The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards capped off a busy second day of Comic-Con, one that included big announcements from Marvel, Viz Media and Image, plus a slew of new titles and creator exclusives.
The meaning behind the much-teased “Marvel to the Nth Degree” panel came to light Friday morning in The Wall Street Journal with word that Marvel is reteaming with Stephen King for a “motion comics”-style digital adaptation of his forthcoming short story “N.”
Image Comics revealed a team-up of its own: Six of the company’s founders — Marc Silvestri, Erik Larsen, Jim Valentino, Rob Liefeld, Whilce Portacio and Todd McFarlane — and new partner Robert Kirkman will release Image United, a miniseries starring some of their best-known creations, plus “side characters.”
And after a lengthy delay at the creator’s request, Viz Media finally will release Naoki Urasawa’s science fiction/mystery series 20th Century Boys. The publisher also has licensed his latest work, Pluto. Both will debut in February.
The Vertigo panel unveiled new titles from Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá, and Jonathan Ames and Dean Haspiel, and offered details on the Vertigo Crime imprint, Seaguy sequels, and a hardcover collection of Death miniseries called, naturally, The Complete Death.
Other convention-related announcements:
• Del Rey has acquired several titles, including Shaenon Garrity’s CLAMP in America, Harvey Pekar’s Huntington, W.V On The Fly, Paul Hornschemier’s Life With Dr. Dangerous, and Brenden Burford’s Syncopated.
• Farscape creator Rockne O’Bannon will write BOOM! Studios’ previously announced adaptation of the sci-fi TV show.
• IDW Publishing will release a prequel to next summer’s Transformers movie.
• Dabel Bros. Publishing is adapting The Warriors, just in time for the cult film’s 30th anniversary.
• Artists Khoi Pham and Paolo Rivera have signed exclusive agreements with Marvel.
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