Exclusive: Cosmic Lion to debut 4 titles at inaugural IC3

Hot on the heels of Emerald City Comic Con, New England comics fans can hit up a brand new convention making its debut in Connecticut this weekend: Indie Comics Creator Con (IC3), founded by Monkeys Fighting Robots creator Matt Sardo. Cosmic Lion Productions will be at the show with four brand new titles to debut, and The Beat can exclusively reveal the details.

Half of the Crown

Cosmic Lion Productions will release the first-ever print edition of the popular Webtoon series Half of the Crown by Ro Higashi at this weekend’s IC3. The story follows Penny Chiu, a girl with a frightening connection to the beyond. When she transfers to a new school and has to share space with Issei Devlin and her soul, their bond becomes the linchpin of an ancient war that’s about to reach its explosive conclusion.

“As a kid, I wanted to be a writer. I had no idea I was dyslexic, and a 3rd grade teacher told me I was a bad writer. So, in a fit of ODD, I decided from then on, I would draw my stories instead; dyslexia be damned,” Higashi said. “Some of the speech in the [print] book is refined from the Webtoon panels, since I wrote those parts when I wasn’t managing my dyslexia well. The printed comic is more concise and easier to follow, in my opinion, although the story remains the same.

“The older I get, the more vulnerability scares me,” she continued. “My comics and my work mirror a lot of the things I’m afraid of. Reading my comic is like getting to know me. On the surface, it appears harmless, sweet, and maybe ‘adorkable.’ As you read a lot more into it and invest time, you may realize there is this huge mess that totally changes your view about what you thought you were agreeing to read. My hope is that you stick around, and stay invested in the story and characters along with all their changes, twists and turns. Similar to how I hope people still stay friends with me even after they find out more about me.”

Half of the Crown will be available in a 6.25″ by 9.125″ paperback.

GHOST Agents: Outlaw Town

First up is the newest installment in one of Cosmic Lion’s flagship titles, GHOST Agents: Outlaw Town, from writer/producer Rocko Jerome, artist Ken Landgraf, and colorist Christian “Meesimo” Meesey. The 30-page volume includes a 20-page fight scene between two GHOST Agents and a band of mutants in a 1969 Hollywood western.

“Ken’s art was in the first comic I ever bought off a newsstand,” Jerome said in a statement. “In it, Wolverine and Hercules get into a bar fight over a woman. I was eight years old and never looked back. To say this is a thrill is an absolute understatement.”

Meesey added, “Coloring the work of underground legend Ken Landgraf is a blast! His art bridges the gap between our reality and a bizarre, ’70s-infused, hyper-exciting alternate universe that aligns perfectly with the world of GHOST Agents. My goal is to support the work with color and give it a strong finish while letting his singular linework shine through.”

Landgraf said, “It’s been an honor to draw this new issue of GHOST Agents. It’s cool for me to team up with these young guys who bring so much energy and excitement to the project. They have a new way of looking at things that I really like. I am putting all the storytelling devices I know into the action-packed pages. It’s great to be teaming up again with Rocko Jerome, who has delivered a unique spy action story. I kinda bounce off his ideas, and he lets me fly! And I absolutely love the psychedelic coloring by Meesimo—it adds to my line work in a really unique way!”

GHOST Agents: Outlaw Town is 11″ by 7.5″ on newsprint. Cosmic Lion will also have 50 posters by Landgraf (seen above) available at IC3.

Deathslinger

Co-created by writer Shane Berryhill, artist Ben Perkins, and designer/letterer Keith Finch, Deathslinger is an 80-page “adult space western full of cyborg assassins and alien gangs.”

“What excites me about Deathslinger is how the book rocks and rolls non-stop with story and action from page one, panel one,” Berryhill said in a statement. “There’s no filler, no wasted space. It’s a mean, lean comics machine that goes for the jugular and doesn’t let up for an instant!”

Finch said, “My interest in this project was largely driven by the concept, genre, and the opportunity to work with Ben. As the guy who does the work that falls right in-between the written word and the artwork, Deathslinger has been a fun ride—balancing Shane’s evocative script with Ben’s explosive artwork.”

Perkins said Deathslinger “is everything I have wanted to draw. Sci-fi locales, crazy alien characters, robots, and gunslinging!! This is some of the best comic storytelling I’ve done in my career; I’m excited to show people what I’ve done for this book.”

Deathslinger will be available as a glossy trade paperback.

Grey Matter Drip: The Art of Chris Anderson

Heavy Metal, Creepshow, Chaotic Neutral, and GHOST Agents artist Chris Anderson‘s prolific artwork has been collected in a portfolio book entitled Grey Matter Drip, which will be available from Cosmic Lion Productions at IC3.

Here’s a sneak peek:

All of the titles above will be available at the inaugural IC3 on Saturday, March 9 in New Haven, Connecticut at Southern Connecticut State University. Tickets start at $5.

“IC3 is the ultimate Indie Comics meet-up,” said Cosmic Lion publisher Eli Schwab. “There will be so much creative power in the room, I can’t be sure whether the physical building will be able to withstand it all. I’m nervous and excited all at the same time.”

Following the event, all of these Cosmic Lion titles will be available through the publisher’s website.