In 1992, a new hero took the comic book world by storm. This hero was even darker than our beloved Batman. We are talking, of course, about Todd McFarlane's 'Spawn'. This was our first encounter with the comic book publisher Image Comics, a company that had been founded in 1992 by a group of artists (among them McFarlane, Rob Liefeld and Jim Lee) who grew frustrated with toiling under the artistic (and financial) constraints of working for Marvel Comics. For a period in the 1990's, Image, and Spawn in particular, were a very big deal. In fact, the first issue of Spawn sold 1.7 million copies, which is unheard of in today's comic book business. Fast forward to a few years ago and Image popped up again in a big way, fuelled in no small way by the runaway success of a certain series about the survivors of a zombie apocalypse. You may have heard of it. Even if you've never read the comic, you're sure to have watched the mega-successful TV show. Robert Kirkman's 'The Walking Dead' is Image's new 'Spawn', a flagship title that gives the company a licence to print money. This money can then be funnelled into taking creative risks on the rest of their series, which receive almost universal critical acclaim. The important thing about Image's current output is that it is all creator owned material from a wide variety of genres. We believe that Image has usurped the position previously held by DC's Vertigo Comics imprint and it is now the destination for fans and industry professionals alike for reading and creating innovative, new and original material. But what should you read first? What are the best series Image has to offer? Here are our ten favourites, most (but not all) of which we read in Trade Paperback format.
