Statix Press launches fantasy-adventure series Cutting Edge in May, and we’ve got some exclusive covers and interior art to pique your interest. Cutting Edge features shadowy corporations, and a deadly contest between the greatest minds of the modern era in this ongoing series that’s already taken the Europen comics world by storm.
It’s been a little over two years since Titan Comics announced their Statix Press imprint, formed to help further promote Titan’s impressive catalogue of European comic translations. In that time, Statix has presented a whole galaxy of seminal volumes that represent some of the best and the brightest of bande dessinée. In many cases, the Statix releases mark the first opportunity English-language readers have had to read and absorb the work of European masters like Philippe Druillet and Enki Bilal, whose work warranted a series of Statix releases collected as The Druillet Library and The Bilal Library.
Equally exciting are the newer releases from Statix that build on the solid foundation these long-acclaimed series established for the imprint. Inviting readers to join European fans in discovering the genres more contemporary comic releases, Statix has also released several series that have proved popular overseas in the past decade. Statix’s forthcoming series Cutting Edge hails from this latter category of newer hits on the Franco-Belgian comics scene. Author Francesco Dimitri, dubbed “The Italian Neil Gaiman” by the Chicago Review of Books, began the series in 2013.
Dimitri, known for his fantasy novels and magical realism, also produced a documentary that deals with UFO and cults. His interest in those fields is woven into his comics work on Cutting Edge, a story that finds a group of scientists, artists, and entrepreneurs drawn together by the mysterious Leviathan Corporation. Together, these luminaries form alliances to succeed in a quest to unravel the mystery of The Dodecathlon, a contest that promises a share of the corporation to the winner. In their bid to complete the deadly challenge, the participants uncover a conspiracy between forces beyond their understanding.
Series artist Mario Alberti is a veteran of the Franco-Belgian scene, but not unknown to English-language readers. His work has graced the covers of Aquaman, Wonder Woman, and he collaborated with Christos Gage on Spider-Man and the X-Men and Spider- Man and the Fantastic Four.
We’ll be updating you with more from this ongoing series, with new covers and interior art every week day until next Wednesday, when we’ll have a trailer for Cutting Edge premiering exclusively on The Beat. Cutting Edge which will be split into two arcs according to Statix:
Arc 1: The Siren’s Song will run from May to June 2020 while Arc 2: The Devil’s Mirror will run from July to August 2020. All four issues will then be collected into a graphic novel for release in November 2020.
Issue #1 of the series will launch with a Cover A by fan favorite artist Jackson “Butch” Guice, with more to be revealed.
Cutting Edge: The Siren’s Song #1 will be available to order from the March 2020 Diamond Previews catalog, listings for which go live February 21st.
