANOWER

ETERNAL CONFLICTS OF THE COSMIC WARRIOR (ONE-SHOT)
story, art & cover PAUL GRIST

HAUNT #1 COLLECTOR’S EDITION
story ROBERT KIRKMAN art GREG CAPULLO, RYAN OTTLEY & TODD McFARLANE cover TODD McFARLANE

HAUNT #2
story ROBERT KIRKMAN art GREG CAPULLO, RYAN OTTLEY & TODD McFARLANE covers TODD MCFARLANE & RYAN OTTLEY

SAVAGE DRAGON #154
story ERIK LARSEN art & cover ERIK LARSEN

SKY PIRATES OF NEO TERRA #2 (of 5)
story JOSH WAGNER, art & cover CAMILLA D’ERRICO

TYRESE GIBSON’S MAYHEM #3 (of 3)
story TYRESE GIBSON, MIKE LE & WILLIAM WILSON, art & cover TONE RODRIGUEZ

ComicList: Image Comics for Wednesday, November 4, 2009, by Charles LePage.

Now that you've read the list, subscribe via email or RSS, use the ComicList Printable Checklist, and catalogue your comics with Collectorz.com Comic Collector!

PLEASE NOTE- Not all of these titles will actually arrive in all stores. Let me know if any of the names or numbers are wrong. To find a local comic book shop, please browse The Master List of Comic Book & Trading Card Stores.