Image Comics To Publish Death, Jr. Trade In November

EMERYVILLE, CA - September 22, 2005 - Backbone Entertainment and Image Comics announced today the forthcoming publication of the Death, Jr. trade paperback. The paperback will include all three previously released and critically-acclaimed issues of Death, Jr. Comic legend Mike Mignola (Hellboy) has signed on to draw the cover of the trade.

"I picked up Death, Jr. for my daughter. I thought the character was very cute, and that, combined with the whole death and monsters thing would go over well with her," says Mignola. "I was right. She loved it. So how could I say no to doing the cover for the trade paperback? I couldn't."

Featuring the art of Ted Naifeh (Courtney Crumrin, Gloomcookie) and the writing of Gary Whitta (Reaper) Death, Jr. tells the story of the son of the grim reaper and his band of misfit friends. Part of the appeal of the book is the quirky cast of friends: Pandora, a little goth girl, Smith & Weston, conjoined twins, Stigmartha, a girl who bleeds when she gets nervous, and The Seep, an armless, legless, foreign exchange student in a jar.

"Image Comics is proud to be associated with the Death, Jr. franchise," says Image PR and Marketing Coordinator Jim Demonakos. "The comic itself is funny, clever and inventive - Ted Naifeh's art is expressive and clean, while Gary Whitta's script is sharp and appeals both to a younger and an older audience, a rare feat. We look forward to doing more Death, Jr. comics in the future!

In addition to the comic series, the first issue of which completely sold out of its first printing, Death, Jr. is also an exclusive title for the PSP^TM portable entertainment system. T-shirts developed by Ripple Junction are already available in stores, and action figures developed by Gentle Giant are scheduled to ship by the end of the month.

"We're thrilled with the success of the Death, Jr. franchise," says Mike Mika, studio head of Backbone's Emeryville office. "The comic has been extremely successful, and now that Mike Mignola has drawn the cover of the trade, we couldn't be happier."

The Death, Jr. trade is solicited in the September issue of Diamond PREVIEWS magazine and will hit shelves in November.

About Backbone Entertainment

Part of Foundation 9 Entertainment (www.F9E.com), the largest independent game developer in North America, Backbone specializes in developing original and licensed IP for all platforms and creating merchandising opportunities in diversified entertainment genres. Backbone is based in Emeryville, CA, and Vancouver, BC and can be found on the web at: www.backboneentertainment.com.

Backbone, along with The Collective, Pipeworks, ImaginEngine, and Digital Eclipse make up Foundation 9 Entertainment. The company's studios have developed more than 250 titles, including more than 50 in 2004 alone. Foundation 9 Entertainment employs more than 325 employees, and has offices in Los Angeles, Newport Beach, Emeryville, Vancouver, Boston, Eugene, and Honolulu. For more information on Foundation 9 Entertainment, please visit: www.F9E.com.

About Image Comics

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. Image Comics - Putting the NEW back in to New Comic Book Day! TM

Contacts:

Nicole Tanner

Foundation 9 Entertainment

nicolet@f9e.com

Jim Demonakos

Image Comics

jimdemonakos@imagecomics.com