Image Comics is going to spend 2018 believing.
The Portland, Ore.-based publisher announced a new initiative for the year called #WeBelieve, which the company says will highlight “the important, lately overlooked components of the comics industry.” The first such component to be celebrated: artists.
Image’s We Believe in Artists program will be marked with 14 special-edition comics featuring cover artwork without any logos, jacket text or graphic element whatsoever (So, no barcodes messing up the visuals, thankfully); the books involved in the program are Extremity No. 12, I Hate Fairyland No. 17, The Wicked + The Divine No. 34, Witchblade No. 4, Curse Words No. 12, Deadly Class No. 32, Maestros No. 6, Vs. No. 2, Kill or Be Killed No. 17, Monstress No. 15, Rumble No. 4, Beauty No. 21, Spawn No. 284 and East of West No. 37.
(The artwork at the top of this post is Jamie McKelvie’s cover for The Wicked + The Divine.)
“Simply put, without artists, there would be no comics,” said Image Comics publisher Eric Stephenson in a statement. “The success of the comics industry ultimately hinges on well-told stories, but because comics is by definition a visual medium, artists are integral to that storytelling. Image has always believed in the importance of artists — our company was founded by artists, after all — and we are proud to celebrate the fact that artists of all stripes — from pencilers and inkers to colorists, letterers and graphic designers — continue to make this wonderful medium so vital, vibrant and unique.”
All of the We Believe in Artists covers will be released in March.
