IMAGE EXPO: Zdarsky confesses he likes kissing — and announces KAPTARA

ZDARSKY CONFESSES HE LIKES KISSING—AND ANNOUNCES KAPTARA WITH ARTIST KAGAN MCLEOD

A new science-fiction series to launch this April

Image Comics is proud to announce that they are continuing to publish comics in 2015! One of them will be KAPTARA, a new ongoing series from very interesting person Chip Zdarsky (SEX CRIMINALS, Howard the Duck, much unpublished poetry) and award-winning illustrator Kagan McLeod (Infinite Kung-fu)!

“As strange as it is to be publishing another series with Chip, especially one written by him, I can’t wait for everyone to see how flat out amazing Kagan McLeod is on this book,” said Eric Stephenson, Publisher at Image Comics. “That was the first thing I noticed when Chip first pitched this to me, the incredible artwork, and even though Chip was the writer, I thought what Kagan brought to the project more than made up for that. Seriously, Kagan’s that good.”

KAPTARA follows Keith Kanga, a young bio-engineer flung across the universe onto a strange planet filled with weird danger. And if he doesn’t get home then Earth—the place where YOU live—is DOOMED!

“I like to write stories,” said Zdarsky, a man known mostly for art. “And I wanted to create a fantastic world to explore, filled with humor, action, and, you know what? Romance. Yeah, I like kissing. Sorry if that offends you, but I think kissing is pretty important and I hope to give it a shot one day.”

The world of KAPTARA is new, yet familiar, and taps into Zdarsky and McLeod’s childhood inspirations for its characters and settings.

“Kaptara is like the Planet of Dr. Moreau meets your childhood action figures. When I was a kid, I didn’t just play with my He-Man figures, even though I most strongly identified with He-Man due to his muscles and dislike of shirts. I had Skeletor fighting Bat-Man; Optimus Prime kissing Crystar, Crystal Warrior; Cheetara wondering why my mommy bought me a Sectaur. There was no purity of universes with my playtime and Kaptara reflects that, as we’ve created an entire planet of action figures to play with.”

Joining Zdarsky in exploring KAPTARA is Kagan McLeod, an award-winning illustrator known for his work in publications like Entertainment Weekly, GQ, and Newsweek as well as his much-loved comic series Infinite Kung-fu.

“One of the best parts of sharing a studio with Chip in the pre-social media days was creating wacky characters in a communal sketchbook,” said McLeod. “We would force any visitors to flip through the book and revelled in their response, be it a gut-busting guffaw or a horrified recoil. We are pleased to try this out on a national level (though of course not by force).”

Zdarsky is looking forward to McLeod reaching a whole new audience from working with Image Comics. “Kagan is the greatest illustrator I know, and not only that, he’s the funniest illustrator too. He can do amazing action scenes and tender moments, but also design characters that make me laugh for days. I love him. Very much. And I can’t wait for others to discover him and his amazing style.”

KAPTARA debuts in April, and Zdarsky insists on referring to it as “gay SAGA” to anyone who asks him what it’s like.