Friends of the Cow: Silvestri / Benitez / Montiel Judge New Comic Idol Contest

From our friends over at Riot Shell:

Silvestri / Benitez / Montiel JUDGE NEW COMIC IDOL CONTEST

COMIC IDOL ONLINE RE-INVENTS HERSELF

When first starting Riot Shell and Comic Idol Online, creators Adrian Nicita & Vince Panuccio set out to create a platform for new talent and an exciting means of seeing this new talent go farther and farther as time progresses. To this day the two still has the following to say: "I was amazed at the amount of entries we kept on receiving, be it the Page Contests or the Color Contest. I am humbled by this attention and at times completely stunned by the quality some people came up with."

Adrian & Vince also noticed that the voting by title of fans alone, was not delivering the goal they set out for them self's, namely having Adrian's character Riot Shell be presented in the best way possible. So in order to optimize the contest and its results they explained: "We wanted to be both true to ourselves as well as to the voters and the artists, so I decided to make the contest even more professional and indeed I asked a Jury Of Professionals to have the final say about the contributed artwork. We are pleased to announce our 3 judges
1. Marc Silvestri comic book legendary Artist & Top Cow Owner
2. Joe Benitez Aspen / Dc Artist
3. Martin Möntiel - Riot Shell #0 / Zenscope
The decision will be made by the Jury in November.


Adrian Nicita is very happy to have the contribution of comic-pro's to help his endeavor: "I cannot wait to see the next pieces of art for the third page of the first chapter come in and to have a Jury set in place to even professionalize Comic Idol Online more... well... that is something that just makes me feel good!!"

To get the ball rolling we have just released the page 3 script which is available at www.comicidolonline.com written by Julian Lawler ( broken tree comics / Arcana Comics/ Koniwaves Studio )

We at Comic Idol Online hope that more and more artists rise to the occasion in times to come, as it promises to be one hell of a Riot!

For more information: Broken Frontier

The Hollywood Reporter's Heat Vision: Mandeville, Top Cow to Adapt Silvestri's 'Crosshair'

Top Cow comic "Crosshair" has been targeted for feature film treatment.

Mandeville Films partners David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman, best known for producing the romantic comedy "The Proposal," have teamed up with Top Cow to produce "Crosshair." The duo also has comic book adaptations "Earp: Saint for Sinners" and "Alibi" in the works.

Mandeville execs, in Comic-Con for the unveiling of Radical Publishing’s "Earp," closed the deal over the weekend after furious negotiations.

Read the full story here.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter

IGN: Top Cow in the Crosshairs

At the Top Cow panel at Comic-Con this weekend, the comics label's reps revealed that they'd just made a new movie deal during the convention.

Crosshair, which was created by Marc Silvestri, written by Jeff Katz, and illustrated by Silverstri and Allan Jefferson, will be turned into a film by Mandeville Films. Top Cow and Mandeville have previously teamed on adapting Alibi, which was announced at last year's con.

"We already sold this as a film," revealed Top Cow's president Matt Hawkins at his company's panel. "This is a major announcement for us. That's never really happened where we've literally [come here] with something this early in development and have these guys jump on it."

Read the full coverage here.
Source: IGN

Newsarama: PILOT SEASON Continues With A Toxic Hero in STELLAR

What do you do when you put Robert Kirkman and Marc Silvestri in the same room and tell them to get creative? You get this year’s Pilot Season books from Top Cow. This pair of creative titans – and Image partners – dreamt up the five one-shots that comprise this latest edition of Top Cow’s Pilot Season initiative, with Kirkman writing the script and enlisting a top-name artist to draw the story.

After the release of Murderer, Demonic and Stealth earlier this year, the penultimate title coming out is Stellar, now scheduled for a July 21, 2010 release. Illustrated by Bernard Chang, Stellar charts the tumultuous trajectory of a genetically-enhanced super-human who is exiled from Earth after finding out she’s toxic to the human race. After driving her four fellow test subjects insane, she’s banished from Earth and tries to find a life in the outer reaches of space – knowing that she can never return home.

Read the full interview here.
Source: Newsarama

Image Addiction: Try Image Comics with Second Wave of Image Firsts

Berkeley, CA – 14 June 2010 – This Fall, Image Comics is re-presenting 10 first issues as an introduction to some of its most acclaimed titles. Each debut acts as a perfect primer to its corresponding ongoing series and collected editions. Starting September 1, 2010, and continuing through November, each reprinted first issue will be available for only $1.

“Response to Image Firsts has been phenomenal,” exclaims Image Publisher Eric Stephenson. “So, we are expanding the line with a second wave of IMAGE FIRSTS. Image Firsts is a fantastic way for readers to discover new titles and for retailers to introduce customers to Image’s unsurpassed backlist.”


See it here.
Source: imageaddiction.net

Newsarama: THE DARKNESS: ORIGINS VOLUME 2 Coming This Month

DARKNESS FANS CAN DIVE INTO JACKIE ESTACADO’S BEGINNING WITH THE WITCHBLADE

THE DARKNESS: ORIGINS VOLUME 2 TRADE PAPERBACK

LOS ANGELES, Calif., June 8, 2010 – Top Cow Productions, Inc. proudly announced today that the long sold-out early issues of The Darkness will be re-released as The Darkness: Origins Volume 2. Scheduled to be in stores June 30, 2010, The Darkness: Origins Volume 2 continues the rebranding presented as part of the publisher’s “Origins” trade paperback line reprinting of classic Top Cow Universe stories that includes the recently released Witchblade: Origins Volume 1 and 2, and The Darkness: Origins Volume 1 trade paperbacks.

Read the full release here.
Source: Newsarama

Broken Frontier Reviews Pilot Season: Stealth #1

Stealth #1 is part of Pilot Season, which is an annual Top Cow initiative which lets readers choose which one-shot will be made into an ongoing series. Usually, different writers and artists compete, but this year each is written by Robert Kirkman. Kirkman is one of the best writers in the industry today, so it’s a safe bet that each issue of this Pilot Season will be equally amazing. Stealth is the third of five books, following Murderer and Demonic, and preceding Stellar and Hardcore. As always, Kirkman meets and exceeds expectations in this non-traditional superhero comic book.

Read the full review here.
Source: brokenfrontier.com

Graze Anatomy: Linda Sejic (Stjepan's wife)

Our man Stjepan Sejic is not the only person in his household with talent. Check out his wife Linda's awesome color job on a Marc Silvestri drawing.

See the full size image here.
Source: calisto-lynn.deviantart.com

Flashback: CBR recaps Top Cows panel at C2E2

Chicago Comics & Entertainment Expo, Top Cow fans were treated to a panel filled with some of the company's most prominent creators including Phil Hester ("The Darkness"), Bryan Edward Hill ("Broken Trinity: Pandora's Box"), Nelson Blake II ("Magdalena") and Ron Marz ("Witchblade," "Angelus"). Top Cow Publisher Filip Sablik moderated the panel and covered a wide range of topics, starting with the company's major summer event - "Artifacts."

Read the full article here.
Source: comicbookresources.com

Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba: Image of Love

Check out this story/article on two guys that made their dream come true, Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba show their love for Image.

Read the full article here.
Source: fabioandgabriel.blogspot.com

Friends of the Cow: Broken Frontier: Silvestri Supports Riot Shell and Comic Idol Online

Marc Silvestri himself donated a page to be handed out to the winner of the first chapter of Comic Idol Online. The firs chapter is 6 pages long, made up by individual pages and voted for by all the fans of Riot Shell. The person with the most wins (points) gets the page.

Read the full article here

Source: brokenfrontier.com

ICV2: Top Cow's Artifacts Event

Top Cow’s scribe-in-chief Ron Marz, who’s been shaping the direction of Top Cow’s top titles, has written a 13-issue series, Artifacts, which will shake the very foundations of the Top Cow Universe. Marz’ saga involves the thirteen artifacts (including the Witchblade and the Darkness) that guide the fate of the Top Cow Universe, and which if they fall into the hands of a single entity, would herald the destruction of mankind. In Artifacts #1, which ships in July, the kidnapping of Hope, the daughter of Sara Pezzini and Jackie Estacado, initiates a plot that could create Armageddon and which lays bare the underpinnings of the Top Cow world in ways that make it easy for new readers to understand and jump in.

Read the full article here

Source: icv2.com

One Metal Reviews PIlot Season: Stealth #1

The brain responsible for The Walking Dead, Invincible, and Marvel Zombies splatters its gray matter and creative goo all over the pages of this year’s Top Cow Battle of the Comics. With Marc Silvestri illustrating covers, Robert Kirkman now grinds away at scripting five distinct pilot issues in a whirlwind funny book election that once challenged a hodgepodge of writers and artists to present a numero uno idea that would steal readers’ hearts forever.

Read the full review here.

Source: onemetal.com

Major Spoilers Reviews Pilot Season: Stealth #1

Imagine you just found out that your father is a Superhero. THE Superhero. Now imagine that his doctor has just diagnosed him with Alzheimer’s. How do you take care of a superhero who can’t remember who you are?

Read full review here

Source: majorspoilers.com

The Quarter Bin Reviews Pilot Season: Stealth #1

Imagine this: you’re a middle-aged man. Your life is kind of falling apart. You’re divorced and not happy about it, and your Alzheimer’s-stricken father has just moved in with you because he can no longer take care of himself. Only, as it turns out, your father isn’t just an aging man losing his memory; he’s a famous masked vigilante, and has been his entire life. This is the position in which Todd finds himself in Stealth #1, the latest entry in Top Cow’s yearly Pilot Season.

Read full review here.

Source: thequarterbin.com

Comic Book News Reviews PIlot Season: Stealth #1

In the latest issue of Robert Kirkman’s “Pilot Season” comic, he introduces fans to Stealth, a super hero resembling Venom and the Falcon from Marvel Comics.

The story centers around Todd, a recently divorced middle aged man who is putting a daughter through college. Todd is caring for his father, James, who is suffering from Alzheimers.

Read full review here.

Source: cosmicbooknews.com



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Blogcritics Reviews Stealth #1

To be honest I picked up this issue because it had a fairly bad-ass looking cover. The character on the front looked like a cross between Spawn and Archangel from X-Men, awesome. After reading the issue I discovered that it’s more than just an awesome cover.

The issue is part of Top Cow’s Pilot Season. Basically, Top Cow applies the TV show principal to comics, except they add in a whole lot more fan interaction. The 2009/10 Pilot Season sees Robert Kirkman and Marc Silvestri teaming up for five one-issue comics. Once all five comics have been released, fans are able to vote for their favorite one. At the end of voting the character with the most votes will receive their own Top Cow series. It’s an interesting concept which they’ve been running since 2007 with a fair degree of success.

Read full reeview here.

Source: blogcritics.org






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Newsarama's Best Shots Reviews Pilot Season: Stealth #1

Ladies and gentlemen, I think we have a knockout!

Gliding on equal parts style and high concept, Robert Kirkman has nailed it out of the park with Stealth, an all-too-human take on the power -- and the fallibility -- of costumed crusaders. While previous chapters of Kirkman's Pilot Series have arguably skewed more towards violence for violence's sake, this series wins you over by giving its characters inescapable and all-too-relatable instances of conflict, doubt and loss.

Read the full review here.

Source: Newsarama

Industry News: Free Comic Book Day Top Cow-Style

Christine Dinh at Marc Silverstri’s Top Cow Productions was kind enough to share with us a few pictures of the Free Comic Book Day 2010 signing at Collector's Paradise Comics & Gallery in Canoga Park, California.

The store hosted Silvestri (Cyberforce), Marv Wolfman (Tomb of Dracula), Bill Morrison (Simpsons Comics), Michael Broussard (The Darkness), Joe Benitez (Soulfire), Peter Steigerwald (Soulfire), Ray Friesen (Another Dirt Sandwich) and Rick Loverd (Milo Ventimiglia Presents Berserker), as well as having other attractions and specials to celebrate the event.

See more photos here.

Source: Diamond Galleries

CBR Reviews Pilot Season: Stealth #1

Set in Dearborn, Michigan, this book hits like the Image books of yesteryear. It sets up a believable world with the first image and doesn't slow down from there. We meet Todd as he returns home –- a home he is trying to establish as a recent divorcee. His ex-wife is trying to make the transition easy for the two of them, but Todd has also taken on the task of caring for his elderly father in addition to trying to stay connected to his daughter who is away at college.

Peppered into the revelations of Todd's situation are the adventures of Stealth, a locally popular superhero. Stealth appears to be a hybrid of Falcon and Batman with all of Batman's attitude, decking a set of kids spray-painting a building with a ferocity that might be better directed towards homicidal maniacs. The beatdown raised an eyebrow from me, but not much more than that.

While I may not be familiar with Sheldon Mitchell, I am quite impressed with the effort put forth here. Mitchell's style is as close to a house style as Top Cow has. Keeping in mind that Marc Silvestri is the head of the house of Cow, certain artistic comparisons are unavoidable and Mitchell should be proud to share those comparisons. The art on this book isn't going to set the world on fire, but it is solid, consistent, and dynamic. Mitchell does a great job of varying the characters in the book. The doctor Todd consults with isn't a cookie-cutter clone of the protagonist, and Todd's ex-wife, Alicia, isn't a pin-up model labeled as a supporting character. This is a book that looks like the real-life adventures of Todd.

"Stealth" packs a surprise twist that caught me off-guard.



Read the full review here.

Source: CBR