Image Comics “Genesis” latest US project for British artist Alison Sampson

Genesis by Nathan Edmondon, drawn by Alison Sampson

British comic artist and architect Alison Sampson (one of the team behind Think of a City, a tumblr-based, mass storytelling project) is providing art for a one-shot creator-owned comic, Genesis, from Image Comics, which will be published in April.

Written by Nathan Edmondson (Who is Jake Ells, The Punisher, Black Widow), Genesis is described as “a trippy journey of creation and destruction as one man finds himself with the ability to manifest anything by thinking it – only to learn that with seemingly unlimited power comes unstoppable terror.”

Genesis is coloured by Jason Wordie, lettered by Jon Babcock  with Joseph Bergin III painting Alison’s covers and the inside back cover.

Genesis was a fun opportunity to let storytelling and art run wild with the idea of creativity itself,” Edmondson told all-comic.com. “of the boundlessness of imagination and the inevitable vertigo that comes from the unlimited ability to manifest anything into being,” said Nathan Edmondson.

Like many creators, the Genesis team mounted their own viral campaigns to get orders for their titles in comic shops, rather rely simply on someone noticing another indie title in the telephone directory thick Diamond Previews.

“Due to the way the way comics are sold in the direct market, our comic is reliant on people pre-ordering it, to get it onto shop shelves and to get enough copies printed,” Alison explains in a tumblr post. “There is no guarantee that, if a shop runs out of copies of Genesis, there will be any more, ever. Once they are gone, they are gone, and since this is a one shot, that’s it for Genesis. There will be no ‘trade –  as far as I know and we will not be selling this off our own websites. For this reason, we are encouraging you to pre-order, so that there are enough copies to go round.”

This isn’t Alison’s first work for Image: she drew “Neither Rain, Nor Sleet, Nor Snow…” a story for the company’s Outlaw Territory Volume Three, published back in July 2013, which didn’t get the attention it deserved – so this time around she’s being more pro-active about spreading the word about her work. (You can find that story on her AlisonSampsonart blog, or buy it from amazon or other stores – there’s also a Facebook page dedicated to that project. Fellow Brits James Reekie and Rob Williams also contributed to the collection).

You can find Genesis in the January Previews, the Diamond Code is FEB140504. Let your local comic shop know that, if you want it, as soon as possible. If you have a pull-list, feel free to add Genesis to yours.

Image Comics - Genesis - Pre-Order Form“Pre-ordering is a bit of an odd concept,” Alison notes. “If you don’t have a pull list, or are not sure what to do next, just download the [pre-order slip] image, print it out, fill it in and hand it in at a comic shop. Or just email it on to one, or phone them them with the details.”

If you don’t normally buy from comic shops, or have one in your town, you can find your nearest stockist, for a print version, here

“As an architect, it is very hard for me not to consider the whole landscape of the comic when designing it, how it feels, and so on,” the artist explains. “I want to put you right there, in the heart of the story, so facing pages read together as well as separately. Although our book looks good digitally, it looks even better in print.

Other comic creators who have published comic shop-friendly pre-order slips for their indie projects we’re aware of include Ian Sharman, the Pretty Deadly and Umbral. It reminds us of the cut out “To My Newsagent” coupons you used to see in old British comics!

• Alison Sampson’s official tumblr: alisonsampsonart.tumblr.com

Follow Alison on Twitter



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