Standard Deviations vol. 6
Image Expo variants
As part of the 20th Anniversary celebration of Image Comics, the publisher will be hosting the Image Comics Expo this weekend in Oakland, California. The show features a who’s who of creators participating in discussion panels and autograph signings, but fans will also have the chance to pick up a handful of issues from some of Image’s most popular series with convention-exclusive covers. Featuring work by current top flight artist and long-time favorites, this is a set of variants no Image fan should miss.
As Image reaches its 20th Anniversary, the collection of books sporting expo-exclusive covers provides a nice overview of the publisher’s history going back to it’s earliest days. The return of Image co-founder Rob Liefeld’s Glory with issue #23 will be commemorated with an exclusive variant by Ross Campbell benefitting the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. The milestone 100th issue of long running series The Darkness will celebrate with a sketch cover by co-creator and Image co-founder Marc Silvestri.
These mainstays get variants along with newer hits like John Layman and Rob Guillory’s Chew #24, Stjepan Sejic’s Artifacts #14 (which also features a blank back cover) and Robert Kirkman and Shawn Martinbrough’s Thief of Thieves #1. Kirkman’s “other” series The Walking Deadis also part of this set with a variant cover for issue #94 by series artists Charlie Adlard, and Cliff Rathburn. The book will be given away to the first 5,000 fans at the expo, and a black and white version will also be available and limited to under 200 copies. In addition to being a fun and potentially valuable keepsake, the variant will also give fans an opportunity to get the book a few days early as the regular edition won’t hit the shelves until February 29th.
We’ll be looking at some of the news coming out of the Image Expo as part of our “The State of Comics” series next month and some of Image’s newest series will be in the spotlight in coming weeks (including Jonathan Hickman and Nicholas Pitarra’s The Manhattan Projects, and Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples’ Saga). Also be sure to check out our ongoing attempts to keep up with The Walking Dead.
- Artifacts #14 by Stjepan Sejic
- Chew #24 by Rob Guillory
- Darkness #100 sketch cover by Marc Silvestri
- Glory #23 by Ross Campbell benefitting the CBLDF
- The Walking Dead #94 by Adlard and Rathburn
- Thief of Thieves #1 by Shawn Martinbrough
ABOUT IMAGE EXPO
Image Expo is a three-day comic book convention commemorating Image Comics’ 20th Anniversary and celebrating creator-owned comics, being held on February 24, 25, and 26, 2012 at the Oakland Convention Center. Image partners Robert Kirkman, Erik Larsen, Todd McFarlane, Marc Silvestri, and Jim Valentino, will be the guests of honor, appearing for signings, panels, and special events. Other special guests include Image founders Rob Liefeld, and Whilce Portacio, plus the creators of today’s best creator-owned comics, including Ed Brubaker and Brian K. Vaughan.
Read more entries from the Standard Deviations series on MyLatestDistraction.