Highlights from Image Comics November 2013 Solicitations – Black Science, Umbral, Alex + Ada, Manifest Destiny, Protectors Inc, Strangeways and A Voice in The Dark

Strangeways #1 cover - Riley Rossmo

Image Comics are certainly not slackening off in the last part of the year, with no less than seven new #1 titles on the shelves throughout the ninth month of the Roman calendar, but the eleventh for those of us working under the Julian and Gregorian systems.


BLACK SCIENCE #1

Black Science (Image Comics)Originally announced back in July with a slate of other new Image Comics titles, Rick Remender returns to Image for the first time in a decade with this sequel to Fear Agent, which he originally published with Image and artist Tony Moore before it moved to Dark Horse. This new series will be pencilled by Matteo Scalera, with digital paints by Dean White and a cover by Andrew Robinson. From the pulp-inspired covers alone, we are totally in on this one, and the solicitation description makes it a done deal: “Grant McKay, former member of The Anarchistic Order of Scientists, has finally done the impossible: He has deciphered Black Science and punched through the barriers of reality. But what lies beyond the veil is not epiphany, but chaos. Now Grant and his team are lost, living ghosts shipwrecked on an infinite ocean of alien worlds, barreling through the long-forgotten, ancient, and unimaginable dark realms.”

STRANGEWAYS #1

Strangeways #1 cover - Riley RossmoThe only thing more exciting than a new project from artist and writer Riley Rossmo (Green Wake, Debris) is the announcement that he is re-teaming with his Rebel Blood collaborated Alex Link for a new series called Strangeways. Without a doubt, Rossmo has given us some of the most original art currently on the market, and we will be first in line to checkout whatever he has coming up next. The last thing we saw from the artist was the Golden Age formatted Dia De Los Muertos anthology, showcasing how diverse his range can be.  With Strangeways, “a detective specializing in the paranormal to a small town in South Dakota, he finds himself up against flesh-hungry bog-men, his ex-girlfriend, their mutual ex-girlfriend (did we mention she’s a werewolf?), and a demon that’s stolen his arsenal of psychedelics. Then things start to get weird“. Everything about that last solicitation has us drooling in anticipation. Bring it on!

Other new issues include:

UMBRAL #1 — GEM OF THE MONTH
story ANTONY JOHNSTON
art / cover CHRISTOPHER MITTEN
NOVEMBER 13
40 PAGES / FC / M
$2.99
“THE DAY DAWNED TWICE”
A NEW DARK FANTASY FROM THE CREATORS OF WASTELAND! The young thief called Rascal witnesses the horrific murder of the royal family — now the world’s dark legends will be relived, and only Rascal even knows it’s happening!  Master worldbuilder ANTONY JOHNSTON (Dead Space, Daredevil) and his Wasteland co-creator CHRISTOPHER MITTEN (Batman, Criminal Macabre) bring you a new fantasy world rich in mythology, history, and blood! Extra-long first issue for the regular price of $2.99!

ALEX + ADA #1
story JONATHAN LUNA & SARAH VAUGHN
art / cover JONATHAN LUNA
NOVEMBER 6
32 PAGES / FC / T+
$2.99
From JONATHAN LUNA (GIRLS, THE SWORD, Spider-Woman, ULTRA) and SARAH VAUGHN (Sparkshooter) comes ALEX + ADA, a sci-fi drama set in the near future. The last thing in the world Alex wanted was an X5, the latest in realistic androids. But when Ada is dropped into his life, will Alex keep her?
This will be JONATHAN LUNA’s return to comics after three years off since the end of THE SWORD!

MANIFEST DESTINY #1
story CHRIS DINGESS
art / cover MATTHEW ROBERTS & OWEN GIENI
NOVEMBER 13
32 PAGES / FC / T+
$2.99
In 1804, Captain Meriwether Lewis and Second Lieutenant William Clark set out on an expedition to explore the uncharted American frontier. This is the story of what they discovered lurking in the wilds…
Skybound’s newest original series unveils the monsters of the western frontier in the adventure of a lifetime by writer CHRIS DINGESS (Being Human) and up-and-coming artist MATTHEW ROBERTS.

PROTECTORS, INC. #1
story J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
art GORDON PURCELL & MIKE ATIYEH
cover A GORDON PURCELL & MIKE ATIYEH
cover B WHILCE PORTACIO & MIKE ATIYEH
NOVEMBER 6
32 PAGES / FC / M
$2.99
Protectors, Inc.: Heroes in a world without super-powered bad guys. Heroes with corporate sponsors and far too polite rivalries and sporting franchises. Heroes without anything or anyone to fight…until one of them is murdered in ways that could only have been accomplished by someone with equal powers. Solving the mystery falls to Lieutenant Detective John Riley, an ordinary man whose investigation takes him into a strange and dangerous world light years beyond his abilities to understand and very likely far beyond his capacity to survive. The trail leads to a fifty-year-old secret that could threaten the very existence of Protectors, Inc., an impossible love affair, and a serial killer whose work is not yet finished.

A VOICE IN THE DARK #1
story / art / cover LARIME TAYLOR
NOVEMBER 20
48 PAGES / BW / T+
$3.99
“BLOOD MAKES NOISE”
It’s been 72 days since Zoey killed someone. With her recent move to college, Zoey is eager to start a fresh chapter of her life — one where she can control her dark urges the way she has before. But when she becomes the host of a late-night campus radio show, Zoey must consider if she has given a voice to something far more troubled than her anonymous callers.