Press Release
Image Comics and Top Cow Productions are thrilled to announce the next evolution of PILOT SEASON, the annual original comics’ competition. With the 2012 Season, Top Cow will partner exclusively with Thrillbent.com, Mark Waid and John Rogers’ ground-breaking digital comics portal, to bring Pilot Season for FREE.
Pilot Season is an annual initiative Top Cow began in 2007, inspired by a concept from the television industry: a number of “pilot issues” are submitted for consideration to be “picked up for a season,” except instead of TV executives deciding their fates, it’s up to the fans!
Every year, Pilot Season pits a number of original concepts and creative teams in a head-to-head battle for fan votes to see which one title will continue with a full series. Past creators involved have included top industry talent such as Jason Aaron, Robert Kirkman, Marc Silvestri, Matt Hawkins, Jonathan Hickman, and Jeremy Haun.
This year, Pilot Season will take place entirely on the digital stage, exclusively at Thrillbent.com, utilizing the site’s “screen” format to hook readers. All Pilot Season titles will be available to be read for free. The competition will kick off in the Fall with five competing titles in the first round. After the first round, fans will be able vote an unlimited amount on their favorite five titles. The top two vote-getting titles will get another “chapter” of their story, then fans will vote down to the winning titles (one vote per person per day). A final round of voting will then take place between the final two. Competing titles and creators will be announced at a later date.
Previous winners of Pilot Season include: CYBLADE, VELOCITY, TWILIGHT GUARDIAN, GENIUS, and 39 MINUTES. The CYBLADE, VELOCITY, and TWILIGHT GUARDIAN series have been released and can currently be found at your local comic book shop or through Top Cow’s digital distribution partners. 39 MINUTES and GENIUS are currently in production with release dates to be announced soon.
