Prelude to Image United

Image United is setting up to be epic. If you looked at just the talent alone involved in the project you have a who's who of comic book heavyweights. Robert Kirkman, Whilce Portacio, Jim Valentino, Marc Silvestri, Rob Liefeld, Erik Larsen and Todd McFarlane. Only Jim Lee isn't a part of the project. Still enough there to turn a few heads. So how about a four-part prelude that sets up the main story? "These backups are not a preview, this is completely original material not collected in the upcoming mini-series," writer Robert Kirkman said. "The IMAGE UNITED PRELUDE will debut Whilce Portacio's new character, FORTRESS, and set up his role front and center in the overall Image universe. Plus, there's a surprise that's going to shock an awful lot of fans. It'll be your first hint the crossover isn't limited to the seven characters we've seen." The prelude is (as mentioned above) a four-part adventure featuring some of the characters in the crossover. The four chapters will be presented alongside full-length issues that correspond swimmingly. Savage Dragon #153 sets up the Dragon War storyline (due in stores October 7 for $3.50), Witchblade #131 starts the new Witchblade universe (due in stores October 7 for $2.99), Invincible #67 is the conclusions to Cory Walker's contributions (due in stores October 21 for $2.99) and Spawn #195, the series farewell to Whilce Portacio (due in stores October 21 for $2.99). Full press release and other covers after the jump. PRESS RELEASE - IMAGE UNITED PRELUDE TO GIVE SNEAK PEEK AT THE UPCOMING IMAGE FOUNDER CROSSOVER EVENT! October's IMAGE UNITED prelude to reveal the secrets behind the crossover event of the century! 23 September 2009 (Berkeley, CA) - This October IMAGE UNITED begins with a four-part prelude backup feature revealing the secret history of the highly anticipated Image Comics founder crossover in SAVAGE DRAGON #153, WITCHBLADE #131, INVINCIBLE #67 and SPAWN #195! "These backups are not a preview, this is completely original material not collected in the upcoming mini-series," writer Robert Kirkman said. "The IMAGE UNITED PRELUDE will debut Whilce Portacio's new character, FORTRESS, and set up his role front and center in the overall Image universe. Plus, there's a surprise that's going to shock an awful lot of fans. It'll be your first hint the crossover isn't limited to the seven characters we've seen." The IMAGE UNITED prelude will be a four-part adventure featuring participants of IMAGE UNITED illustrating in the unique jam comics style the crossover is already known for. All four chapters come in addition the full-length features of each issue, starting with SAVAGE DRAGON #153's set up for the upcoming 'Dragon War', WITCHBLADE #131's all-new status quo, INVINCIBLE #67's conclusion to the Cory Walker illustrated two-parter and finally SPAWN #195's series farewell to artist Whilce Portacio. SAVAGE DRAGON #153 (AUG090362), a 32-page full color comic book for $3.50, will be in-stores October 7th, 2009. WITCHBLADE #131 (AUG090388), a 32-page full color comic book for $2.99, will also be in-stores October 7th, 2009. INVINCIBLE #67 (AUG090355), a 32-page full color comic book for $2.99, will be in-stores October 21st, 2009. SPAWN #195 (JUN090393), a 32-page full color comic book for $2.95, will also be in-stores October 21st, 2009. Image Comics is a comics and graphic novels publisher formed in 1992 by a collective of best-selling artists. Since that time, Image has gone on to become one of the largest comics publishers in the United States. There are currently five partners in Image Comics (Robert Kirkman, Erik Larsen, Todd McFarlane, Marc Silvestri, and Jim Valentino), and Image is currently divided into four major houses (Todd McFarlane Productions, Top Cow Productions, Shadowline, and Image Central). Image comics and graphic novels cover nearly every genre, sub-genre, and style imaginable, offering science fiction, romance, horror, crime fiction, historical fiction, humor, and more by the finest artists and writers working in the medium today. Visit www.imagecomics.com.

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