Nicole Andelfinger                                                                             Simone Ragazzoni

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About Hasbro
Hasbro (NASDAQ: HAS) is a global play and entertainment company committed to making the world a better place for all children, fans and families. Hasbro delivers immersive brand experiences for global audiences through consumer products, including toys and games; entertainment through eOne, its independent studio; and gaming, led by the team at Wizards of the Coast, an award-winning developer of tabletop and digital games best known for fantasy franchises MAGIC: THE GATHERING and DUNGEONS & DRAGONS.. 
 
The company’s unparalleled portfolio of approximately 1,500 brands includes MAGIC: THE GATHERING, NERF, MY LITTLE PONY, TRANSFORMERS, PLAY-DOH, MONOPOLY, BABY ALIVE, DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, POWER RANGERS, PEPPA PIG and PJ MASKS, as well as premier partner brands. For the past decade, Hasbro has been consistently recognized for its corporate citizenship, including being named one of the 100 Best Corporate Citizens by 3BL Media and one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies by Ethisphere Institute. Important business and brand updates are routinely shared on our Investor Relations website, Newsroom and social channels (@Hasbro on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.)
 
© 2021 Hasbro, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

About BOOM! Studios
BOOM! Studios was founded by Ross Richie in 2005 with the singular focus of creating world-class comic book and graphic novel storytelling for all audiences. Through the development of four distinct imprints—BOOM! Studios, BOOM! Box, KaBOOM!, and Archaia—BOOM! has produced award-winning original work, including Lumberjanes, The Woods, Giant Days, Klaus, and Mouse Guard, while also breaking new ground with established licenses such as WWE, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Cartoon Network, and The Jim Henson Company properties. BOOM! Studios will also bring their original series to life through a first-look relationship with Netflix. Please visit www.boom-studios.com for more information. 
 
Web: www.boom-studios.com
Twitter: @boomstudios
Facebook: @BOOMStudiosComics
Instagram: @boom_studios

The Marvel and DC Scribe and ‘Dead Dog’s Bite’ Creator Introduce a Post-Apocalyptic World Where Your Records Are as Important As Your Survival, With Each Issue Accompanied by An Exclusive Vinyl Single 
 
PORTLAND, OR–The team behind the breakout hit series 4 Kids Walk into a Bank, reunite with a brand-new series destined to be every bit the critical darling as its predecessor: What’s the Furthest Place From Here? This all-new series sees this creative duo move to Image Comics and follows up the tease of something new from the team at the publisher’s Image Expo.
 
Matthew Rosenberg says 'We knew whatever we did after 4 Kids would have to be something ambitious and crazy, but we also needed it to feel like something that only Tyler and I could make. I feel like we really accomplished all of that here.”
 
The world has ended. Now all that remains are gangs of children living among the ruins. But Sid believes there must be something more out there. When she disappears into the wastelands her gang will risk everything to bring her home. A story about the things that matter most- Your survival, your loved ones, and your record collection.
 
Artist and cocreator Tyler Boss continues “Matt and I really wanted to get outside of our comfort zone with this book and build it in a new and (hopefully) exciting way. Part of that was being unafraid to try something different and the other part was having a partner in Image who believed in us. Couldn't be happier to have our weird little big book's home be with Image.”
 
What’s the Furthest Place From Here? Is an all-new ongoing series kicking off with a triple-sized first issue this November. There will also be a 'deluxe' version that comes with an exclusive vinyl single featuring all-new music from Blake Schwarzenbach of Jawbreaker and Jets to Brazil, and California’s Joyce Manor. These singles will be pressed in limited quantities, with comic shops to be the exclusive source for securing a copy, and each subsequent issue will also have a deluxe option with a new and exclusive accompanying single, with the lineup to be announced alongside the preorder window. 
 
The first issue is solicited in the September dated Diamond PREVIEWS catalog and will be priced at $4.99 for one four special variant covers, and $14.99 with an exclusive cover and the accompanying vinyl single. Reserve your copy with your favorite local comic shop today, and follow creators Matthew Rosenberg and Tyler Boss, along with Image Comics for upcoming announcements around special covers and artists contributing to the soundtrack! For more information, and further updates visit https://imagecomics.com and https://furthestplace.com. 
 
 
About the Creators: 
Matthew Rosenberg was born and raised in New York City, where he discovered comics and punk rock. After years of putting out records and touring the world with bands, he managed to sneak into a career in comics with his hit indie books WE CAN NEVER GO HOME and 4 KIDS WALK INTO A BANK. From there he has written some of comics biggest characters such as The X-Men, Spider-Man, The Punisher, Archie, and Batman. He also co-wrote an album with Ghostface Killah from the Wu-Tang Clan... That was weird.
 
Tyler Boss is an award-winning cartoonist and Eisner nominated designer from Buffalo, NY. His titles include 4 KIDS WALK INTO A BANK and DEAD DOG'S BITE. Go Bills.
 
About Image Comics:

Image Comics is a comic book and graphic novel publisher founded in 1992 by a collective of bestselling artists. Image has since gone on to become one of the largest comics publishers in the United States. Image currently has six individuals on the Board of Directors: Robert Kirkman, Erik Larsen, Todd McFarlane, Marc Silvestri, Jim Valentino, and Eric Stephenson. It consists of five major houses: Todd McFarlane Productions, Top Cow Productions, Shadowline Comics, Skybound Entertainment, and Image Central. Image publishes comics and graphic novels in nearly every genre, sub-genre, and style imaginable. It offers science fiction, fantasy, romance, horror, crime fiction, historical fiction, humor and more by the finest artists and writers working in the medium today. For more information, visit www.imagecomics.com.

Growing Publisher Announces Further Availability of Product Through the Midwest-Based Comics Distribution Hub 


LOS ANGELES, CA—Z2 Comics has established itself as not only the frontrunner of music-related comics and graphic novels, but one of the premier entertainment brands in all of publishing. Starting today, Z2’s products will also be offered through the rapidly expanding Lunar Distribution network, the exclusive distributor of DC Comics, as well as other smaller independent publishers.
 
CEO and publisher Josh Frankel says “As we have grown, we have been actively considering all avenues for stores to carry our product; beginning with our move to Simon & Schuster for the book trade and the announcement of our direct sales channel. I have long admired Christina and Cameron’s incredibly sophisticated mail order business, so it was no surprise when they moved into distribution and managed to land some incredible publishing partners. We are thrilled to be in such good company, and to put our products in such good hands.”
 
Lunar Distribution co-owner Christina Merkler says “We are very happy to add Z2 to the Lunar family and look forward to continued growth with our new publishing partner.”
 
Starting with the company’s November releases, books are made available to retailers to order through Lunar Distribution at a flat 50% discount, alongside Diamond Comic Distributors and Simon & Schuster, as well as direct from Z2. Additionally, Z2 will offer its September and October titles on FOC through Lunar Distribution in the coming weeks.
 
“Since I started at Z2, I have been in constant awe of the steady growth the team here has been able to accomplish. As we look forward to opportunities for further growth, I am most excited about are with comic shops and their customers” says Z2’s director of retail sales Devin Funches. “The team at Lunar has proven to be a trustworthy partner for both publishers and retailers in the time they have been in business, and their rapid expansion is a testament to that. We are thrilled to partner with them to offer our products at a competitive discount and expert shipping capabilities.”

For more information contact Z2’s retail sales and marketing team of Devin Funches and Jeremy Atkins at [email protected], and Lunar Distribution at [email protected]
 
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About Z2 Comics:
Z2 Comics is the premier destination for official music-related graphic novels, created in partnership with top-tier artists, musicians, directors and pop-culture icons. Distributed globally via Simon & Schuster, Z2 has collaborated with such diverse artists as Blondie, Elvis Presley, Gorillaz, Machine Gun Kelly, Sublime, Yungblud, Cypress Hill, Babymetal, Major Lazer, Rico Nasty and Paul Oakenfold as well as debut comic works by Grammy-nominated artists Sturgill Simpson, Poppy and Anthrax. Additionally, the company has tapped top talent for the official graphic biographies of such pop-culture legends as The Grateful Dead, Beethoven and Charlie “Bird” Parker. In 2021, Z2 will publish graphic novel tie-ins to essential albums by The Doors, Ronnie James Dio, King Diamond, All Time Low with many more to be announced in the coming months.

In case you haven't heard me shouting it from the rooftops, we're thrilled to be launching the Kickstarter for The O.Z. #1-2, kicking off this Monday, August 16 — and before we got the ball rolling on everything, we wanted to give our Emerald Army their marching orders and answer some frequently asked questions!
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THE FIRST TWO DAYS ARE CRITICAL
We want to get The O.Z. in front of as many readers as possible, so the first 48 hours of our campaign critical — we will be placed in Kickstarter's algorithm based on how many backers we get in our first two days. ANY dollar amount counts — we'll be offering special early bird discount tiers in the first two days to make it worth your while to sign up early! (And feel free to also share the Kickstarter link on social media, and to any friends or family you think might be interested in our series!)
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YOU ARE NOT CHARGED UNTIL THE CAMPAIGN ENDS
During our last campaign, we heard from several backers that they had to wait to back the campaign until payday or rent — to clarify, your credit card will NOT be charged until the Kickstarter campaign ends on Wednesday, September 15. So if you see a reward that you're interested in, feel free to pledge early!
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MISSED THE O.Z.'S LAST KICKSTARTER? WE'LL CATCH YOU UP
We are dedicated to making sure The O.Z. remains accessible to everyone — so if you missed our first campaign, we will have print AND digital catchup tiers for both issues, including a 48-hour early bird discount for print copies of Issues #1 and #2! Additionally, if you're a collector, we will also be offering reward tiers with all FIVE covers from Issue #1 plus all FOUR covers from Issue #2!
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CAN I BUY ANY INDIVIDUAL ITEMS/STRETCH GOALS OUTSIDE OF A BUNDLED SET?
If you've already purchased books like Spencer & Locke, Spencer & Locke 2, and Going to the Chapel, we will also be allowing backers to purchase add-on items via BackerKit after the campaign ends, including the trade paperback collections for Scout's Honor and the Nightmare Theater Horror Anthology, as well as our Flying Monkey Squadron stickers and enamel pins from our previous campaign. Any future stretch goals we hit during the campaign will also be available as an add-on purchase via BackerKit.
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WILL THE O.Z. BE RELEASED THROUGH A PUBLISHER LATER? WHAT ABOUT A TRADE COLLECTION?
We have no current plans at this time to release The O.Z. through any outside publishers — the Kickstarter community believed in our series, and we are committed to honoring that trust and releasing the entire series through that platform before we would consider any other avenues. As far as a collected edition, that's a decision we haven't made yet, but will revisit once the series is fully produced. But if you're waiting for the trade or a Direct Market release, you... might be waiting for awhile. ;-)
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Beyond that, you can feel free to sign up for The O.Z.'s prelaunch page at bit.ly/TheOZComic2 — if you click "Notify Me at Launch," you will get an email when our campaign launches Monday morning. 
Thank you as always to all of our Yellow Brick Road Warriors for your tireless and passionate support — we think you'll be blown away when you see what we've got in store for Round Two!

PORTLAND, Ore. 11/08/2021 — The recent launch of Todd McFarlane’s new monthly comic book, King Spawn #1, has shattered sales records. With just under a half-million pre-orders by comic stores retailers, this marks the single largest new superhero monthly title launch in the comic book industry in the past 25 years based on the standard sales formula of the comic book industry (non-returnable, non-retailer exclusive sales).

Total pre-orders of 497K are bigger than any Marvel new monthly superhero launch, including Ironman, Hulk, Thor, or Captain America issue in the past quarter-century. McFarlane’s King Spawn #1 also topped any DC Comics new monthly title launch for the past two and a half decades, including Batman, Superman, Flash, or Wonder Woman.

No Avengers or Justice League character has debuted a monthly book with sales numbers like King Spawn #1 in the 21st century.

The Spawn character was first introduced in 1992, with the release of Spawn #1, to a record of 1.7 million copies that still stands today as the highest selling, creator-owned comic issue of all time. Published by Image Comics (the third largest comic publisher in North America behind Marvel and DC), the Spawn character also set a record as the longest running, creator-owned comic on the planet when issue #301 was published in 2019.

With its creator, McFarlane, announcing the expansion of a new “shared universe” at the beginning of this year, the initial title from that announcement, Spawn's Universe #1, hit stores in June to the largest sales from Image Comics since 1998. The first issue of King Spawn beat that number by two and a half times. This is an unprecedented level of sales for a character who has only been published in one book for the past three decades.

Spawn’s creator, Todd McFarlane, also owns the world’s record for most sales of a superhero book written and drawn by the same person, with Spider-Man #1 published by Marvel in the ’90s. During his time at Marvel, McFarlane was the visual creator of Venom, appearing in multiple titles and a successful movie for Sony’s film division.

McFarlane said, “The numbers that came in were much higher than what I had projected. With sales that now have a historical impact in our industry. It proves that the character Spawn and the world he lives in still resonates to fans almost thirty years after I first introduced him. But the biggest thing for me is having King Spawn becoming another example to the creative community that you can have creator-owned success outside of the two huge publishing giants, Marvel, and DC Comics. Every story that shows you can make a career on your own will hopefully inspire other talented people to try. As President of Image Comics, advocating for the creators has been our goal since its inception in 1992.”

King Spawn #1 will be available at comic book shops on Wednesday, August 25:

• King Spawn #1 Cover A by Puppeteer Lee - Diamond Code JUN210027
• King Spawn #1 Cover B by McFarlane - Diamond Code JUN210028
• King Spawn #1 Cover C by David Finch - Diamond Code JUN210029
• King Spawn #1 Cover D by Sean Gordon Murphy - Diamond Code JUN210030
• King Spawn #1 Cover E by Greg Capullo - Diamond Code MAY218952
• King Spawn #1 Cover F by Brett Booth - Diamond Code MAY218953
• King Spawn #1 Cover G by Donny Cates - Diamond Code JUN218205
• King Spawn #1 Cover H 1:50 copy incentive Raw by Capullo - Diamond Code JUN218206
• King Spawn #1 Cover I signed 1:250 copy incentive by McFarlane - Diamond Code JUN218207

Spawn #321 will be available at comic book shops on Wednesday, September 1:

• Spawn #321 Cover A by Björn Barends - Diamond Code JUN210250
• Spawn #321 Cover B by McFarlane - Diamond Code JUN210251
• Spawn #321 Cover C by Francesco Mattina - Diamond Code JUN210252
• Spawn #321 Cover D by Barends 1:50 copy virgin incentive - Diamond Code JUN210253

Gunslinger Spawn #1 will be available at comic book shops on Wednesday, October 6:

• Gunslinger Spawn #1 Cover A by Booth - Diamond Code AUG210013
• Gunslinger Spawn #1 Cover B McFarlane - Diamond Code AUG210014 

Spawn is also available for purchase across many digital platforms, including Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, comiXology, and Google Play.

Follow Todd McFarlane on Instagram | Twitter | Facebook.


ABOUT SPAWN, LEGENDARY ARTISTS AND SPAWN CREATOR AND IMAGE COMICS PRESIDENT, TODD MCFARLANE
Todd McFarlane's Spawn is one of the world's best-selling and longest-running monthly comic books, with several hundred million copies sold worldwide in more than 120 countries. In addition, Spawn's Universe #1 is Image Comics' top-selling first issue of the 21st century.  

McFarlane's Spawn made history with the release of the historic Spawn #300, and Spawn #301 has earned the Guinness World Records title for the longest-running creator-owned superhero comic book series in the world. The road to McFarlane's history-making comic run began in 1992 when he co-founded Image Comics and the released Spawn #1, still the single-best-selling issue all-time for any creator-owned comic.

The comic became an Emmy Award-winning animated series on HBO and a live-action feature film that grossed $100 million. In addition, McFarlane became a true comic book superstar for his record-setting work on Marvel Comics' Spider-Man franchise, where he co-created Marvel's top villain Venom.  

After garnishing prominent success in the comic industry, McFarlane founded the international award-winning McFarlane Toys, one of America's top action figure manufacturers. In 2020, the new release of a Spawn figure on Kickstarter set a new Kickstarter record, in its category, for raising just under $3.5 million in 30 days.

Spawn and all related characters and elements © & ™ TMP
ABOUT IMAGE COMICS
Image Comics is a comic book and graphic novel publisher founded in 1992 by a collective of bestselling artists. Image has since gone on to become one of the largest comics publishers in the United States. Image currently has six individuals on the Board of Directors: Robert Kirkman, Erik Larsen, Todd McFarlane, Marc Silvestri, Jim Valentino, and Eric Stephenson. It consists of five major houses: Todd McFarlane Productions, Top Cow Productions, Shadowline Comics, Skybound Entertainment, and Image Central. Image publishes comics and graphic novels in nearly every genre, sub-genre, and style imaginable. It offers science fiction, fantasy, romance, horror, crime fiction, historical fiction, humor and more by the finest artists and writers working in the medium today. For more information, visit www.imagecomics.com.