Top Cow Launches Pilot Season!

Press Release

Top Cow Productions revealed details today for their Fall fan-interactive promotion, Pilot Season 2007. The event will consist of six self-contained one-shot specials featuring established Top Cow characters that are currently without regular series. After all six issues have been released fans will have an opportunity to vote online for their favorite and the two winning characters will receive their own series in 2008.

As with a TV pilot, each of the six issues will serve as a sample of what a full length series might be like. The six issues will be released in August through November with one issue in August, two each in September and October, and the final issue releasing in November. The six characters starring in each issue have been revealed as Ripclaw, Velocity, Cyblade, The Angelus, The Necromancer, and Aphrodite IX respectively.

Creative teams for the event have been tightly guarded, but Top Cow promises some surprises in the quality and style of creator recruited to develop each Pilot Season issue. Previously announced is the creative team for August's Ripclaw Pilot Season #1 with Eisner nominee Jason Aaron (Scalped, The Other Side) and Marvel regular Jorge Lucas (Incredible Hulk, Annihilation: Ronin) and a cover by Tony Moore (The Walking Dead, Exterminators). Additional details of the creative teams will be revealed in coming weeks.

Top Cow is teaming with numerous industry websites to allow fans to interact through message boards, polls, and finally the actual voting process. Websites will include MySpace, IGN , Wizard Universe, and of course the Top Cow site itself as well as numerous others. A full list of participating websites will be released in the near future. Fans who purchase all six issues of Pilot Season 2007 will receive a code which will result in their vote being weighted more heavily than those who vote without the code. Additionally fans and retailers who support the entirety of the promotion will be entered into a contest for fabulous prizes. Fans and retailers are encouraged to stay tuned for more details in weeks to come.

"This is much more than a simple gimmick," commented Vice President of Editorial, Rob Levin. "We've put together teams to tell stories that flat out do not suck. Fans don't often get a say in terms of editorial direction in comics. Rather than stacking the deck and putting out two really good books and four okay ones, we've got six killer titles across the board. Any one of these books could support its own series."

"Comic publishers have done fan voting before, but I'm not sure anyone has done it on this scope yet," said Vice President of Marketing & Editorial, Filip Sablik. "We're throwing down the gauntlet and now it's time for fans to pick it up and own this event."

Pilot Season will consist of six 32 page full color one shot comics with a suggested retail price of $2.99 each. Additional information regarding Pilot Season can be found at www.topcow.com.