THE LITTLE GUY GETS HIS DAY IN ZED: A COSMIC TALE

Revamped Michel Gagné series collected in January

Image Comics has announced the January publication of ZED: A COSMIC TALE from multi-media artist, Michel Gagné (THE SAGA OF REX). ZED, a cute, silly, yet epic science-fiction series, was self-published over a period of eleven years starting in 2001. The new collection of the series features art and writing that has been revised and reworked by Gagné.

"I fell in love with comics at an early age, and recall wanting to be a comic artist as one of my first childhood dreams", said Gagné. "I later became interested in animation and special effects and pursued a career in that field. Despite this new passion, I never wavered in my love of comics and ultimately couldn't shake the festering desire to create my own series. In early 2001, after finishing up a demanding job as Head of Special Effects at Warner Brothers Feature Animation, I took time off to make that dream come true. This is how ZED was born."

The first issue of ZED was self-published in July 2001 and the series concluded with issue 10, published in January 2012. Unfolding over the issues is the story of a cute young alien whose invention makes him the target of a galactic villain. Facing seemingly insurmountable odds, Zed must find the courage to save his home world from destruction.

Doing a comic series after hours, single-handedly, proved to be a more difficult task than Gagné first anticipated. "I planned to tell my tale over a period of ten issues and felt pretty confident, at the time, that I could have the whole thing wrapped up and published within a couple of years," said Gagné. "Little did I know that it would take me eleven years to finally bring the series to fruition. ZED is, first and foremost, a labor of love which I created at my own pace. The comic series became a way for me to build my graphic novel."

ZED reflects Gagné's deep love for golden age science fiction and oddball cartooning. It is influenced by his favorite books and movies, as well as political news, rock concerts and things he has experienced and witnessed throughout his life. With the series wrapped up, Gagné combined all ten issues into a single graphic novel that reads as one uninterrupted story. Because of the time span it took to get the series done, Gagné felt that the writing and art style needed a second pass to make them more consistent.

"The disparity from one issue to the next was less visible when separated into individual comic books, but all strung together in graphic novel form, the inconsistencies became painfully obvious", said Gagné. "When putting the final book together, I didn't treat it as a straight reprint book. I spend several months reworking the art and writing to make it more cohesive. I consider ZED: A Cosmic Tale published by Image Comics to be the definitive version of the story."

ZED: A COSMIC TALE is a 280-page paperback. It will be in stores on January 30, 2013 and is available for pre-order now from the December issue of Previews.

Find out more about ZED: A COSMIC TALE at www.ZEDcomics.com.