Press release from AAM/Markosia:
MARKOSIA CELEBRATES LAUNCH OF “THE DARK” WITH PRIZE DRAW FOR FOLLOWERS
Markosia Enterprises solicited the much anticipated original graphic novel “The Dark” in the January 2010 edition of Diamond Comic Distribution's “Previews” catalogue. 100 pages in length, the graphic novel contains the complete story as devised by UK scribe Chris Lynch and US based artist Rick Lundeen and has already attracted praise from both reviewers and podcasters.
As well as providing readers with an extended eighteen page free preview, Markosia today launched a Twitter based campaign to spread the word about The Dark and offered loyal followers the chance to win a copy of the book signed by author Chris Lynch and artist Rick Lundeen. All you have to do to enter is tweet the URL: http://www.thedarkcomicbook.com before January 31st 2010. Full terms and conditions of the prize draw can be found on the website: http://www.thedarkcomicbook.com
THE DARK: DIAMOND ORDER CODE: JAN100699
What are people saying about “The Dark?”:
"a great, fast read"
Barry Nugent, Author of Fallen Heroes and Presenter of Geek Syndicate
"the fight scenes had a real sense of danger whilst the opening panels ... had a genuine feel of desperation, of regret"
Escape from Tomorrow
"The Dark #1 is another great comic title that I enjoyed immensely. I give it my highest recommendations and urge readers to buy it as soon as it becomes available."
Hypergeek
"By the end of the book everything I thought I knew had been turned on it's head and I was totally sucked in."
Gavin Jones, Sidekick Cast
"we're pleased to report it's some of Chris Lynch's best work to date, complemented by some suitably moody art from Lundeen. The story is complex but well realized, with plenty to get you thinking and wondering just what will happen next."
Down the Tubes
WHAT IS “THE DARK?”
Branded “The Dark Knight meets The Matrix” by reviewers, The Dark is the story of Daniel Abbot, a brilliant young scientist on the fringes of the establishment and the creator of Memetech - a technology that encodes information and memories into a liquid form, allowing anyone to “drink” the information. Terrified that his invention will be used for military purposes he decides to destroy his research, but not before he takes one last trip ... with disastrous results.
Two years on, and the Memetech genie is out of the bottle. Abbot, having perfected his own version of the technology, fights a one-man war against the spread of his own invention and the collapse of our information culture in the guise of “The Dark”. Aided by an artificial intelligence nicknamed Howard Hughes, Abbott creates “The Baffler” – a coat made of Memetech that gives his the edge over his enemies. Capable of injecting information directly into this brain and firing Memetech flechettes to hit others with bursts of pure information, The Baffler is both weapon and disguise in Daniel Abbot's war against his own creation.
When The Dark uncovers a plot to set off Memetech bombs across the whole of the city Dante, filling the air with liquid information and creating a new society of his enemy's devising, The Dark is plunged into a desperate race against time against his own technology.
But, not everything is what is seems.
Who is the new and mysterious enemy who seems to know The Dark's every move? How did the Memetech, thought destroyed, reappear? Why can't Daniel wake his wife and son? And why is everyone else in Dante named after an English poet? Mixing high octane super-hero action with hard science-fiction in a world of overlapping realities and fantasies, the story offers the reader the opportunity to solve the mystery of just what is real in the world of The Dark before even the hero can.
Chris Lynch on hidden messages in “The Dark.” “We've hidden lots of coded messages throughout the book,” explains Lynch, “Both in the dialogue and in the artwork. From the symbol on The Dark's chest to adverts in the background, everything is there for a reason. Hopefully people will get a kick out of trying to solve the mystery, or at least from looking back after they've read the book for the first time to find all the clues they missed. Either way, we wanted to create something with enough depth to bring people back to re-read the story time and again.”
About AAM Markosia:
Launched in 2005 AAM Markosia has been a leader in the independent publishing field, with titles such as Starship Troopers, Kong: King of Skull Island, The Boy Who Made Silence, Midnight Kiss, Hope Falls, The Lexian Chronicles and many more. 2008 marked their most ambitious campaign to date as the company debuted a range of new titles, with many more exciting and innovative titles to follow in 2009/10. In addition, AAM Markosia has and will be exhibiting at many conventions around the globe, including New York Comic Con, San Diego Comicon, Angouleme, The Birmingham International Comics Show and the Bristol Comic Expo.
About Rick Lundeen:
Rick Lundeen lives in the western suburbs outside of Chicago with his wife and kids and has been drawing storyboards for advertising agencies for over 20 years. He's also been reading comics for over 30 years and producing and publishing comics for more than 15. The only thing he somewhat knows how to do is draw. Period. Examples of what he does can be found at the following sites:
http://www.comicspace.com/rickjlundeen/,
http://www.edseyart.com/, and
http://www.epochkblamm.com/ [
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on Saturday, January 30 from 6:00 to 9:00 PM. This event promises to be both entertaining and enlightening. The public is invited to join us for this festive reunion of influential independent cartoonists.
