Right now, Image is holding a press conference with Robert Kirkman. They have just announced his new horror series, OUTCAST.

Stay tuned as we fill you in on the details as they come.

Update

It's a new monthly series. Kirkman has been working in television but loves working in comics. Comics are his main focus. This is the first time since THE WALKING DEAD he has a comic that is set more in the real world touching on the horror concept. OUTCAST is a book about exorcism.

It will launch in early 2014. The main character will be Kyle Barnes. He's been dealing with demonic possession his entire life. Now he attempts to deal with it. Kyle's mother was possessed when he was young. He's become somewhat comfortable with and has been dealing with. In issue #1, we'll see him at his lowest point. He decides he doesn't want to deal with it anymore. He has to make his life better. He tries to figure out why this has been happening to him and people around him. He'll be looking for answers to figure out what it is he's experiencing. Along the way, he'll discover there's a bigger picture. There's something that could possible threaten the entire world.

"It's a big epic story involving exorcism and demonic possession. We're trying to shine a new light on that genre of horror fiction."

Compared to THE WALKING DEAD, they will be exploring new themes. There will be some overlap, such as loved ones being affected. Seeing your loved ones possessed and having them taken from you in a horrific fashion is something of a reoccurring theme in OUTCAST. There will be some similarities but they are hoping to break some new ground. They will be going in different directions that will make this very different from THE WALKING DEAD.

THE WALKING DEAD is known for its large ensemble cast and the possibility of losing or gaining characters. How will this one compare? Kirkman says there will initially be a large cast around Kyle Barnes. We'll find out more about them as they continue to promote the series. This will be a very big and epic story with a lot of new characters introduced along the way. We'll likely lose some along the way. It may not be quite the bloodbath that THE WALKING DEAD has turned out to be. It's fun to be able to push things in indie comics and keep people guessing.

There will be a television show based on it as well. It has already been announced with Fox International. Kirkman's been working behind the scenes with them as he develops the comic (they handle the international distribution of THE WALKING DEAD series). Back in March it was announced that Fox had an untitled exorcism project in the works. It was originally intended just to be a comic series. Kirkman will be involved with the pilot.

Kirkman's been working on it behind the scenes for almost two years. Since it won't debut until early 2014, he'll have plenty of time to maintain his schedule. There shouldn't be any concerns over his workload. He's learned to manage his time very well, illustrated by THE WALKING DEAD currently starting an accelerated schedule.

On working with Paul Azaceta, Kirkman was a fan since he debuted on GROUNDED. His art is moody and full of atmosphere. His style fits this project perfectly. Kirkman is excited that Paul hasn't really stuck around on any projects before. When they spoke, Paul said he was actually thinking about doing something more long term rather than doing a few issues of Conan here or a few issues of Spider-Man there, moving from project to project. This will be the first time he invests in something for the long haul. Kirkman loves watching the evolution of guys like Charlie Adlard, Ryan Ottley and Jason Howard, who have done many issues with him.

When asked why he thinks the horror genre fits the comic medium so well, Kirkman said he believes comics are going through a renaissance period. Different genres all work. We know crime and sci-fi works. Comics are adaptable. It's almost unfortunate that superhero comics have dominated so long due to the killing of creepy comics back in the 50s. Things are finally swinging back to where comics should have been without that "kneecapping of the industry." The thing about horror is it's not just about the scares, it's also about the psychological telling that goes into it.

THE WALKING DEAD and INVINCIBLE have both seen long and consistent runs. Does Kirkman have an overal big game-plan for OUTCAST? He feels this is the first time he's started a series where he has the end completely worked out. That's something new for him. He's always had vague notions as to how he'd wrap up THE WALKING DEAD, if he ever got to the point where he felt the story had been told. INVINCIBLE is very open-ended in terms of storytelling. This is something he's going into knowing exactly where he's going and exactly what story he's trying tell. While it is intended to be another long-running series, it will continue for years and years, he knows exactly where it's going. For him, it's a fun exercise to actually see the end of the road ahead this early on in the process.

What's Images problem?

People are not made of money dammit!

I was interested, now not so much......

When I saw the moon looking O and the red eye I was thinking werewolf, but demonic possession is even better. Looking forward to this.

C'mon image, give my wallet a break! So many trades I'm buying from this publisher is making me poor and now a new ongoing series from my favorite image writer... DAMN!

sounds interesting ....now kill the governor...on t v

Awesome, I can't wait. I thought Walking Dead sounded stupid the first time I read about it but I've learned that Kirkman can do no wrong. I'm looking forward to this!

what!!?!?!?!? Governers not dead on Walking dead?!?!?!?!?!? AWESOME!?!?!? I always wanted him to make a horrific return in the Comic. BTW, don't tell me. im only on season 2 of the show.

I think I'll be waiting for the review.

I thought he was a Terminator from only looking at that image :(

Same here, when I saw the first teaser for a new horror series by Kirkman I was pumped, but I'm not impressed by exorcism stuff. They're really going to have to do something new with this to keep me interested.

I really like Azaceta's art

Wow, I did not see that coming.

yup, ill get the first issue, but if its not amazing I doubt ill keep it

DEAL WITH IT!!

you know, pepole said the same thing about zombies when the walking dead came out.

bring it on!!!!

@jonny_anonymous: And I'm not a big fan of zombie stuff either, but I'm even less of a fan of exorcism stuff than zombies. I'll definitely check it out, but it will have to be something new and interesting for me to stick with it.

Exorcism is an... interesting choice. I'm probably going to get the first issue, but if it's just okay I won't get any further issues.

and all interest died.

That's my point. Everybody said they were sick of zombies and they were so overdone then Image started putting out Walking Dead and it blew everybody away. Also I don't understand why pepole say they are sick of Vampires and Zombies ect and say it's beacuse there over done. I mean what about superheroes? That's the most overdone genre right now.

I would counter by saying that superheroes come in all shapes, sizes, and abilities. Zombies are more or less all the same, the only variation really is in the non-zombie characters, and the same for vampires, werewolves, etc, unless you're going to take a Twilight sized dump on the whole genre and say "these are vampires, but they can be in the sunlight, because otherwise there would complications with the plot." I'm sure Kirkman's got more in him than just cranking out a typical "power of Christ compels you/head spinning 360 degrees while climbing on the ceiling" exorcism story, but the way I see it is like this: if you don't like opera, going to see a really-well done, atypical opera is still probably not going to appeal to you. Maybe you find that one opera that you end up loving and it causes you to change your view of the whole genre, but chances are you'll just be moderately more impressed than you would with a typical opera. All that aside though, I'll definitely pick up at least the first issue to see how it is. Kirkman's name carries some heavy weight.

That's not true at all. Teen-Wolf is 100% different than American Werewolf in Paris is 100% different to Ginger Snaps. Saying all Vampire ect stuff is the same because there vampires is like saying all superhero stuff is the same because there superheroes.

Yuck.

@jonny_anonymous: No you're missing my point. Let's examine this in a little more depth:

Vampires: undead, drink blood, don't like sunlight or mirrors, maybe can turn into bats, ageless, not fan's of stakes or religious symbols

Werewolves: people who turn into wolves on a full moon, weak to silver, especially in bullet form for whatever reason, often uncontrollable while in werewolf form

Zombies: undead, eat flesh/brains, usually mindless, don't feel pain, not usually bothered by damage that would kill a living creature unless damage is to the brain

Superheroes: pretty much anything goes. Sure you can group all speedsters, or mutants, or whatever together, but those are like subsections. You wouldn't say Batman is comparable to the Flash or Superman or that any of them are like Wolverine or Cyclops.

That's the difference. "Superheroes" is a much broader category, it's like the equivalent of saying "horror" in place of zombies, werewolves, etc. Those are all horror, but you would further define them by those subsections, which more or less follow structures that have been in place for a long time, and hence "overdone." I'm still not saying all zombie stuff (or whatever genre) is the same, I'm saying that those genres have very specific conventions which separate them from other genres, and that typically they do not have a lot of variation because of those conventions. Again, maybe Kirkman does something special here that causes me to like an exorcist story, but again, he'll really have to do something to set it aside from everything else in that genre for me to take notice.

My sentiments exactly.

Not at all. Blade he's a Vampire. Allergic to sun? Nope. Sliver? Nope. Stakes? Nope. Vampires have almost unnumbered amount of powers in fiction, everything from shape shifting to telepathy.

Again I'll say not all vampires/werewolves/zombies are the same, not all the stories are the same, not all the characters are the same. Nether are they all horror, we'v all seen crime, comedy and even romance with these types of characters. Blade isn't the same as Interview With a Vampire that isn't the same as Lost Boys.

What your saying would be me saying something like "Oh Superheroes are all the same look at Batman and Superman, both have costumes, both are "alone" in there quest, both have skills noone else has, both have an opposite nemesis, both have hideouts, both always win"

@jonny_anonymous: I'm just going to leave this with a single point, because this is going on way too long for what I thought was a simple concept:

If you say "Vampire/werewolf/zombie" nobody is going to say "I'm not sure we're on the same page, can you be more specific? What does a vampire/werewolf/zombie do?" If you say "superhero" that's exactly the response you're gonna get, because the genre of "superhero" is a lot broader and allows for a lot more variation.

Here's an analogy: Horror is to Superheroes as Zombies is to Speedsters as Werewolves are to Alien Crime Fighters, etc.

NO SPOILERS! I'm not going to read any of this!

That cover looks pretty cool though.

@hecktate: And yet I just referenced a bunch of films where that have the same monster characters in it yet are totally different.

Also pepole wont think that about superheroes, they'll just automatically think of a guy in tights/cape/mask that saves pepole.

I can't get enough of Image and Kirkman. Totally hyped for this.

I'm very excited for this. I think it sounds great!!

@g_man: you keep saying it won't be like Walking Dead but proceed to mention it numerous times. Hopefully this book isn't doomed to live in its shadow.

hopefully this doesnt become a show.

I wish he would just take all his efforts and put them of course into the Walking Dead comic and making the Walking Dead show better. We dont need spin offs or other gimmicks to give you more money Kirkman.

I'll buy the first issue but it's going to have to be fantastic to keep me interested

Only Kirkman title i read is Invincible. I love it. I am getting the anniversary issue 1 this week for walking dead. Ill see how it goes.

Hm, I might just put this on my poll list. I love TWD (but I read it in trade) and I loved the Conjuring so this might be perfect for me. I don't read any indie series besides TWD so this should be interesting.

I'll be checking it out.

too many years of walking dead to jump on now, love the show

i may have to get this in trade if the reviews are good. cant keep wasting on monthlys

@extremis: it wasn't me! I was paraphrasing everything Kirkman said.

@jonny_anonymous: isn't blade only half vampire or something, hence several of his resistances? And no matter what, in some form all vampires, werewolves, and zombies (and exorcisms etc etc) are based on an archetype established by someone like Bram Stoker or Mary Shelly (sure lets throw in Frank too). Yes, there are a LOT of variations, but Blade not being allergic to sunlight didn't make it good or compelling. Teen Wolf having some new rules didn't make it compelling. It's the way the stories are told. It's the same way that people compare characters across the companies as filling archetypes. But if you don't like Batman, you won't likely enjoy a different nonpowered, rich, playboy martial artist fighting crime unless it's faaaar superior to your other experiences.

Personally, I'm excited for this. I love Invicible and have enjoyed catching up on TWD at the library, but I can't really get into that one as much. Honestly, I just hope this is in color. I know it's something unique about TWD, but it totally pulls me out of the experience.

Mmm... I don't really care for The Walking Dead (I know, blasphemy) but I love Invincible, and I generally like demon/exorcism type stories as long as there is some touch of originality to them, which I'm sure we don't have to worry about with Kirkman at the helm. I'll read the first trade (I always read horror comics in trade, it works better for atmosphere building if you get the story in larger chunks) and see if I like it.

Robert Kirkman says that comics are finally getting rid of the Superhero theme. But this theme seem to have been done to decades ago with Preacher. This has some different premises and can be cool. But being possessed by a demonic/god power/force is not new in comics. Also I would hope that the comic could have it's own life before it when on TV. Clearly it is Robert's name that have sold the TV show and not the comic it self since it is not out jet and that TV company wouldn't gamble on somebody that wasn't known. I don't dislike Robert's work, I like Walking Dead. Outcast can be very good and I hope so. I don't blame Robert for talking the deal it is money in the bank before the comic is even out a no brainer. I just don't like how the industries in media works.

This actually rings a chord with me because I've always been fascinated by demonic possession. I'm definitely gonna peruse this when it comes out!