Eisner-winning Creators Tapped For Mars Attacks Ongoing Series
Monday, Jan 23rd, 2012
John Layman, John McCrea to reimagine cult sci-fi classic in June
San Diego, CA (January
23, 2012)— IDW Publishing and Topps are pleased to announce
the multiple Eisner Award-winning creative team for MARS ATTACKS,
an all-new ongoing comic series based on the fan-favorite Mars
Attacks franchise.
Debuting in June 2012, IDW’s comic series will offer the
first stories of an all-new Mars Attacks universe,
bringing the brand’s outrageous action and dark humor to a
new set of tales. Writer John Layman, author and
co-creator of the Eisner-winning series Chew, will pen the
series, with art by John McCrea, best known for
his collaborations with Garth Ennis, including
Eisner-winner Hitman.
“I’m a huge fan of Mars Attacks from a long
way back. I own about half the original card set from 1962 and have
a pretty big collection of collectables and doodads,”
Layman said. “It’s always been a dream
of mine to destroy the Earth and inflict huge degrees of suffering
on the rest of humanity. With this Mars Attacks series, I
finally get my chance.”
Created in 1962, Mars Attacks celebrates its 50th
anniversary in 2012 with major product launches throughout the
year. IDW’s new comic series, as well as high-quality
reprints of existing material, will be a cornerstone of that
effort.
Originally published by Topps as a series of trading cards, Mars Attacks was created by Len Brown and Woody Gelman, after Brown was inspired by the Wally Wood cover to Weird Science #16 (EC Comics). The cards went on to achieve cult status for their then-shocking imagery—fully painted by pulp legend Norm Saunders and based on designs by Wood and Bob Powell—and remains a staple of pop culture. Topps revived the franchise in the mid 1990s with a second card set, comic book series and toy line. The story was also adapted into the 1996 feature film Mars Attacks!, directed by Tim Burton.
“We were excited to hear of the award-winning creative team that IDW had secured,” said Ira Friedman, Topps vice president of global licensing. “John McCrea was our first choice to illustrate Mars Attacks and we were thrilled that IDW was able to bring him aboard. His experience drawing over-the-top violence on comics like Hitman, Judge Dredd and The Boys, coupled with John Layman’s penchant for twisted, offbeat humor makes them the perfect team to relaunch Mars Attacks.”
MARS ATTACKS will include covers by McCrea and
alternate covers by such comic-book luminaries as Sam
Kieth, Ben Templesmith and Eric
Powell. The first issue will also feature a unique
approach to variant covers: It will ship with 55 different covers,
each depicting one of the original trading cards from the debut set
of Mars Attacks from 1962. A complete collector’s
set of the 55 covers in a box that replicates the original card
packaging will be offered separately as well.
MARS ATTACKS #1 ($3.99, 32 pages, full color) will be
available in stores in June 2012.
Visit IDWPublishing.com to learn more about the company and its
top-selling books. For information on Topps, please visit
topps.com.
About IDW Publishing
IDW is an award-winning publisher of comic books, graphic novels
and trade paperbacks, based in San Diego, California. Renowned for
its diverse catalog of licensed and independent titles, IDW
publishes some of the most successful and popular titles in the
industry, including: Hasbro’s The TRANSFORMERS
and G.I. JOE, Paramount’s Star
Trek; HBO’s True Blood; the BBC’s DOCTOR WHO;
Toho’s Godzilla; and comics and trade collections based on
novels by worldwide bestselling author, James Patterson. IDW is
also home to the Library of American Comics imprint, which
publishes classic comic reprints; Yoe! Books, a partnership with
Yoe! Studio.
IDW’s original horror series, 30 Days of Night, was
launched as a major motion picture in October 2007 by Sony Pictures
and was the #1 film in its first week of release. More information
about the company can be found at IDWPublishing.com.
About Topps
Founded in 1938, The Topps Company is the preeminent creator and
brand marketer of sports cards, entertainment products, and
distinctive confectionery. Topps leading sports and entertainment
products include Major League Baseball, National Football League,
WWE, UFC, Star Wars, Wacky Packages, Garbage Pail Kids and other
trading cards, sticker album collections, and collectible games.
The Company’s top confectionery brands include “Ring
Pop,” “Push Pop,” “Baby Bottle Pop,”
“Bazooka” bubble gum, “Sharkies” and
“Juicy Drop Pop” products. For more
information, visit www.topps.com.
For all the latest on Mars Attacks, follow on Facebook:
www.facebook.com/MarsAttacks
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