Top Cow Revives Minotaur Press

[ENGLISH] Top Cow tells us: LOS ANGELES, Calif., September 7, 2010 – Top Cow Productions, Inc. proudly announced that the publisher will re-launch Minotaur Press, an imprint for independent-styled series, with the publication of two new titles debuting later this year. The first two titles debuting in the upcoming Top Cow First Look trade paperback in October are: Echoes (written by Joshua Hale Fialkov with art by Rahsan Ekedal) and Last Mortal (written by Top Cow Publisher Filip Sablik and John Mahoney with art by Thomas Nachlik). Both titles will come out in single issues under the Minotaur Press in late 2010 and 2011.

”We’ve been looking to expand Top Cow’s publishing line for some time with a brand that focused on self-contained, cerebral stories,” explained Top Cow Publisher Filip Sablik. “Revitalizing the Minotaur Press line is a perfect fit for properties like Echoes and Last Mortal. With these we hope to reach a new audience and continue to evolve fans’ perception of the Top Cow brand.”

The return of the imprint is part of Top Cow’s efforts to create three distinct, clear lines of comics. These lines will include Top Cow Universe, which encompasses series such as Witchblade, The Darkness and Artifacts, that take place in the shared Top Cow Universe; Top Cow Productions, which will include stand alone color series such as Mysterious Ways, Sunset, and Rest; and lastly, Minotaur Press, which will act a home for darker, more nuanced stories.

The Minotaur Press imprint is best known for releasing such series as Obergeist by Tony Harris and Dan Jolley and Felon by Greg Rucka and Matthew Clark.

Each of the upcoming Minotaur Press titles will be published with black, white and grayscale interiors, and showcase tales of suspense, horror, mystery, troubled characters and unsettling reflections of our own reality.

In Fialkov and Ekedal’s Echoes, a man discovers his deceased father may have been a serial killer. When new bodies begin to surface, he’s left to wonder if he has inherited his father’s tendencies. Echoes reflects on sanity and ability to ever escape our family legacy.

In Sablik, Mahoney and Nachlik’s Last Mortal, a small-time criminal discovers after trying to kill himself that he is immortal. Last Mortal is about searching to find value in life when there is no easy way out.

About Top Cow Productions Inc.

Top Cow Productions, Inc. (www.topcow.com), a Los Angeles-based entertainment company, was founded in December of 1992 by artist Marc Silvestri, who also co-founded Image Comics earlier that same year. Top Cow currently publishes its line of comic books in 21 languages in over 55 different countries. The company has launched 20 franchises (18 original and two licensed) in the industry’s Top 10, seven at #1, a feat accomplished by no other publisher in the last two decades. Its flagship franchise, WITCHBLADE, was TNT’s #1 original film of 2000 and the subsequent TV series was released on DVD on July 29, 2008. WITCHBLADE is also the first American property to be fully adapted in Japan as an original anime and manga by Studio GONZO in 2006. Top Cow’s other flagship property, THE DARKNESS, was developed into a major next-generation video game release by Starbreeze and 2K Games and achieved platinum sales status. WANTED, an Eisner-nominated miniseries published by Top Cow from 2003-2005, is now a major motion picture from Universal Pictures starring Angelina Jolie, James McAvoy and Morgan Freeman. Virtually all of Top Cow’s other properties are in development as feature films, live-action television, animation or video games. Top Cow has also successfully licensed and merchandised its franchises into toys, statues, clothing, lithographs, puppets, posters, magnets, shot glasses, lighters, lunch pails, wall scrolls, mouse pads, die-cast cars, calendars, Christmas ornaments, Halloween masks, trading cards, standees, video games and roleplaying games.