Russian Sunset marks Marz’s first creator-owned work at Image
BERKELEY, CA — 19 September, 2006 — After setting the comics world on fire with his long and controversial run on Green Lantern, launching the CrossGen universe, and recently revitalizing Witchblade and CyberForce at Top Cow, Ron Marz is set to debut his first creator-owned book from Desperado Publishing and Image Comics, RUSSIAN SUNSET.
A comic that blends crime story and espionage thriller into one electrifying story, RUSSIAN SUNSET follows Nik, a soldier for the Russian mob in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn. Born in Russia but raised in America, Nik’s newest assignment takes him back to the country of this birth, where he’s expected to broker the sale of a stolen nuclear warhead to Chechen terrorists.
Slowly, Nik gets drawn into a dangerous web that includes brutal gangsters, seductive spies, fanatical terrorists, weapons of mass destruction and some unexpected revelations.
“This is a story where not everything, or everyone, is what they first appear to be,” explains Marz. “There are layers to the story, and hopefully a couple of surprises for readers along the way. I’m getting to do some things with this story that I haven’t been able to do previously. These characters inhabit a violent, profane world, and we’re not pulling any punches in how we depict that.”
Serbian artist Mirko Colak, in his debut U.S. work, provides the art for RUSSIAN SUNSET and brings a European sensibility mixed with a noir flavor that perfectly fits the tone of the series.
“When I first saw Mirko’s work, I knew I wanted to work with him, and I knew the story had to be something with a tough sensibility. RUSSIAN SUNSET is very much tailored to his strengths as an artist and storyteller. I think it’s going to be a hell of a debut for him,” Marz said.
Covers for RUSSIAN SUNSET will be provided by an all-star roster of comic book creators, including Bart Sears, Luke Ross, Cully Hamner, Brian Stelfreeze and… Darryl Banks. That’s right, in their first collaboration since their run on Green Lantern, Darryl Banks will provide a cover for the amazing final issue!
“It was really a matter of me calling up my friends and arm-twisting them into doing covers,” laughs Marz. “Darryl and I have talked about doing something together for a few years now, and this opportunity seemed like a good fit. Hopefully next time we’ll get together for some interiors.”
RUSSIAN SUNSET (SEP061789) is a five issue mini-series available for pre-ordering now in the September Previews. The first issue of this Mature Readers series will retail for $3.99 and is scheduled to be in-stores November 15th, 2006.
Image Comics is a comics and graphic novels publisher formed in 1992 by a collective of best-selling artists. Since that time, Image has gone on to become one of the largest comics publishers in the United States. There are currently four partners in Image Comics (Erik Larsen, Todd McFarlane, Marc Silvestri and Jim Valentino), and Image is currently divided into four major houses (Todd McFarlane Productions, Top Cow Productions, Shadowline and Image Central). Image comics and graphic novels cover nearly every genre, sub-genre and style imaginable, offering science fiction, romance, horror,crime fiction, historical fiction, humor and more by the finest artists and writers working in the medium today. Visit www.imagecomics.com for more information.
