Independent comics publishers Image Comics and its partner studio Top Cow announced a reorganization that will move some Top Cow operations to the Image Central offices. Image also announced that Sarah deLaine will take over marketing and publicity for Image Comics, replacing Betsy Gomez; and Top Cow publicist Christine Dinh is also leaving the company.
In a release, Image Comics said that the company will work more closely with Top Cow to “coordinate production, marketing and sale efforts in much the same way it already does for the other Image partners, including Robert Kirkman, Erik Larsen and Jim Valentino." Top Cow was founded and is overseen by cartoonist Marc Silvestri and the studio is among the five partner studios that make up Image Comics. Image is located in Berkeley, California and Top Cow is based in Los Angeles.
Image publisher Eric Stephenson said, “[Top Cow president] Matt Hawkins and I worked together at Extreme Studios and then Awesome Entertainment, and I've worked with Filip since his Diamond days, and I think the time is right for us to capitalize on those relationships in a way that will strengthen both Image and Top Cow.” The reorganization comes at a time when Image Comics is riding a wave hit books like Morning Glories and Chew, not to mention the bestselling Walking Dead series and the hit TV show based on it. Top Cow is the publisher of such bestselling series as Witchblade and the Darkness and the new Artifacts series.
“This is an amazing time for our industry with opportunities popping up on an almost daily basis,” Silvestri said, noting that “Top Cow is actually getting back to the roots of Image and reinforcing the ideas the company was founded on by strengthening the family ties.”
Top Cow publisher Filip Sablik said, “For Fans, creators and retailers, nothing will really change. We will maintain the same editorial freedom that we always have. If anything, we will have a higher level of support that will make it easier to manage the daily logistics of producing comics, while maintaining our focus on quality story-telling and art.”
