Zombies vs Robots #9
Chris Ryall (w) • Antonio Fuso (a) • Ashley Wood (c)
Ryall and Fuso continue the feature-length “War! ‘Bots!” with the return of a familiar, albeit damaged, face! And another bonus ZvR prose story is included, too!
FC • 40 pages • $4.99
String Divers #2 (of 5)
Chris Ryall (w) • Nelson Daniel (a) • Ashley Wood (c)
“Unified Chaos Theory,” part 2: The robotic, microscopic String Divers find adventure, peril and quantum threats at a level even theoretical physicists never theorized!
FC • 32 pages • $3.99
Onyx #2 (of 4)
Chris Ryall (w) • Gabriel Rodriguez (a & c)
The science-fiction/horror tale from Ryall and Rodriguez continues, as Onyx and her new team of adversaries/allies face down the unbeatable menace infecting our planet!
FC • 32 pages • $3.99
Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency #3
Chris Ryall (w) • Tony Akins (a & c)
The reborn Egyptians keep walking, the Copycat Killers keep killing, and the museum gala where these and other seemingly random events will converge looms large!
FC • 32 pages • $3.99
Acclaimed artist/designer Ashley Wood is preparing to launch his latest comic-book project at IDW this summer with String Divers, a comic series blending a team of robot adventures and string-theory physics! String Divers, directed and overseen by Wood and written by Wood’s Zombies vs. Robots co-creator Chris Ryall, features stunning artwork by Nelson Daniel and a concept that grows bigger the smaller it gets!
Spun out of Ashley Wood’s 3A Toys’ line of titular figures, String Divers incorporates string theory as threats to our universe at the sub-microscopic level have dire and lasting repercussions in our universe and across all dimensions.
Ashley Wood will be providing story direction, concept design, art direction and covers for String Divers. Wood and Ryall are joined by Nelson Daniel, fresh off a long run on IDW’s Judge Dredd, on art. Daniel, who previously partnered with Ryall on the Stephen King/Joe Hill project, Road Rage, will again be providing art and colors on both interiors and variant covers of each issue.
Chris Ryall and Gabriel Rodriguez, the award-winning creators of series such as Locke & Key and Zombies vs. Robots are releasing their first co-creation, Onyx, this summer.
Onyx tells the tale of a female metal-suited warrior who comes to Earth on a quest to either save the planet or destroy it. It’s up to a team of super-soldiers to figure out which before it’s too late, and before a much greater threat overwhelms both them and the planet itself.
Comics readers will be introduced to Onyx in a standalone 5-page story, Onyx #0, that will be included as a free bonus story in many of IDW’s May titles, including The Transformers, Dirk Gently, Star Trek, and many others. This five-pager by Ryall and Rodriguez introduces the character in a deep space setting and serves to set the table for the adventures to follow in July’s Onyx #1 and beyond.
Onyx #1 (of 4) will feature a unique cover plan to help kick it off, too. In addition to Rodriguez’s stunning cover image, Onyx #1 will also feature covers by Ryall’s ZvR co-creator Ashley Wood, a “plush” version of the character by Charles Paul Wilson III, an EC Comics homage cover as part of IDW’s EC Comics tribute month by Alan Robinson, and an incentive cover by Sal Buscema.
Ryall and Rodriguez have previously partnered on multiple comic series: Clive Barker’s The Great and Secret Show, George A. Romero’s Land of the Dead, and Beowulf, but this is the first time they’ve created an all-new title together. For Rodriguez, Onyx follows his work on the acclaimed, Eisner-winning series Locke & Key with writer Joe Hill, and the just-concluded Little Nemo: Return to Slumberland with writer Eric Shanower.
Onyx #1, one of IDW’s Five Featured Firsts in July which welcomes a new #1 issue each week of the month!
In partnership with Ideate Media, IDW Publishing has announced that Dirk Gently will be appearing in his first-ever comic-book series in 2015, helping to prove the interconnectedness of all things, the precept by which Dirk Gently, Douglas Adams’ beloved fictional “holistic detective” lives.
Following the recent announcement that Gently will be developed for television by IDW Entertainment and Ideate Media with Circle of Confusion as Executive Producers and Max Landis as showrunner, IDW will also launch an ongoing series of all-new Dirk Gently adventures as comic books.
The series launching in spring 2015, will be written by Chris Ryall, IDW’s Chief Creative Officer/Editor-in-Chief and creator/writer of series such as Zombies vs Robots, Groom Lake, and The Hollows. The series artist will be Tony Akins, and Chew co-creator Rob Guillory has contributed a first cover image, too. Full story details and release information will follow soon.
Adams’ Dirk Gently, who appeared in Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, Dirk Gently’s Long, Dark Tea-time of the Soul, and the unfinished Dirk Gently fragment that Douglas was writing at the time of his death The Salmon of Doubt, is a charismatic, mysterious, troubled, brilliant, figure—cursed with a relentless intellect, psychic powers he doesn’t fully understand or want, a gift for self-mythologizing, and a supernatural ability to detect disturbances in the fabric of reality. Dirk has found a strange calling as a private detective for impossible crimes, the likes of which will take many forms in the comics.
This weekend, from July 31st – August 3rd, acclaimed creator Harlan Ellison will join IDW’s Editor-in-Chief and CCO, Chris Ryall, at the official Star Trek Convention at the Rio Hotel in Las Vegas, NV. Celebrating the rich universe of Star Trek, Ellison will be featured throughout the weekend on diverse panels, and on hand for a number of signings.
Ellison’s award-winning Star Trek episode, “The City on the Edge of Forever” is a lauded sci-fi masterpiece; cited by many as the greatest episode in the franchises’ long history. Recently adapted to comics by IDW, “The City On The Edge of Forever” rapidly sold out of the first issue, and received a second print, in stores soon! Adapted by Star Trek veterans Scott and David Tipton, with stunning art by J.K. Woodward, the comic series is bringing the complete, unedited script by Ellison to fans, as it was originally intended.
During the weekend, fans will have the opportunity to hear Ellison speak on a number of Q&A panels. The first of which will take place on Thursday, the 31st at 5:20 PM in the main theatre. On Friday, the 1st at 1:20 PM, also in the main theatre, Grace Lee Whitney, the actress who played Janice Rand on the classic series will host a Q&A session, while Walter Koenig, best known for his role as Chekov on the original series, will host a final Q&A with Ellison on Sunday the 3rd at 10:15 AM, in the main theatre.
Ellison and Ryall will be signing and meeting fans alongside “The City on the Edge of Forever” cover artist, Juan Ortiz, during the rest of the convention at Harlan and IDW’s booth, B26.
There have been many stories told in the Mars Attacks universe, but possibly never one quite like this. Beginning in May, Chris Ryall and Sam Kieth, the team behind The Hollows, join forces once again to tell the story of Mars Attacks: First Born.
First Born, a four-issue series written by Ryall from a story co-plotted by Ryall and Kieth, and featuring art and covers by Kieth, tells a deceptively quiet story of the aftereffects of the Martian invasion: in a devastated neighborhood, a few survivors try to rebuild their lives. One of those survivors is an infant Martian, left behind in the attacks. But was she left behind on accident, or as part of a more nefarious plan? Does nature versus nurture apply to horrible invaders from Mars? These are some of the themes being explored in this series. Also: giant bugs.
“This series is a multi-tiered love letter,” said series writer and IDW Chief Creative Officer/Editor-in-Chief Chris Ryall. “Every page shows not only the love Sam and I have for Mars Attacks, but also wild science-fiction tales from the past, the sorts of things Wally Wood drew in the pages of Weird Science-Fantasy and other EC comics. Our adoration of Wally’s work is front and center in this series, but 
it’s also a great next move for Sam and I after the working relationship we developed on The Hollows. And it surely gives Mars Attacks fans something special, in addition to also giving them some of the wanton carnage and gallows humor they’ve come to expect.”
The influence of classic science-fiction stories of years past extends to the variant covers for each issue, too. Artist Loston Wallace pays homage to classic Wally Wood EC covers in each image he’s creating for the series.
“Sam has been a friend to Topps for more than 20 years, and we’re happy to see him finally put his stamp on Mars Attacks,” says Adam Levine, Topps’ Head of Outbound Licensing. “His wild style and one-of-a-kind sense of storytelling will no doubt bring a fresh take to our classic Martians.”
Mars Attacks: First Born #1 (of 4) launches in May.
F
or its first appearance at Boston Comic-Con, IDW will be bringing the talented creators of Locke & Key and their collaborators, as the celebrated series opens the door on its final chapter, Locke & Key: Alpha. Boston Comic-Con will be held at the Seaport World Trade Center on August 3 – 4, and IDW will have some special surprises for the attendees!
Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez will be appearing together for the last time before Locke & Key comes to its climactic conclusion. Joining the series creators will be IDW’s Editor-in-Chief Chris Ryall. Shane Leonard, the artist behind Locke & Key’s striking photo-variant covers, will also be in attendance alongside Israel Skelton, the Skelton Crew Studios mastermind behind IDW’s sellout Locke & Key replica keys. Skelton will be bringing a variety of keys including the very limited SDCC Shadow Key and select other works with him for sale at the Skelton Crew booth, next to IDW’s booth.
In addition to the Locke & Key gang, writer Jason Ciaramella and Hill’s newest collaborator Charles Paul Wilson III will also be present for two huge signings with all these amazing creators in one place! The first signing will be held on Saturday from 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm and the next, Sunday from 3:15pm – 4:30pm. To help celebrate the tremendous signing C.P. Wilson III will be bringing some menacing prints with him from the new series Wraith: Welcome To Christmasland!
On Sunday August 4th a special Locke & Key panel will be held from 2:00pm – 2:45pm in the Waterfront Room featuring Hill, Rodriguez and Ryall as they reflect on the series and discuss the imminent harrowing future for the Lockes! A can’t-miss panel at a can’t-miss convention!
