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Image Comics brought out the big guns on day one of their annual Image Expo in San Francisco.

Perhaps the biggest announcement made involved frequent collaborators Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips, who signed an unprecedented deal with the company. For the next five years, the pair will have total control and ownership over whatever they create at Image. The first title the pair will work on under this new deal is The Fade Out. ”The Fade Out is my ultimate noir story. It’s a brutal crime story set in late ’40s Hollywood, and all spinning around the mysterious death of an up-and-coming starlet,” said Brubaker. “For people who’ve been waiting for us to return to Criminal, this will be exactly what they’re looking for, but on a much more epic scale—going from studio backlots to the debauchery of the rich and famous, and even stretching back to the horrors of World War Two.”

In addition to The Fade Out, over a dozen new titles were introduced, with some of the biggest names in the industry at the helms of these new books. Grant Morrison and Chris Burnham reunite for Nameless, which Burnham describes as the “ultimate horror comic.”

Wytches by Scott Snyder and Jock will hit shelves later this year, and will deliver a new spin on witches. Snyder said he likes “taking classic monsters and reimagining them in a fresh, contemporary, and much scarier way.” Image Comics president Eric Stephenson describes the book as “without a doubt one of the creepiest books we have ever published.”

Among the more intriguing sounding books is Airboy, which looks at the classic series from the 1940s. The new series will be written by James Robinson and penciled by Greg Hinkle, and will be a look at two comic creators who attempt to bring the series back from obscurity. Stephenson said, “what James and Greg have come up with here is nothing short of inspired mayhem.”

Restoration showcases the talents of Bill Willingham and Barry Kitson in a story of magic, gods and monsters. A group gathered millennia ago to remove all magic from the world, but now that magic has been released and the world is thrown into upheaval.

Speaking of gods, Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie explore what happens when a dozen deities are reincarnated in our world to perform miracles and live as celebrities in The Wicked and The Divine. However, the resurrection of a 13th god threatens to upset the apple cart. Twelve gods will be briefly reincarnated in order to perform miracles like superheroes and bask in celebrity fame. But for the first time, there may be a thirteenth god reincarnated, and lucky number thirteen is tipping the delicate balance.

Matt Fraction, Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá join forces with renowned author Michael Chabon for Casanova Volume Four: Acedia. Even though this is volume four, Fraction says “there has literally never been a better jumping-on point for new readers.”

Kelly Sue DeConnick and Valentine De Landro team for Bitch Planet, a sci-fi tale set on an all-female prison planet. “There are five women, all ridiculous and real, and all very different,” DeConnick said. “One shouldn’t be there. The other four are unrepentant and guilty as Hell.”

Rick Remender and Greg Tocchini bring us Low, a tale set in the distant future after the Earth has been ravaged by solar radiation. The only save haven available is under the sea, but warring clans of surviving humans make it a dangerous place to live.

Robert Kirkman’s Tech Jacket returns, but with Joe Keatinge and Khary Rudolph at the helm of the three issue digital miniseries. Keatinge and Leila del Duca, making her Image debut, will team on Shutter. Kate Kristopher, the world’s most famous explorer, is forced back into the adventure game when a family secret threatens to destroy her.

Brandon Graham will partner with four different creators to tell the story of 8House in a series of miniseries set in a land where eight houses rule the world. Kiem, Arclight and Mirror will feature the talents of Xurxo Penalta, Marian Churchland, Emma Rios and Hwei Lim. Stephenson says Graham “possesses one of the most irreverent creative minds in comics.”

C.O.W.L. from Kyle Higgins, Alex Siegel and Rod Reis will take readers back to the Chicago of the 1960s, a time when the once-famed superhero union tries to regain the favour of their adoring public. “As someone who loves history, comics, and crime fiction, 1960s Chicago was always the perfect era for C.O.W.L. In fact, it’s what got me to take the idea of organized superheroes seriously,” said Higgins. “Between the politics and labor unions in Chicago, and the rise of Marvel Comics, the early ’60s are one of my favorite periods in American History.”

The town of Buckaroo, Oregon takes center stage in Joshua Williamson and Mike Henderson’s new offering, Nailbiter. Buckaroo has spawned 16 serial killers since 1969, and FBI profiler Charles Kohl is determined to discover how one town can give birth to so much evil.

Nick Spencer will be busy in 2014 with the debut of three new series. Paradigms, featuring the art of Butch Guice, is being tabbed as a fantasy epic with a spy thriller feel. Cerulean pairs Spencer with Frazer Irving on a book that follows the survivors of a destroyed Earth as they look to rebuild on a mysterious new planet. Finally, Morgan Jeske illustrates Great Beyond, where the size of your bank account determines your place in the afterlife.

It’s certainly shaping up to be an interesting year at Image.

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