Lion Forge Comics to Present Digital Comics Based on 80s TV Shows at SDCC 2013

Press Release:

NBCUniversal Taps Lion Forge Comics to Develop Digital Comic Books Based on Beloved 80s TV Shows

Digital Publisher to Re-imagine Iconic Properties Including “Knight Rider”, “Miami Vice” and “Saved by the Bell”

Comic-Con 2013
July 02, 2013 03:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time 

LOS ANGELES & ST. LOUIS–(BUSINESS WIRE)–NBCUniversal, one of the world’s premier media and entertainment companies, has partnered with digital publisher Lion Forge Comics to develop licensed comic books based on popular TV shows from the 1980s and 90s. Under the agreement licensed through the NBCUniversal Television Consumer Products Group, Lion Forge will write, develop and publish digital comics based on the following shows:

“From hugely popular characters such as Crockett and Tubbs, Zack Morris and Punky Brewster to highly stylized music and clothing choices, these TV franchises have had a significant impact on pop culture”

• “Airwolf”
• “Knight Rider”
• “Miami Vice”
• “Punky Brewster”
• “Saved by the Bell”

“Partnering with the team at Lion Forge to bring classic TV properties to life in graphic novel format was a natural step for us as we continue to identify new ways to entertain our fans in the digital space,” said Chris Lucero, director of Global Consumer Products Licensing for NBCUniversal Television. “We’re excited to give fans a chance to revisit some of their favorite shows and characters in a completely new way.”

Well-known writers currently signed on to work on the projects include: Joelle Sellner (Teen Titans, Jackie Chan Adventures, Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi); Jonathan London (Geekscape); Geoffrey Thorne (Leverage, Ben 10) and David Gorden (Catalyst Prime: Accel andCatalyst Prime: Quincredible).

Currently, Jason Johnson (Wetworks, Godstorm) and Lion Forge’s own Carl Reed and Lorenzo Lizana are on board as artists.

“From hugely popular characters such as Crockett and Tubbs, Zack Morris and Punky Brewster to highly stylized music and clothing choices, these TV franchises have had a significant impact on pop culture,” said David Steward, CEO, Lion Forge. “We here at Lion Forge are looking forward to extending that influence by creating visually appealing and entertaining experiences on mobile devices for a whole new generation of fans.”

The comics are planned for distribution in Q3 and Q4 2013, and will be available through the Amazon Kindle Bookstore, Apple iBooks, Barnes & Noble’s The Nook Book Store and Kobo.

Lion Forge executives will participate on a panel at Comic-Con International: San Diego from 6:30 – 7:30 p.m. PDT on Saturday, July 20, in Room: 26AB (SDCC), where they will discuss these and other properties in development. Members of the press interested in booking an appointment with a Lion Forge executive while at SDCC should contact LionForge@wonacottpr.com.

About NBCUniversal Television Consumer Products Group

NBCUniversal is a leader in providing entertainment programming to the domestic and international marketplaces. NBCUniversal Television Consumer Products Group manages all global ancillary television business endeavors for the NBCUniversal Television Group, including third-party home entertainment distribution, consumer products, musical soundtracks, special markets projects andwww.nbcuniversalstore.com. For the latest product updates and an overview of the properties managed by the group, visit the NBCUniversal Television Consumer Products portal at http://nbcuconsumerproducts.com.

About Lion Forge Comics

Lion Forge is a St. Louis-based transmedia studio with a focus on digital publishing. With both original and licensed titles, Lion Forge brings together the brightest talent to acquire and develop content and character franchises within the comic book, television, film and interactive gaming industries. Lion Forge applies cinematic elements to each property to create compelling, story-driven experiences from start to finish, bringing unique entertainment experiences to both traditional and digital marketplaces. For more information, please visit www.lionforge.com or the Lion Forge Facebook and Twitter pages.

CA – West Hollywood Book Fair

Bernie Wrightson, Richard Starkings, David Petersen, Hope Larson and many more comic creators and sci-fi icons sign at the 9th Annual West Hollywood Book Fair on Sept. 26th. See below for more featured guest or the website for more details.

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Adrienne Barbeau

Love Bites
WHEN: 12:00PM-12:45PM
PANEL: “Love Bites” with Adrienne Barbeau–In Conversation with Del Howison
STAGE: SciFi, Fantasy & Horror Pavilion

Movie fans know Adrienne Barbeau best for her performances in “The Fog”, “Escape From New York”, “Creepshow”, “Swamp Thing”, “Back to School”, and “Cannonball Run”. She has a Golden Globe nomination and over 450 screen performances to her credit. Drew Carey fans know her as Oswald’s mom and she starred as Ruthie, the Snake Dancer, on HBO’s fascinating series, “Carnivale”. Adrienne began her writing career with the best-selling memoir “There Are Worse Things I Could Do”. She followed that with “Vampyres of Hollywood” and, now, “Love Bites.”
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Amber Benson

Among the Ghosts
WHEN: 2:00PM-2:55PM
PANEL: Food For Thought: Vampires, Werewolves & Why We Love to Be Bitten!
STAGE: SciFi, Fantasy & Horror Pavilion

Amber Benson co-wrote and directed the animated web-series Ghosts of Albion with Christopher Golden for the BBC. The duo then novelized the series in two books for Random House. Her first solo novel, “Death’s Daughter,” was published by Penguin in 2009, with a children’s book for Simon and Schuster called “The New Newbridge Academy” to follow in the fall of 2010. As an actress, Benson spent three seasons as Tara Maclay on the cult show Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She has also written, produced, and directed three feature films.
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Joshua Dysart

The Unknown Soldier
WHEN: 11:00AM-12:00PM (Panel), 1:40PM-2:00PM (Story Telling), 2:45PM-3:30PM (In Conversation)
PANEL: The Future of Web Comics (Panel), “The Stain” by Joshua Dysart (Story Telling), “Mouse Guard” Creator David Petersen (In Conversation)
STAGE: Comics & Graphic Novels Pavilion (Panel / In Conversation) & The Ghost Story Telling Tent (Story Telling)

Joshua Dysart is an Eisner Award nominated, New York Times Best Selling American comic book writer known for dark themes, humanist horror and a fascination with the roots of violence. He has done work for DC Comics, Vertigo Comics, Dark Horse Comics, Image Comics, IDW Publishing, Penny-Farthing Press, Virgin Comics and Random House Books.
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Tim Kring

Shift: A Novel
WHEN: 2:15PM-3:15PM
PANEL: Drug Trade Stories: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly
STAGE: Fiction Pavilion

Tim Kring is the creator, an executive producer, and a writer for Heroes. Kring has worked as an executive producer for all four seasons of the show. He began his writing career for the hit TV show Knight Rider in the early 1980s. In 1987 Kring penned Teen Wolf Too alongside Jeph Loeb. He created the hit television shows Crossing Jordan, and Strange World.

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Hope Larson

Mercury
WHEN: 1:30PM-2:30PM
PANEL: Femme Fantastic: Cutting Edge Women Writing the YA Graphic Novel
STAGE: Comics & Graphic Novels Pavilion

Hope Larson is the Eisner and Ignatz award-winning author of several graphic novels for young adults. Her most recent book, Mercury, was published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers in April 2010. Upcoming projects include a graphic novel adaptation of Madeline L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time (FSG), and Whois AC (Atheneum), an original graphic novel to be illustrated by cartoonist Tintin Pantoja.

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Steve Niles

The Ghoul
WHEN: 3:45PM-4:45PM
WHERE: H.P. Lovecraft & the Horror of Comics
STAGE: Comics & Graphic Novels Pavilion

Steve Niles is a writer. He writes comics, novels and films. He is one of the writers responsible for bringing horror comics back to prominence. Niles is currently working for the four top American comic publishers – Marvel, DC, Image and Dark Horse. Currently ongoing at Image is the creator-owned series BAD PLANET with co-writer Thomas Jane and THE CRYPTICS with artist Ben Roman. Everyone’s favorite monster hunter Cal McDonald returns in the monthly CRIMINAL MACABRE series from Dark Horse. And later this year, continuing 30 DAYS OF NIGHT spin-offs and AMERICAN FREAKSHOW return to IDW Publishing.

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David Petersen

Mouse Guard
WHEN: 2:45PM-3:30PM
PANEL: “Mouse Guard” Creator David Petersen In Conversation with Joshua Dysart
STAGE: Comics & Graphic Novels Pavilion

David Petersen was born in 1977. His artistic career soon followed. A steady diet of cartoons, comics, and tree climbing fed his imagination and is what still inspires his work today. David won the 2007 Russ Manning Award for Most Promising Newcomer. In 2008, David won the Eisners for Best Publication for Kids (Mouse Guard Fall 1152 & Winter 1152) and Best Graphic Album – Reprint (Mouse Guard Fall 1152 Hardcover). He is the creator of the Mouse Guard series and is excited to be working on projects he dearly loves doing.

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Richard Starkings

Elephantmen Volume 2: Fatal Diseases
WHEN: 12:15PM-1:15PM
PANEL: Down & Dirty Comics: Comics Outside of “The Big Three”
STAGE: Comics & Graphic Novels Pavilion

In 1992 Starkings founded Comicraft, a studio which trains and employs letterers and designers and provides “Unique Design and Fine Lettering” services for comic books from many different publishers. Originally Starkings had intended that the advertisements for these fonts would feature Marvel and DC Comics’ characters, however when he failed to receive the authorisation to do that, Starkings created his own character to illustrate the ads – Hip Flask an anthropomorphic hippopotamus “Information Agent”. Hip Flask has since graduated to his own series of one-shot comic books, published by Active Images. In 2006 Image Comics launched an ongoing prequel series to Hip Flask, Elephantmen, written by Starkings.

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Bernie Wrightson

The Ghoul
WHEN: TBD
WHERE: TBD

Bernie Wrightson is an American artist known for his horror illustrations and comic books. He co-created (with writer Len Wein) the comic character Swamp Thing, and definitively illustrated Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Bernie has also collaborated regularly with author Stephen King, having illustrated The Stand, Cycle of the Werewolf, and Dark Tower V. He’s worked on Spiderman, Batman, and the Punisher, and provided countless covers for all of the major comics publishers. He wrote and drew his own scifi miniseries: Captain Sternn. Recent works include City of Others (Dark Horse), and Dead She Said and The Ghoul (IDW), both co-created with author Steve Niles. As a conceptual artist, Bernie has worked on several well-known films, including Ghostbusters, Galaxy Quest, Spider-Man, Land of the Dead, and Frank Darabont’s latest Stephen King film The Mist.