Online and Print publications. http://www.activeimages.com CBR's Greg Burgas has been keeping ELEPHANTMEN in his sights... and we made his Best of 2007, alongside our stablemate CASANOVA and a certain graphic novel by one Justin Norman, otherwise known as Moritat! Best Ongoing Series: 5. ELEPHANTMEN "Starkings' science fiction tale, like all good sci-fi, illuminates issues that we grapple with in the present, such as war, bigotry, genetic engineering, and an unfair class system. It's a very nice package for your money, and the story, as it unfolds, is gaining in momentum and intensity." Best Collected Edition of an Older Work: 1. SOLSTICE "Utterly spellbinding. Seagle tells the story of a young man and his domineering father's quest for the Fountain of Youth, using this fanciful conceit to examine mortality and how an older generation gives way to a newer one. This is a brilliant book." Best Cover: 2. ELEPHANTMEN #6 by Ladrönn. "There's the wonderful hint of eroticism in her figure, which contrasts with Obadiah's overwhelming sexuality. Ladrönn has done some great covers for this book, but this one is the best." January 15, 2008 http://www.hipflask.com/issues/elephantmen06/cover_100.jpg http://www.activeimages.com/index.html#20080115_01 Newsarama's Ryan the Iowan published his Yearly Review Power Rankings, featuring his picks for the Best of 2007, and singled out Moritat as Best Penciller of the Year! "I'm speechless," reported the Artist formerly known as Justin Norman, "And also very, very cold," with that, Moritat ducked out of the rain into his local library with nothing more than an armful of drawing paper and a bellyful of Seattle's Best coffee, and promised not to emerge until the art for WAR TOYS #2 was completed. ELEPHANTMEN also ranked highly in the following categories: Best Ongoing Title of the Year 2. ELEPHANTMEN -- "There is no ongoing series that is more hauntingly beautiful and thought-provoking than Image's criminally under-read Elephantmen, by the masterful creative team of Richard Starkings, Moritat, and Ladronn." Best One-Shot of the Year 3. ELEPHANTMEN: PILOT -- "The gorgeous pin-ups and fun alternate reality stories made this one-shot a can't miss issue for fans of the regular series." Best Single Issue of the Year 2. ELEPHANTMEN: WAR TOYS #1 Best Cover Artist of the Year 3. LADRÖNN (Elephantmen, All-New Atom, Incredible Hulk) and last but not least... Writer of the Year Honorable Mention: Richard Starkings It's rare that Richard Starkings is mentioned honorably, so it's rather nice of Ryan to honor him so, um, honorably... "It's true," said Starkings, "I am not always honorable, primarily because we spell it correctly in England, with a 'u' -- my capacity for appreciation is bottomless however, as it's very hard to take the 'u' out of gratitude, and I wold like to offer my hmble thanks to Ryan for inclding me on his list of so many redobtable writers." January 5, 2008 http://www.activeimages.com/news/20080105_01.jpg http://www.activeimages.com/index.html#20080105_01 For one day only, on January 1, 2008, it’s the COMICRAFT 8th annual never-to-be-repeated sale. All fonts will be just $20.08, and while we know the $20.08 sale price may be a tough-to-swallow one-penny price hike from last year’s never-to-be-repeated sale, it sure is cheap when you consider you can buy some fonts that normally go for upwards of $300! The sale begins midnight December 31st and ends midnight January 1st (as per your time zone). Now’s the time to build up your font library at remarkably low prices, spend some of that holiday cash, and enjoy using the fonts the comic book professionals themselves use. Check in and order at comicbookfonts.com and let the savings commence! Every year, COMICRAFT and ACTIVE IMAGES' comicbookfonts.com add a dozen more fonts to its already expansive library. New fonts to look out for include: COMICRAFT , created especially for our anniversary, HIPFLASK , of course to celebrate the smashing success of ELEPHANTMEN published through Image Comics, FOOM , MILDMANNERED , STICKYFINGERS , TREASURE TROVE , DAVID LLOYD'S KICKBACK and the BRYAN TALBOT font. Additionally, be sure to grab the MIKE WIERINGO font , as all its proceeds will go to the Hero Initiative , a non-profit group that helps comic book creators in need. "We feel we have the greatest customers on the planet," said President & First Tiger Richard Starkings. "And this sale is our annual way of saying thanks -- so Thanks for all your support this year and best wishes for a safe holiday and a Happy New Year!" December 21, 2007 http://www.activeimages.com/news/20071221_01.jpg http://www.activeimages.com/index.html#20071221_01 Image Comics reprts that ELEPHANTMEN #11 has sold out at distributor level within a month of its release. If you missed out on this issue, scour your local comic book store for copies -- and place upcoming issues on reserve -- as there are no plans for reprints of this issue or #10 , which is also sold out at Diamond. "I'd really like to thank retailers, podcasters and online reviewers for giving our book so much incredible support," said Richard Starkings, ELEPHANTMEN writer and creator, "You can't buy word-of-mouth but we're getting a LOT of incredible buzz on the book and Moritat and I are committed to getting the book back on schedule now that Moritat has recovered from his recent repetitive strain injuries." Elephantmen: War Toys #1 hits stores December 12th, 2007, and Comicraft's Secret Weapon, "JG" Roshell has created yet another incredible flash movie promo for the book, which you can find here. December 11, 2007 http://www.activeimages.com/news/20071211_01.jpg http://www.activeimages.com/index.html#20071211_01 Comics' foremost design studio celebrates with new font, new website blog The studio that revolutionized the way words are placed in comic books celebrates a milestone this month: Comicraft, Purveyors of Unique Design & Fine Lettering, is 15 years old! President & First Tiger Richard Starkings and Secret Weapon John 'JG' Roshell, pioneered the use of the computer in the art of comic book lettering in the pages of hundreds of your favorite Marvel, DC, Image and Dark Horse books throughout the nineties and into the naughties. To celebrate fifteen years of lettering and design purveyance, those Cheeky Chaps at Comicraft have created a brand new font, imaginatively entitled COMICRAFT ... it's a font that's not just a bunch of letters arranged in alphabetical order... this one's Carefree, Original, Mirthful and Interesting, it's Clever, it's a little bit Raunchy, a little bit Adventurous, Friendly and Tenacious all at the same time -- and if that doesn't spell COMICRAFT, then you just didn't eat enough chocolate today FIFTEEN YEARS! Dozens of awards, Hundreds of fonts and logos of Unique Design, Thousands of pages of Fine Lettering, Millions of satisfied customers and Elephantmen served! While a complete list of titles featuring Comicraft's quality work would fill this entire press release, a few stand out: The Killing Joke, Spider-Man Blue, Marvels, Astro City, Battle Chasers, Danger Girl, Steampunk, The Red Star, Batman: Hush, Superman For All Seasons, Strange Embrace, and, of course, Starkings' own HIP FLASK and ELEPHANTMEN . If you're lucky, you might still find copies of Comicraft's definitive step-by-step lettering guide, helpfully entitled COMIC BOOK LETTERING: THE COMICRAFT WAY (ISBN: 978-0974056739, $9.95, 64 pages) in your LCBS or online, and many up-and-coming comic book letterers are already familiar with Comicraft's Tips and Tricks site, BALLOON TALES . "JG and I feel very fortunate to have worked with so many top talents in the industry during the last fifteen years," said Starkings, "and we feel really honored to have been able to contribute to so many great books. We're very proud of our track record and we're continuing to invest the same level of quality and commitment into our own titles and websites, and the fonts we make available at comicbookfonts.com ." "We're putting the finishing touches to UNHUMAN: THE ELEPHANTMEN ART OF LADRONN and the Revised and Expanded TIM SALE BLACK AND WHITE right now, and we have projects lined up that will keep us busy on beyond 2008. Furthermore, JG has updated our website so that comic book readers can keep tabs on us on a regular basis. New logo designs, new trade paperback designs, new fonts, ALL our newest new stuff will be blogged every week for COMICRAFT fans everywhere. You may not have known it, but the "i" in Comicraft stands for Informative, and the "O" stands for Blog -- er, OurBlog." COMICRAFT: Stimulating the release of endorphins in your system preferences since 1992. "Comicraft's the absolute best. I buy their fonts, I use their fonts, I covet their fonts." -- J.J. Abrams (creator/writer of "Alias" and "Lost") November 21, 2007 http://www.activeimages.com/news/20071121_01.jpg http://www.activeimages.com/index.html#20071121_01 Heroes, books, posters, fonts... Tim's everywhere! Tim Sale, the artist behind the art of Isaac Mendez on the hit show HEROES, now in its second season, and Comicraft, the number one name in comic book fonts, have a lot to offer to fans of Tim, his art, and his font (yes, his own font!). Top of the list is the best news of all -- TIM SALE: BLACK AND WHITE is back in print -- REVISED AND EXPANDED (December 2007, $39.99, 272-page hardcover, 9" x 12")! Written and designed with Tim by those awfully nice chaps at Comicraft, and published by Image Comics, TSB&W discusses Tim's life and work in a comprehensive and lavishly illustrated retrospective. This is a new, you guessed it, revised and expanded edition of the original out-of-print TIM SALE: BLACK AND WHITE previously published by Active Images. Look for it in the October 2007 Previews (page 142; Previews #OCT071973). TIM SALE FONTS $49.95, CD-ROM for Mac and Windows). Comicraft brings you the TIM SALE fonts! Based on Tim's own hand lettering work in BILLI 99, this CD-ROM features eight complete fonts designed by Tim and John ‘JG' Roshell and are the very fonts featured on HEROES. Get them at Comicraft's very own online store, Comicrazy: http://www.comicrazy.com/ TIM SALE 'BLUES' SKETCHBOOK (Diamond Code: AUG073285, $20.00, 40 pages). Debuting at San Diego Comic-Con 2007, this 7" x 11" booklet features a selection of high quality ink-and-wash drawings and pencil sketches with notes by Tim and a color cover by Tim and "Superman Confidential" colorist Dave Stewart. TIM SALE "KITTY" SERIGRAPH (Diamond Code: APR042210, $49.95, signed and numbered). On one of his regular trips to Europe to promote his work in the French market, Tim produced this beautiful "Kitty" illustration for the ALBUM comic book store in Paris. This piece was featured in early episodes of HEROES Season one. A few copies of this large (15.75" x 24.5") limited edition print are still available in all good comic book stores and at http://www.comicrazy.com/ For more on HEROES and to see Tim's art as it relates to the series visit http://www.nbc.com/Heroes/ . October 31, 2007 http://www.activeimages.com/news/20071031_01.jpg http://www.activeimages.com/index.html#20071031_01 Moritat, the acclaimed artist of ELEPHANTMEN, is slowly getting back in good drawing health and the delayed ELEPHANTMEN #11 is finally in stores today. Since the San Diego Comic-Con, Moritat has been suffering from arm and shoulder muscle problems similar to carpal tunnel syndrome -- which, as you can imagine, can present problems to an artist -- and this put a crimp in the ELEPHANTMEN schedule. Thankfully, Moritat's drawing arm has slowly recovered, and Image Comics' ELEPHANTMEN is getting back on track. Thanks to everyone for waiting so patiently for so long for issue eleven. And thanks to everyone who sent Moritat well wishes. We hope you'll agree that, despite his health issues, Moritat has knocked the book out of the park yet again! • Check out Richard Starkings' podcast interview on Comixology where he discusses issue 11, as well as the ELEPHANTMEN: WAR TOYS limited series, the book's direction and influences, and what he's reading in comics these days. • Check out ELEPHANTMEN #11 previews, covers, our cool flash animation cover stories, and postcard images here . • Moritat's gallery of art from ELEPHANTMEN #11 here . • Customize your desktop with ELEPHANTMEN #11 artwork here . • Send your own well wishes to Moritat at the "Eye of the Needle" forum . October 17, 2007 http://www.activeimages.com/news/20071017_01.jpg http://www.activeimages.com/index.html#20071017_01 "The story involves The Fountain Of Youth, but it's not about The Fountain of Youth," said writer Steven T. Seagle of his epic saga, SOLSTICE. The graphic novel is enjoying a new life, which contains the third never-before seen chapter, thanks to Active Images. Seagle gives The Pulse the story behind the story he began working on with artist Justin Norman some ten years ago. Read the interview >> Get SOLSTICE at Comicrazy >> October 6, 2007 http://www.activeimages.com/news/20071006_01.jpg http://www.activeimages.com/index.html#20071006_01 Ladrönn, Eisner Award-winning HIP FLASK artist and cover artist of ELEPHANTMEN and THE ALL-NEW ATOM, is back at Image in a lush art book only a genetically engineered oversized format could hold. UNHUMAN: THE ELEPHANTMEN ART OF LADRöNN, is a comprehensive collection of unpublished art, sketches and drawings all in one beautiful, 128-page hardcover volume, the perfect companion to this year's HIP FLASK: CONCRETE JUNGLE and the still available HIP FLASK: UNNATURAL SELECTION. Releasing in November, UNHUMAN: THE ELEPHANTMEN ART OF LADRöNN (ISBN: 978-1-58240-882-8, Diamond Order Code: #SEP071961, $29.99, 128-page 9.875” x 12.75” hardcover) is presented in a format similar to Frank Cho’s COVER GIRL and will be designed by Comicraft's Secret Weapon, John JG Roshell, best known for his design work on the ASTRO CITY books. UNHUMAN is for mature readers, 16 and up. "Ladrönn is an amazing artist and it is always an honor to work with him,” said Richard Starkings, President & First Tiger of Active Images. "But it was way past time we honored him with an art book that spotlights his incredible talent. UNHUMAN, chock full of previously unpublished art and sketches by this modern-day master, does just that.” September 12, 2007 http://www.activeimages.com/news/20070912_01.jpg http://www.activeimages.com/index.html#20070912_01