PROJECTS AT ARCHIE, IDW PUBLISHING*
*KISS MASTERMINDS GENE SIMMONS AND PAUL STANLEY JOIN FORCES WITH PUBLISHERS
FOR MINI-SERIES, MAJOR STORYLINE*
July 21, 2011 (San Diego, CA) KISS, one of the most influential rock and
roll bands of all-time, with over 100 million albums sold worldwide, returns
to comics later this year with two major projects from publishers Archie
Comics and IDW Publishing, as announced today at the San Diego Comic-Con,
the premiere pop culture event of the year. This marks the first time that
two major publishers have entered into such a groundbreaking, simultaneous
deal with such a popular property and trademark.
No stranger to the comic book medium, KISS' latest foray into four-color
adventures will build on the group's epic and unparalleled legacy, which
continues to grow among the band's fanbase – also known as the KISS Army.
"KISS has a comic book history that spans almost four decades…but it was
time to do things better than ever before," said KISS founder Gene Simmons.
"What's bigger than two different companies sharing the KISS license? Archie
and IDW will tell two unique and in-your-face tales of KISS, and we're
thrilled to be working with them on these projects."
KISS arrives in Riverdale this November in the pages of ARCHIE #627, which
kicks off the four-part "ARCHIE MEETS KISS" storyline, written by Archie's
own Executive Director of Publicity and Marketing, Alex Segura, and
featuring art by Archie superstar Dan Parent. When one of Sabrina's spells
goes awry and a cabal of monsters invade the town, the Archie gang and KISS
join forces to try and save the day. Full of adventure, humor and – of
course – rock, the story is certain to appeal to fans of the band and the
Riverdale gang.
"We're ecstatic to team up with Gene, Paul and the entire KISS Army for this
project," said Archie Comics Co-CEO Jon Goldwater. "KISS is such a huge part
of Americana and that goes hand-in-hand with Archie and friends. We're
honored and excited to help bring KISS back to comics in a huge way.
"This is a unique arrangement but one that we're proud to be a part of. IDW
– like Archie – know their audience and create high-quality and mass-appeal
product. We're looking forward to bringing two great KISS comic series out
in the coming months that'll appeal to the biggest audience possible."
IDW's KISS series will kick off in a very special way in 2012. "Having done
comics with Gene Simmons for a number of years already, I'm ecstatic to now
be involved fully with the 'hottest band in the world,'" said Chris Ryall,
IDW's Chief Creative Officer. "We've found a very unique way to launch our
KISS comics, and have big plans for the series that we'll be revealing soon.
I look forward to bringing KISS back to comics in a huge way!"
Ryall added "I think this is the first time two comic publishers have shared
a license at the same time, and I'm happy that setting this precedent are
Archie and IDW. We both have very different audiences and distribution
methods to reach our unique audiences, as well as both of us reaching
traditional comics fans, too. We'll be able to reach all ages of the KISS
Army in ways never before equaled. We're both ready to rock and roll (all
night)."
CONTACTS:
ARCHIE COMICS:
Alex Segura
Executive Director of Publicity and Marketing
914.381.5155, ext. 226
IDW PUBLISHING:
AnnaMaria White
Director of Marketing and PR
858-270-1315 x121
ABOUT ARCHIE COMICS
Archie Comics is the leading mass market comic book publisher in the world
and the home to a wide array of the most popular humor, action-adventure and
superhero characters in entertainment, including Archie, Jughead, Betty and
Veronica, Reggie, Kevin Keller, Josie and the Pussycats, Sabrina, the
Teenage Witch, the Mighty Crusaders, Super Duck, Lil' Jinx and many more.
Archie Comics have sold almost 2 billion comics worldwide and are published
around the world in a number of languages. In addition to comics, Archie
characters have been featured prominently in animation, television, film and
music in various popular incarnations.
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; and is the print
publisher for EA Comics.
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. <http://www.idwpublishing.com/>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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