Wild Children Explores Rebellion

Typically, when a notion starts off with the words "guns," "acid," "cameras," "school" and "wild children," you pay attention. Since it's a safe bet that after reading that you're now paying attention, keep reading. You'll find out that all of those things will coalesce in Wild Children, a new graphic novella from Image Comics, hitting stores in July.

It's written by Ales Kot and illustrated by Riley Rossmo and explores a high school hostage situation. The subject of school shootings behind the controversial Hellblazer: Shoot by Warren Ellis and Phil Jimenez merges with Grant Morrison's and Philip Bond's themes of teenage revolt in Kill Your Boyfriend, delivering a unique story of magic, passion and disinformation.

"Comics have tremendous transformative potential, and on top of that, they're pure fun when done well," said writer Kot. "This comic is the equivalent of a six-track pop EP — and if we've done our jobs well, Wild Children will be the weird pop EP you'll find yourself coming back to again and again."

Rossmo's getting some help with the art. Not that he needs it, but when you can add a colorist like Gregory Wright and a letterer like Clayton Cowles, you just do.

""For me, Wild Children is an experiment in cleanliness," said Rossmo. "My work is usually dirty, scratchy, messy -- but here I wanted to try a style I had only used in some of the editorial work I'd done. All line, no spotted blacks."

The 64-page novella will hit stores July 11.

Full press release below.

A DIFFERENT KIND OF EDUCATION
WILD CHILDREN plumbs the depths of rebellion in July

Guns. Acid. Cameras. School. Wild Children.

Written by Ales Kot (Batman) and drawn by a long-standing Image creator Riley Rossmo (Cowboy Ninja Viking, Dark Wolverine, Debris), WILD CHILDREN, a new graphic novella from Image Comics in July, explores an explosive high school hostage situation that threatens to unfold its own reality like cheap origami.

The subject of school shootings behind the controversial Hellblazer: Shoot by Warren Ellis and Phil Jimenez merges with Grant Morrison's and Philip Bond's themes of teenage revolt in Kill Your Boyfriend, delivering a unique story of magic, passion and disinformation.

"Comics have tremendous transformative potential, and on top of that, they're pure fun when done well," said writer Kot. "This comic is the equivalent of a six-track pop EP — and if we've done our jobs well, Wild Children will be the weird pop EP you'll find yourself coming back to again and again."

Rossmo's distinctive art style, significantly altered from its usual look to better fit the storytelling demands of WILD CHILDREN', is complemented by stunning psychedelic colors by Gregory Wright (Batman: The Long Halloween, Elephantmen) and inventive lettering by a superstar letterer Clayton Cowles (Kick-Ass, Superior, The Defenders).

""For me, Wild Children is an experiment in cleanliness," said Rossmo. "My work is usually dirty, scratchy, messy -- but here I wanted to try a style I had only used in some of the editorial work I'd done. All line, no spotted blacks."

"Natural Born Killers" meets "Bowling for Columbine"? Maybe. But what if you're wrong?

WILD CHILDREN is a self-contained 64-page paperback graphic novella. It will be available for pre-order in comic book stores in the May issue of Previews and on shelves on July 11. Its ISBN is 978-1-60706-581-4.

ABOUT IMAGE COMICS
Image Comics is a comic book and graphic novel publisher founded in 1992 by a collective of best-selling artists. Image has since gone on to become one of the largest comics publishers in the United States. Image currently has five partners: Robert Kirkman, Erik Larsen, Todd McFarlane, Marc Silvestri and Jim Valentino. It consists of five major houses: Todd McFarlane Productions, Top Cow Productions, Shadowline, Skybound and Image Central. Image publishes comics and graphic novels in nearly every genre, sub-genre, and style imaginable. It offers science fiction, romance, horror, crime fiction, historical fiction, humor and more by the finest artists and writers working in the medium today. For more information, visit www.imagecomics.com.