Pilot Season 2008 has launched! Six books will vie for your votes to be “greenlit” to get their own series next year!
Pilot Season is Top Cow’s annual initiative to introduce new books and have readers vote for their favorite. The top two vote-getters will get their own series the following year. Last year’s winners, Cyblade and Velocity, which were determined after over four million votes through a partnership with MySpace Comics, will launch new series beginning later this year.
This year, Pilot Season features four completely original properties and two that had previous lives elsewhere (last year’s offerings were all based on pre-existing Top Cow characters).
Here’s a rundown of this year’s books:
TWILIGHT GUARDIAN
Twilight Guardian, a property created by Eisner nominee Troy Hickman (Common Grounds), centers on an average woman with a particular kind of OCD which drives her to patrol a nine-block area in her neighborhood every night. Not a superhero, no special powers, just your average model citizen who likes to keep an eye on things and keep tabs on all her neighbors–especially the weird ones. Drawn by Singapore-based artist Reza of Imaginary Friends Studios.
LADY PENDRAGON
Created by current Top Cow President Matt Hawkins, Lady Pendragon first debuted in 1996 and had successful series runs published by Image from 1998-2000. This issue is the story of a direct descendant of King Arthur and Lady Guinevere who revives magic in the modern-day world, but is conflicted when she discovers her doing so may have done more harm than good. Filled with nods to Arthurian legend and fantastic battle scenes with dragons, the issue is drawn by Eru, also of Imaginary Friends Studios, and features a beautifully painted cover by Star Wars and Indiana Jones movie poster artist Drew Struzan.
ALIBI
Writer Joshua Hale Fialkov (a Pilot Season 2007 winner with Cyblade) and artist Jeremy Haun (Civil War: Iron Man/Captain America) tell the story of a hitman who always has the perfect, air-tight alibi whenever he’s accused of a high-profile assassination—how can he be in two places at the same time? But now someone knows his secret, and now he’s wrapped up in more intrigue than he can handle.
GENIUS
From Entertainment Weekly senior editor Marc Bernardin and “Gene Simmons Family Jewels” producer Adam Freeman (writing partners who’ve previously worked on The Highwaymen and Monster Attack Network) comes a story about an exceptionally clever 17-year-old who unites the gangs in her neighborhood to wage war against the Los Angeles Police Department. Fresh newcomer Afua Richardson (Half Dead) provides art.
THE CORE
Critically acclaimed writer Jonathan Hickman (Pax Romana) and Madame Mirage artist Kenneth Rocafort combine to create a unique sci-fi tale about the first human appointed to an interplanetary Special Forces unit, and the trials he must endure to earn the respect of his extraterrestrial teammates.
URBAN MYTHS
Fan-favorite writer Jay Faerber (Dynamo 5) teams with up-and-coming artist Jorge Molina (Superman/Batman Annual) to craft a story about a world where the Greek gods still meddle in the lives of men, and the best private investigator out there happens to be the mask-wearing son of Medusa.
The polls open in August, with voting stations to be set up on this page, on the Top Cow MySpace page, Newsarama.com, Comicbookresources.com, and Wizarduniverse.com.
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