Friends of the Cow: Drive-Thru Comics

Our friends over at Drive-Thru Comics now have Hunter-Killer #1-12 available for download.

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GeekWeek's I Thought You'd Never Ask: Mark Waid

Don't call it a come back. It's another installment of "I Thought You'd Never Ask." Another week, another 5 questions with one of Filip Sablik's comic creator pals, questions which your average reporter would never think to ask. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll say "thanks for the distraction from work."

My victim this week is none other than Mark Waid. If you read comics, you know Mark Waid. He's edited or written virtually every character and series for DC Comics and Marvel Comics. You can check out his ComicBookDB profile to get a full sense of the scope of his work, but I'll just mention a few of my personal favorite things Mark has written - Kingdom Come, Flash, Captain America, Fantastic Four, Empire, Irredeemable, Hunter-Killer, and Cyberforce/Hunter-Killer.

Filip Sablik: It's no secret that you are a huge Superman fan and that Richard Donner's Superman movie played a big role in inspiring you to pursue comics as a career. Are you a bigger fan of the original cut of Superman 2 or the Donner cut?

Mark Waid: I'm torn. I think that the Donner cut was a better story, but the Lester cut was a better movie. If I have to choose, though, I favor the Donner cut because there's no stupid slapstick happening while the villains are destroying Metropolis

Read the full article here.

Source: GeekWeek

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Cosmic Book News Reviews Witchblade #134. Out in Stores Today!

In issue #134, Det. Sara Pezzini, the bearer of the Witchblade gauntlet, is on the hunt for a green-haired cyborg assassin (she looks like a cross between something from "Jem and the Holograms" and the movie "Robocop"). While she is hunting the assassin, called Aphrodite IV, she runs across Argent, from Top Cow's "Hunter Killer" series, and there are even touches of the recent Cyber Force Hunter Killer mini-series, not to mention plot points from the Angelus series.

Simply, if you are not getting either Witchblade or Angelus, you are missing out on some amazing stories!

They are more than worth the cover price.

Read the full review here.

Source: Cosmic Book News

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Parka Reviews The Art of Top Cow

The Art of Top Cow's 320-page volume collects some of the best work from Top Cow. There's art from Witchblade, The Darkness, Cyberforce, Aphrodite, The Magdalena, Hunter-Killer, Universe, Weapon Zero and other smaller titles.

If you read Top Cow comics, you should know of the quality of art. The illustrations are reproduced brilliantly in high resolution showing all sorts of detail down to the minute brush strokes. There's no commentary but every illustration is credited. Some of them also come with the pencil sketches and layout before the inking stage.

The impressive lineup of artists whose work are featured, just to name a few, are Marc Silvestri (who drew the cover), Michael Turner, David Finch, Frank Cho, John Cassaday, Greg Horn, Jim Lee and many more. The work from them are really top notch — the colouring, line art, design, etc.

READ MORE.

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Comic List: Top Cow and Wowio launch Hero Initiative benefit

WOWIO, an eBook/multi-media company is proud to announce the addition of Top Cow Comics to its growing list of publishers looking to take advantage of the digital distribution of published books. Top Cow brings such heralded and well-known titles as Witchblade, Darkness, and Wanted to the well-established and growing list of popular comic's titles. The companies are launching a weekly roll-out of titles that launches today with a fundraising partnership with The Hero Initiative through WOWIO's "Gifting for a Cause" program.

The addition of Top Cow titles only increases the quality of comic book offerings on WOWIO. Top Cow will release the following titles for the month of December for free: Witchblade #1, Wanted #1, The Darkness/Pitt #1, Witchblade #80, Tracker First Look, The Darkness Volume 3 #1, Berserker #0, Impaler Volume 2 #1, Hunter-Killer #1 and The Darkness Volume 1 #1. Each week will see new issues available for fans to download.

READ MORE.

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CBR previews Fusion #3

The mother of all Top Cow/Marvel concludes in July! The battle explodes deep inside Thunderbolt Mountain as a horrifying new villain emerges to threaten everyone!

Amidst an atmosphere of mistrust, the teams of Cyberforce, the Mighty Avengers, and Thunderbolts frantically struggle to contain the threat inadvertently created by Ellis of Hunter-Killer. The writing team of Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning (Guardians of the Galaxy, War of Kings) and Top Cow favorite artist Tyler Kirkham (Ultimate Fantastic Four, Broken Trinity: Aftermath) bring you a perfect lead into this summer’s Cyberforce/Hunter-Killer event.

READ MORE.

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Top Cow Releases Free Comic Book Day Signings, Appearances List

Top Cow Productions, Inc. proudly announced its plans today for this weekend’s Free Comic Book Day, Saturday, May 2nd which takes place in comic shops across North America. Free Comic Book Day is an annual event where participating direct market stores give out free comics to anyone that walks into their store.

Top Cow is participating again in the event with their Free Comic Book Day offering, Cyberforce/Hunter-Killer First Look. The issue serves as an introduction to the publisher’s summer event of the same name, which brings together the two popular teams Cyberforce and Hunter-Killer. The series and Free Comic Book Day offering is written by Mark Waid (Amazing Spider-Man, Irredeemable) and drawn by Kenneth Rocafort (Astonishing Tales, Madame Mirage). Both teams were co-created by Top Cow founder Marc Silvestri and Hunter-Killer was co-created by writer Mark Waid. The teams have been absent from a regular series for several years and this marks their return to the forefront of the Top Cow Universe

READ MORE.

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FIRST LOOK - Cyberforce/ Hunter-Killer #1 Connected Covers

Top Cow Productions has provided Newsarama with a first look at artist Kenneth Rocafort's connected covers the debut issue of the upcoming limited series crossover event Cyberforce/Hunter-Killer.

The series teams Rocafort with writer Mark Waid, co-creator (with Marc Silvestri) of Hunter-Killer.

READ MORE.

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PREVIEW - Top Cow's Marvel Crossover 'Fusion'

Top Cow has given us a preview look at images from May's Marvel X-over 'Cyberforce/ Hunter-Killer/ Avengers/ Thunderbolts #1' Here's the solicitation: Fusion: Cyberforce/ Hunter-Killer/ Avengers/ Thunderbolts #1 (of 3) (W) Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (A) Tyler Kirkham (Cov) Mike Choi & Sonia Oback The mother of all Top Cow/Marvel crossovers debuts in May! Top Cow's two covert tech teams collide with Marvel's Initiative enforcers, the Mighty Avengers and the Thunderbolts. When a rapid and unregistered Ripclaw starts tearing through a small Northeast town, the Mighty Avengers move in to stop him. When the feral hero escapes, they're drawn into an inevitable conflict with Cyberforce. A crossover event too massive to be contained in a single issue brought to you by the writing team of Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning (Guardians of the Galaxy, Nova) and Top Cow favorite artist Tyler Kirkham (Ultimate Fantastic Four, Broken Trinity: Aftermath).
Full Color 32 pages $2.99 limited series

READ MORE.

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Newsarama shows a sneak peek of Fusion #1 cover by Mike Choi & Sonia Oback

In a display of how much importance Norman Osborn and the Thunderbolts have achieved in the Marvel Universe, the team is getting equal billing with the Avengers in Top Cow's latest inter-company crossover, entitled Fusion: Cyberforce/Hunter-Killer/ Avengers/Thunderbolts

The three-issue limited series begins in May and Top Cow has provided Newsarama with a first look at Mike Choi's cover to the debut issue.

READ MORE.

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Mark Waid discusses Cyberforce/Hunter-Killer with CBR

Seventeen years ago, Top Cow launched its first title, Marc Silvestri’s “Cyberforce.” Over the years, Silverstri’s team of cybernetically enhanced mutants have starred in number of ongoing series, most recently the 2006 Ron Marz penned “Cyberforce” Volume Two. A year before that, Mark Waid teamed with Silvestri to create “Hunter-Killer,” a series about a team of genetically-engineered “Ultrasapiens” who hunt down their rogue brethren for the same government that created them all.

Top Cow’s 2009 summer event, “Cyberforce/Hunter-Killer,” features the long-awaited return of both teams, brought to you by the creative team that rounded out “Hunter-Killer” Season One, writer Mark Waid and artist Kenneth Rocafort. The book will be preceded by a Free Comic Book Day preview in May, and CBR News caught up with Waid to get all the details

READ MORE.

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Mark Waid posts 2nd Half of his Hunter-Killer proposal

Continuing the sample proposal from last week….

THE SERIES

ISSUE
ONE: We introduce Samantha, Wolf, the concept of the Hunter-Killer squad and the Ultra-Sapiens. We OPEN with the home life of Ellis and introduce him and his kindly parents as people we genuinely like and care about. But when Ellis begins to exhibit weird powers, his parents freak. Not at him; at the realization that this is a warning, that powered Ultra-Sapiens are approaching and Ellis is inadvertently “mirroring” their powers.

READ MORE.

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Mark Waid posts Hunter-Killer proposal on MarkWaid.com

The difference between a pitch and the next stage of the development process—a proposal—is story. A proposal must demonstrate that your pitch has “legs” by providing a more specific outline of events, additional background on the characters, and some sample plots.

As with most every document in comics, there is no “right” way to format a proposal, but I’ve found through years of experience that this is what works best for me:

Lead with the high concept, a brief but dynamic one- or two-sentence description of the idea—

—follow that with a little more detail on the bigger picture, clarifying the who, what, where, when, how and why of it all—

—next, give brief bios of the main characters—no more than a short paragraph for each, but enough about them so that whoever’s reading your proposal can have a good handle on them by the time they get to—

—the outline, a more detailed version of “the bigger picture” that walks us gradually through the series an issue or two at a time. Provided it’s interesting to read, feel free to devote about a page to synopsizing issue one, a half-page or so to issue two, and gradually less detail for the next handful of installments. At this point, you’re still in the proposal stage, so you’re walking the fine line between showing you have confidence in your ideas and revealing that you’re so in love with them that you have every page of your opus worked out nine years in advance, which frightens every editor ever. If, as you’re writing your proposal, you’re not sure of the difference, imagine buying a car. Imagine buying it from a confident, knowledgeable salesman who demonstrates its most attractive features and then lets the merchandise do the talking. Then imagine buying it from a salesman who won’t let you leave the showroom until he explains in excruciating detail exactly how the high-performance fuel injection system interfaces with the 1.6L 4cyl VTEC-E engine and insists on giving you the 82-year history of the factory that tooled the camshaft. My point is, don’t overwhelm.

Then end your document with a fitting summary/conclusion.

READ MORE.

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Filip Sablik's new entry at Blog@Newsarama

Blog@Newsarama has posted the latest blog entry by Top Cow Publisher Filip Sablik, in which he asks, "What have you done for comics lately?" He also talks about what he liked in 2008 and what he's looking forward to in 2009, including the CYBERFORCE/HUNTER-KILLER miniseries by Mark Waid and Kenneth Rocafort. (That's one of Rocafort's character designs below.) Click here to read Filip's latest blog entry.

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Top Cow Announces Cyberforce/ Hunter-Killer

Top Cow Productions, Inc. announced today that fans who have been clamoring for the return of the Hunter-Killer series and anticipating more Cyberforce will finally get their wish when the publisher launches Cyberforce/Hunter-Killer, a monster crossover limited series set to debut in July.

Eisner-nominated writer Mark Waid (The Amazing Spider-Man, Kingdom Come), who co-created Hunter-Killer with Top Cow founder and CEO Marc Silvestri in 2005, will pen the story. Providing art will be rising superstar Kenneth Rocafort (Madame Mirage, Astonishing Tales), who drew the final four issues of Season 1 of Hunter-Killer.

“I can’t wait to work with Kenneth again,” raved Waid. “He blew my mind when I first saw his Hunter-Killer pages during the first run. To be brutally honest, it’s rare that I see a new artist whose work doesn’t feel redundant or a clone of something else already out there. Kenneth’s energy knocks me out.” READ MORE.

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Hunter-Killer TPB Review

The visuals of Samantha Argent are stunning. She is a sleek looking agent. Than we see her prey. Cathy a cute looking girl who is not so cute. The scenes of her and her attacker do give us a great little fight CLICK HERE TO READ MORE.

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Hunter-Killer TPB Review -

"as infectiously intelligent and entertaining as any of the best continuity-based television shows out there, and with the current WGA strike still going, "programs" such as Hunter-Killer may very well be the place to turn for fresh entertainment for those that cannot stand reality television"
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE.

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