2007 has been a banner year for Avatar Press. A multitude of highly-regarded releases combined with Avatar's most extensive convention presence to date has brought us to an array of new readers looking for the best creator-owned work in the industry. It was a busy summer for Avatar, setting up at conventions this year with Warren Ellis, Jacen Burrows, Brian Pulido, Mike Wolfer, Tim Sullivan, George A. Romero, John Russo, Robert Englund, the Living Dead Girlz, and others -- and it was great to meet so many of you readers along the way. And even though that's (more or less) behind us for another year, we've got plenty of Avatar news and release info to talk about for the rest of 2007. This ezine presents a synopsis of the rest of the year's solicitations, information on releases and merchandise from Black Summer to Lady Death, and updates on where you can find Avatar related sites on the web.
On the road to STREETS OF GLORY
Garth Ennis' newest creator-owned series, STREETS OF GLORY, is solicited for release this October, but keep your eye out for a possible early release (last second update - looks like it may be in stores as soon as this week)! This western epic by the baron of bash Garth Ennis features the art of Mike Wolfer, a frequent collaborator with Warren Ellis and John Russo. The highly anticipated #1 issue is sure to sell-out so keep watching Diamond's weekly shipments to make sure you don't miss the beginning of Garth's next ground breaking mini-series.
Preview: www.avatarpress.net/v/streetsofglory/
www.wizarduniverse.com/magazine/wizard/005701065.cfm - Garth Ennis talks with Wizard about SOG.
www.comicon.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=36;t=006507 - Garth Ennis talks with Pulse about SOG.
weblogs.variety.com/bags_and_boards/2007/07/garth-ennis-on-.html - Garth talks to Variety's comic blog, Bags and Boards
www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=11226 - Garth talks with CBR's Jonah Weiland
NEW SITES IN THE AVATAR NETWORK
- www.DoktorSleepless.com is a wiki created by Warren Ellis in conjuncture with Avatar's first ongoing comic series with Ellis. The DS wiki is almost completely operated by its community of fans, with pictures, timelines, discussions, and related links supplied by people like yourself. Warren also stores a mass of backmatter related to the print comic here for fans to contemplate over, as well as hidden information and secret web pages! Come and support one of the finest new series and its web correlative, and see what all the hype is about. WARNING: The Doktor is not responsible for any physical or mental harm that comes to you while rummaging through his on-line treasure chest, but he recommends you visit it anyway.
- www.FreakAngels.com may be both Avatar Press and superstar creator Warren Ellis' first venture into webcomics, but they wouldn't be doing so if it wasn't going to be the best damn webcomic out there! Written by creator Warren Ellis with art by Paul Duffield, this long-form, ongoing series will begin later this year, and Avatar will post 5 FREE pages a week at the freakangels.com. The site is now open for fans to register their email addresses to receive updates on the series. It's by Ellis, in full-color, completely FREE, steampunk, and features dysfunctional, dangerous adolescents. Is this how you spell FREAKIN AWESOME?
- Now with twitter: Those of you using twitter can now keep up with what's going on at Avatar at www.twitter.com/Avatarpress.
- And don't forget to check us out on myspace (www.myspace.com/avatarpress) and comicspace (www.comicspace.com/avatarpress) if you are a member of those sites.
2007 CONVENTION EXCLUSIVES
Previously available only at this summer’s conventions, the items below are now available from Avatar via our direct sales agent Comic Cavalcade.
BLACK SUMMER: HORUS 8 inch figure Blood Splattered: $35.00 US, Package Art: Juan Jose Ryp, Format: 8 inch figure in a clam-shell package. - This special Blood Splattered Edition is limited to just 100 units and will never be available in comic stores!
BLACK SUMMER #1 SDCC Edition: $5.99 US, Limited to 1000 units.
BLACK SUMMER #1 Wizard World Chicago Edition: $5.99 US, Limited to 1000.
DOKTOR SLEEPLESS #1 San Diego SDCC Edition: $5.99 US, Limited to 1000.
DOKTOR SLEEPLESS #1 Wizard World Chicago Edition: $5.99 US, Ltd to 1000
Warren Ellis CRECY GN Comic-Con exclusive: $6.99 US, Limited to 1000.
LADY DEATH by Ryp Bust Ruby Edition: $85.00 US, Limited to just 100.
NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD: Hunger SDCC exclusive: $5.99 US, Ltd to 1000.
NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD: Hunger Burrows Sketch cover: $24.99 US, Ltd to just 200.
STARGATE SG1 2007 Special SDCC Photo: $9.99 US, Limited to just 500.
STARGATE SG1 2007 Special SDCC Photo- Shanks / Judge Signed: $75.00 US
For complete graphics and info about these releases, check out: www.avatarpress.com/2007/09/12/2007-convention-exclusive-releases/
To order: www.comcav.com/store/agora.cgi?product=avatar-conexclusives&cart_id=
DECEMBER 2007 SOLICITED RELEASES
BLACK SUMMER #5: $2.99 US, Writer: Warren Ellis, Art: Juan Jose Ryp, Format: Full Color, monthly, 5 of 7, MR. - The Seven Guns' flare of anger following the death of one of their own has burned itself out. But they must know there's going to be retaliation. They must know that, sooner or later, the scale of what Frank Blacksmith has been doing over the last few years would be revealed to them. A private army, waiting for the day Frank would be ordered to wipe out the Guns... It's going to be a super-powered conflict unlike any you've ever seen!
www.avatarpress.com/2007/09/07/g4-fresh-ink-talks-black-summer-2/ - Blair Butler calls Black Summer her favorite book of the summer
www.criticizethis.net/2007/08/comic-book-re-2.html - Criticize This takes on Black Summer
DOKTOR SLEEPLESS #6: $3.99 US, Writer: Warren Ellis, Art: Ivan Rodriguez, Format: Full Color, monthly, MR. - People are getting sick. People are developing... defects. Lumps. Strange anomalies in their Grinder gear. You might almost call them "mutations." This town needs a doctor. Unfortunately, there's only Doktor Sleepless here -- and it might be all his doing... www.doktorsleepless.com
forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=109981 - Warren Ellis talks Doktor Sleepless at Newsarama.
www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=10370 - CBR interviews Ellis about Doktor Sleepless
STREETS OF GLORY #3: $3.99 US, Writer: Garth Ennis, Art: Mike Wolfer, Format: Full Color, monthly, 3 of 6, MR. - Somewhere out there in the dark, Red Crow waits. Apache warrior, serial killer and scourge of the Montana Rockies, the brutality of Red Crow's actions against the white invaders upon his people's land is unparalleled. But one man has dedicated his life to ending the savage killer's reign of terror, and Colonel Joseph Dunn will not rest until Red Crow's head rides a pike. With uneasy allies enlisted from the ranks of visiting business man Charles Morrison's personal bodyguards, Dunn prepares a hunting party to track and kill the Apache madman. But as tensions in Gladback run high in anticipation of the quest into the wilderness, Dunn senses that his posse could be more of a threat to his life than Red Crow himself.
Preview: www.avatarpress.net/v/streetsofglory/
LADY DEATH 2007 Swimsuit: $2.99 US, Art: Juan Jose Ryp, Matt Martin, and others, Format: Color, 16 pages, All Ages. - The luscious queen of the dead is back on the beach! Heat up your Winter with this sultry all-new pinup book featuring Lady Death drawn by some of the best artists in the industry! With Juan Jose Ryp, Matt Martin, Daniel HDR, Gabriel Guzman, Rafa Lopez and many more, this special is so smokin' it might catch fire!
LADY DEATH by Ryp Bust: $59.99 US, Package Art: Juan Jose Ryp, Format: 7 inch bust in a full-color box. - The master of sexy, Juan Jose Ryp, designs the first new Lady Death 3D product in many years! Featuring box art and sculpt design by Juan Jose Ryp, this super-limited product stands almost 7 inches tall and comes carefully packed in Styrofoam inside a full-color box. Limited to just 400 units.
BLACK SUMMER: HORUS 8 inch figure: $24.99 US, Package Art: Juan Jose Ryp. - Straight from the pages of Warren Ellis' smash-hit series Black Summer, Horus is now available as an action figure! The hero who killed the President is now immortalized in this retro-style 8 inch poseable figure. Styled after the popular 1970's type of toys, Horus comes with a cloth costume, complete with his emblem on the back. The packaging features all-new artwork by series artist Juan Jose Ryp on the front and back, and the package itself is a re-sealable clam-shell so that you can easily open and close it without damaging the plastic. Limited to just 750 units.
DUE TO HIGH DEMAND, A COUPLE OF FAN FAVORITE AVATAR TPB's WILL BE REPRINTED IN PREPARATION FOR A MAJOR NEW SERIES IN '08
Warren Ellis STRANGE KISS TPB:$8.95 US, Writer: Warren Ellis, Art: Mike Wolfer, Format: B&W, 72 pages, TPB, MR. - Back in print in time for the all-new series in 2008! The entire Strange Kiss series collected in one volume featuring the introduction of William Gravel! Strange Kiss is best described by Ellis himself, " horrific murder suicide in the middle of a busy city street at midday; an old man rotting and bloating in a hospital bed, something sick gestating inside him; in a darkened place close by, people screaming, impregnated, doomed. Something beautiful and awful is trying to reproduce, and its strange kiss is only to be feared..."
Warren Ellis STRANGER KISSES TPB: $9.95 US, Writer: Warren Ellis, Art: Mike Wolfer, Format: B&W, 72 pages, TPB, MR. - Warren Ellis brings his mad visions to life with the same team who brought you Strange Kiss. Stranger Kisses is about people for whom two genders are not enough, no matter how you play mix and match with sexuality. It's also about videotape, bad secrets, and what it's like to have an entire city wanting to kill you. The videotape is of seriously physically modified whores. Possibly altered at the genetic level. Because those extra orifices look grown. And those weird protuberances don't look artificial.... A very 21st Century comic, mad and modern and speedy and full of nasty ideas. In LA, the future of rich man's whoring and trophy women is being designed. Two sexes are not enough. People like their kisses stranger than that.
Also in print and available:
Warren Ellis Strange Killings TPB - $9.95
Warren Ellis Strange Killings STRONG MEDICINE TPB - $9.99
Warren Ellis Strange Killings BODY ORCHARD TPB - $16.95
Warren Ellis Strange Killings Necromancer TPB - $16.99
For complete graphics and info about these and all of our December solicited releases, check out www.avatarpress.com/2007/09/12/december-2007-solicited-releases/
Please support your local comic shop and Avatar by asking for or ordering Avatar Press comics at your local retailer. If you can't get our December solicited releases locally, you can order them from our direct sales agent at www.comcav.com/store/agora.cgi?product=avatar-dec07&cart_id=
NOVEMBER 2007 SOLICITED RELEASES
Warren Ellis BLACKGAS TPB: $19.99 - $27.99 (HC) US, Writer: Warren Ellis, Cover: Jacen Burrows, Art: Max Fiumara, Format: Full Color, 144 pages, MR, ISBN: 1592910459. - All six issues of Warren Ellis zombie outbreak tale are collected here for the first time! The only two people on Smoky Island who were outside the reach of a gas emitted from the the earth's bowels are now trapped on a black spit of rock with a population who aren't people anymore. They started eating each other an hour ago... Preview: www.avatarpress.net/v/blackgas/
Escape of the Living Dead Resurrected TPB
ESCAPE OF THE LIVING DEAD: Resurrected TPB: $29.99 US, Writer: John Russo, Cover: Mike Wolfer, Art: Dheeraj Verma, Format: Full Color, 240 pages, MR, ISBN: 1592910475. - The ultimate zombie graphic novel, John Russo's zombie epic is unveiled in this definitive collection! The co-writer of the classic film NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD brings his all-new zombie masterpiece to comics! All ten issues of the Escape of the Living Dead are collected into this one giant tome of terror, including the original 5 issue series, the 3 issue Airborne series, the Fearbook, and the Annual. Preview: www.avatarpress.net/v/escapeofthelivingdead/
www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=11639 - CBR talks artist Dheeraj Verma about his work with Avatar
Also this month:
BLACK SUMMER #4:$2.99 US, Writer: Warren Ellis, Art: Juan Jose Ryp
DOKTOR SLEEPLESS #5: $3.99 US, Writer: Warren Ellis, Art: Ivan Rodriguez
Streets Of Glory Wrap Cover #2
STREETS OF GLORY #2: $3.99 US, Writer: Garth Ennis, Art: Mike Wolfer
2001 Maniacs Hornbook Gore Cover
2001 MANIACS Hornbook
For complete graphics and info about these and all of our November solicited releases, check out www.avatarpress.com/2007/09/12/november-2007-solicited-releases/
Please support your local comic shop and Avatar by asking for or ordering Avatar Press comics at your local retailer. If you can't get our November solicited releases locally, you can order them from our direct sales agent at www.comcav.com/store/agora.cgi?product=avatar-nov07&cart_id=
OCTOBER 2007 SOLICITED RELEASES
Garth Ennis Chronicles Of Wormwood TPB
Garth Ennis CHRONICLES OF WORMWOOD TPB: $19.99 - $27.99 (HC) US, Writer: Garth Ennis, Art: Jacen Burrows, Format: Full Color, 144 pages, MR. ISBN: 1592910416. - All six issues of Garth Ennis critically-acclaimed religious epic are collected here for the first time! Available is softcover or a special hardcover edition limited to just 750 copies. Preview: www.avatarpress.net/v/Wormwood/
www.wizarduniverse.com/magazine/wizard/005736842.cfm - Jacen Burrows talks new Alan Moore projects, and his work with Warren Ellis and Garth Ennis.
www.wizarduniverse.com/magazine/wizard/005701065.cfm - Garth Ennis talks with Wizard about SOG.
Chronicles Of Wormwood Last Enemy GN
CHRONICLES OF WORMWOOD The Last Enemy Original Graphic Novel: $7.99 US, Writer: Garth Ennis, Cover: Jacen Burrows, Art: Rob Steen, Format: Full Color, 48 pages, MR., ISBN: 1592910432 - The Chronicles of Wormwood continue in this all-new original graphic novel that picks up right after the original TPB! Wormwood, Jimmy, and Jay all share drinks at their favorite pub and try to get on with their lives, but Pope Jacko has his own plans for Wormwood. In order to dispatch the Anti-Christ once-and-for-all, he commissions his finest Holy assassin, Brother One, the Killer Eunuch!
Garth Ennis STREETS OF GLORY #1: $3.99 US, Writer: Garth Ennis, Art: Mike Wolfer, Format: Full Color, monthly, 1 of 6, MR. - Joe Dunn has been away from Montana for more than 15 years, lost to all who knew him. Now he comes riding into a small town, Dunn still representing the best of the past, an era quickly fading. But it is 1899, the way things are done is changing, the future is coming. But before he is done making things right, the bodies will pile up while the streets run red with glorious blood. Preview: www.avatarpress.net/v/streetsofglory/
www.wizarduniverse.com/magazine/wizard/005701065.cfm - Garth Ennis talks with Wizard about SOG.
www.comicon.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=36;t=006507 - Garth Ennis talks with Pulse about SOG.
Also this month:
BLACK SUMMER #3: $2.99 US, Writer: Warren Ellis, Art: Juan Jose Ryp
DOKTOR SLEEPLESS #4: $3.99 US, Writer: Warren Ellis, Art: Ivan Rodriguez,
Warren Ellis’ WOLFSKIN #1-3 set: $11.99 US, Writer: Warren Ellis, Art:
Juan Jose Ryp
For complete graphics and info about these and all of our October solicited releases, check out www.avatarpress.com/2007/09/12/october-2007-solicited-releases/
Please support your local comic shop and Avatar by asking for or ordering Avatar Press comics at your local retailer. If you can't get our October solicited releases locally, you can order them from our direct sales agent at www.comcav.com/store/agora.cgi?product=avatar-oct07&cart_id=
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Avatar Press is a comic book publisher that continues to push the boundaries between mainstream and independent with current or upcoming work from creators such as Alan Moore, Frank Miller, Warren Ellis, Garth Ennis, Brian Pulido, George A. Romero, George R.R. Martin, Joe R. Lansdale, John Russo, Mike Wolfer, Juan Jose Ryp, Jacen Burrows, and numerous others. The company has published a wide range of comic books including creator-owned titles like Garth Ennis' 303 and Brian Pulido's Lady Death, company-owned comics such as Pandora and The Ravening, licensed hits like Frank Miller's Robocop and George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead, and numerous other titles. A publisher that has established itself as one of the cornerstones of the American indy comic book scene over the past decade, Avatar has published some 500 comic books since 1997.
links of note:
main site: www.avatarpress.com
gallery site: www.avatarpress.net
Please support your local comic shop and Avatar by asking for or preorderng Avatar Press comics at your local retailer. If you can't find them locally, you can order them from our direct sales agent at www.avatarstore.net
To subscribe to Avatar Press News & Updates, go to www.avatarpress.com/subscribe.html
The contents of this release are TM & ©2007 Avatar Press and/or its respective creators, copyright holders, or licensors. Feel free to re-post this information where appropriate. Contact Avatar Press editor in chief William Christensen at william@avatarpress.net for more information
