Khary Randolph (We Are Robin, Black, Tech Jacket) and Brandon Thomas (Horizon, The Many Adventures of Miranda Mercury, Noble) ignite a generational war in an all-new, action-fantasy series—Excellence—launching from Image/Skybound Entertainment this May. This new series features a creative team comprised entirely of creators of color.
“Excellence is all about contrasts—characters that are capable of doing these impossible things, but whose abilities are largely defined by others,” said Thomas. “This conflict explodes within a relationship between a father and son that have very different ideas about who should benefit from this power, and how long they’re supposed to wait around for things to get ‘better.’ Like most popular genres, fantasy is in desperate need of expansion, and we’re excited and honored to fill that void with this action-packed series, as we agree with our protagonist…it’s now or never.”
Excellence follows Spencer Dales, a young man born into a world of magic. His father belongs to the Aegis, a secret society of magicians ordered by their unseen masters to better the lives of others—those with greater potential—but never themselves.
Randolph added: “One of the major themes of this book was generational rifts, so from every aspect of the worldbuilding, I tried to mash up the old with the new. Taking visual cues from artists like Jim Steranko, Hitchcock, and Saul Bass and remixing them with anime, hip-hop, and video game influences. At the end of the day, we’re just trying to create a world that is beautiful to look at but also resonates on a deeper emotional level.”
Now it’s time for Spencer to follow in his father’s footsteps, but all he sees is a broken system in need of someone with the wand and the will to change it. But in this fight for a better future, who will stand beside him?
Excellence #1 (Diamond Code MAR190016) hits comics shops on Wednesday, May 8. The final order cutoff deadline for retailers is Monday, April 15.
Excellence #1 will also be available for purchase across many digital platforms, including the official Image Comics iOS app, Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, comiXology, and Google Play.
ABOUT BRANDON THOMAS
Brandon Thomas is the critically-acclaimed writer of comics series Horizon (Skybound/Image) and the forthcoming series Excellence. Previous works includes the award-winning series Noble (Lion Forge), Voltron (Dynamite) and The Many Adventures of Miranda Mercury. He lives in Southern California with his wife and son.
ABOUT KHARY RANDOLPH
Khary Randolph is a veteran of the comic book and animation industries and is currently the artist on Image/Skybound’s new series Excellence. Previous works include Tech Jacket (Image/Skybound), co-creating Mosaic (Marvel), and We Are Robin (DC Comics). He lives in Brooklyn but will rep Boston till the day he dies.
ABOUT IMAGE COMICS
Image Comics is a comic book and graphic novel publisher founded in 1992 by a collective of bestselling artists. Image has since gone on to become one of the largest comics publishers in the United States. Image currently has six individuals on the Board of Directors: Robert Kirkman, Erik Larsen, Todd McFarlane, Marc Silvestri, Jim Valentino, and Eric Stephenson. It consists of five major houses: Todd McFarlane Productions, Top Cow Productions, Shadowline Comics, Skybound Entertainment, and Image Central. Image publishes comics and graphic novels in nearly every genre, sub-genre, and style imaginable. It offers science fiction, fantasy, romance, horror, crime fiction, historical fiction, humor and more by the finest artists and writers working in the medium today. For more information, visit www.imagecomics.com.
ABOUT SKYBOUND ENTERTAINMENT
Founded in 2010, Skybound Entertainment is a multiplatform entertainment company specializing in television, comics, film, digital content, interactive, gaming, and merchandise. The company is led by The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman and his longtime producing and business partner David Alpert.
Sounds a bit like Harry Potter-meets-X-Men with the secret magic societies and unique powers. I’ll give it a read!