Top Cow Announcing & Celebrating at SDCC

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Press Release

TOP COW AT SAN DIEGO COMIC-CON 2009

HUGE ANNOUNCEMENTS AND THE PREMIERE OF NEW TOP COW BOOKS

LOS ANGELES, Calif., July 20th, 2009 – Top Cow Productions, Inc. proudly announced today its plans for this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, the world’s biggest and most exciting popular culture convention brought together in the San Diego Convention Center in California from July 23rd-26th.
    
Top Cow will set up in booth #2629 and barrels into the convention with exclusives, preview books and free goodies to augment their headlining announcements, including free copies of Berserker #0, the Cyberforce/Hunter-Killer First Look, tons of Top Cow bookmarks, and lots more (while supplies last).    

Fans are invited to join Marc Silvestri (Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Utopia), Matt Hawkins (President of Top Cow) and Filip Sablik (Publisher of Top Cow) as they hit you with a hurricane of exciting news and announcements from comics, film, television, anime, and much more! Joining them will be Milo Ventimiglia (Heroes, Berserker), Robert Kirkman (The Walking Dead, Invincible), along with a multitude of media and comic special guests! Don't miss major announcements regarding the Witchblade feature film, The Magdalena feature film, and The Darkness video game! The panel will be featured in room 7AB from 4:30pm–5:30pm under the title, Top Cow: Comics & Multi-Media, on Saturday, July 25th.  Fans wanting to get in on the Berserker signing with Milo Ventimiglia, Russ Cundiff, and Rick Loverd will need to attend the Top Cow panel in order to secure a free ticket. The signing will take place at the Top Cow booth immediately following the panel.

Top Cow has an exciting and varied list of creators signing which include fan favorites like Marc Silvestri, Ron Marz (Witchblade), Phil Hester (The Darkness), Stjepan Sejic (Witchblade), Michael Broussard (The Darkness), and Eric Basaldua (Witchblade Annual). Making his first Comic-Con appearance will be Kenneth Rocafort (Cyberforce/Hunter-Killer). Top Cow will also host a special signing with wrestling legend “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, who will be on hand Friday from 1:00pm-2:00pm to promote and sign free posters promoting his new film, Damage. Fans will need to obtain a free ticket for the Austin signing, which will be available at the Top Cow booth on Wednesday night, throughout the day Thursday, and Friday morning (while supplies last). A complete signing schedule follows (please check the booth daily for updates as the schedule is subject to change without notice):

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Wednesday           
    6PM-7PM    Witchblade   
            Eric Basaldua
            Stjepan Sejic
    7PM-8PM    Top Cow All Stars   
            Michael Broussard
            Joshua Hale Fialkov
            Nelson Blake II

Thursday           
    9:45-10:45    Zero G   
            Alex Zamm
            Jason Badower
    11:00-12:00    Witchblade   
            Stjepan Sejic
            Rick Basaldua
    12:00-1:00    Pilot Season   
            Joshua Hale Fialkov
            Marc Bernardin
            Adam Freeman
    1:00-2:00    Darkness   
            Michael Broussard
            Phil Hester
            Rob Levin
    2:00-3:00    Darkness / Cyberforce/Hunter-Killer   
            Nelson Blake II
            Kenneth Rocafort
            Mark Waid (at the Boom! Studios booth)    
            Troy Peteri
    3:00-5:00    Witchblade   
            Stjepan Sejic
            Ron Marz
            Eric Basaldua
    5:00-6:00    Top Cow In-House Artists   
            Nelson Blake II
            Rick Basaldua
            Sheldon Mitchell

Friday           
    9:45-10:45    Big Trouble in Little China   
            Jason Badower
            Evan Bleiweiss
    11:00-12:00    Darkness   
            Phil Hester
            Michael Broussard
            Frazer Irving
    12:00-1:00    Cyberforce/ Hunter Killer   
            Kenneth Rocafort
            Mark Waid (at 12:30 PM; at the Boom! Studios booth)    
            Marc Silvestri
    1:00-2:00    Stone Cold Steve Austin "Damage" signing (ticket required)  
    2:00-3:00    Pilot Season   
            Joshua Hale Fialkov
            Marc Bernardin
            Adam Freeman
    3:00-4:00    Witchblade   
            Ron Marz
            Stjepan Sejic
            Eric Basaldua
            Troy Peteri
    4:00-5:00    Tracker/Berserker   
            Jonathan Lincoln
            Francis Tsai
            Rick Loverd
    5:00-6:00    Witchblade   
            Nelson Blake II
            Paul Jenkins
            Rick Basaldua

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Saturday           
    10:00-11:30    Image United (at the Image Booth)   
            Marc Silvestri
    10:00-11:00    Beneath the Darkness   
            Paul Jenkins
            Sheldon Mitchell
    11:00-12:00    Pilot Season   
            Joshua Hale Fialkov
            Marc Bernardin
            Adam Freeman
    12:00-1:00    Top Cow In-House Artists   
            Eric Basaldua
            Neslon Blake II
            Sheldon Mitchell
    1:00-2:00    Witchblade   
            Ron Marz
            Stjepan Sejic
            Marc Silvestri
    1:00-2:00    Photoshoot with Witchblade Through the Ages   
    2:00-3:00    Darkness   
            Marc Silvestri
            Phil Hester
            Michael Broussard
    3:00-4:00    Cyberforce/Hunter-Killer   
            Kenneth Rocafort
            Mark Waid (signing at Boom! Studios)
            Eric Basaldua
    4:00-5:00    Tracker   
            Jonathan Lincoln
            Francis Tsai
            Troy Peteri
    5:00-5:40    Witchblade   
            Eric Basaldua
            Rick Basaldua
    5:45-7:00    Berserker (ticket required)   
            Milo Ventimiglia
            Russ Cundliff
            Rick Loverd

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Sunday           
    11:00-12:00    Darkness   
            Michael Broussard
            Nelson Blake II
            Rob Levin
    12:00-1:00    Cyberforce/Hunter-Killer/Witchblade   
            Stjepan Sejic
            Kenneth Rocafort
            Troy Peteri
    1:00-2:00    Top Cow In-House Artists     
            Eric Basaldua
            Rick Basaldua
            Shedon Mitchell
    
Also at the Top Cow booth, the publisher will offer several items exclusive to San-Diego Comic-Con.  This includes a San Diego Comic-Con exclusive cover to Witchblade #128 featuring the artwork of Stjepan Sejic and an exclusive variant cover homage to Frank Frazetta by Kenneth Rocafort to Cyberforce/Hunter-Killer #1. Alongside these comic variant covers, the Top Cow Booth (#2629) will be selling Comic-Con exclusives of The Top Cow Bible softcover and The Art of Top Cow hard cover (books premiering at the San Diego Comic-Con Top Cow Booth). Top Cow will also debut a special First Look issue for a new series entitled Tracker, produced in conjunction with Heroes and Villains Entertainment.

Fans should note that because of anticipated crowding issues; artists appearing at the Top Cow booth will only be able to do a limited amount of free sketches per sitting. Sketch tickets will be available at the beginning of each day of the show. Sketch tickets are limited one per fan per day. Fans must be present at the appointed signing time to redeem their sketch ticket. Not all artists appearing at the Top Cow booth will offer free sketches and fans should inquire at the booth on the morning they plan to get a sketch for availability.


*SCHEDULE IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE



About Top Cow Productions, Inc.

Top Cow Productions, Inc. (www.topcow.com), a Los Angeles-based entertainment company, was founded in December of 1992 by artist Marc Silvestri, who also co-founded Image Comics earlier that same year. Top Cow currently publishes its line of comic books in 21 languages in over 55 different countries. The company has launched 20 franchises (18 original and two licensed) in the industry’s Top 10, seven at #1, a feat accomplished by no other publisher in the last two decades. Its flagship franchise, WITCHBLADE, was TNT’s #1 original film of 2000 and the subsequent TV series was released on DVD on July 29, 2008. A feature film, co-produced by Platinum Studios, Inc. and Arclight Films, is slated to begin production in Australia with director Michael Rymer. WITCHBLADE is also the first American property to be fully adapted in Japan as an original anime and manga by Studio GONZO in 2006. Top Cow’s other flagship property, THE DARKNESS, was developed into a major next-generation video game release by Starbreeze and 2K Games and achieved platinum sales status. WANTED, an Eisner-nominated miniseries published by Top Cow from 2003-2005, is now a major motion picture from Universal Pictures starring Angelina Jolie, James McAvoy and Morgan Freeman. Virtually all of Top Cow’s other properties are in development as feature films, live-action television, animation or video games. Top Cow has also successfully licensed and merchandised its franchises into toys, statues, clothing, lithographs, puppets, posters, magnets, shot glasses, lighters, lunch pails, wall scrolls, mouse pads, die-cast cars, calendars, Christmas ornaments, Halloween masks, trading cards, standees, video games and roleplaying games.