Last summer we learned that Jonathan Ross, the host of the BBC's Friday Night, will team with artist Tommy Lee Edwards on a new series for Image Comics called Turf. Today we're really excited to give you your first look at the cover to the first issue, courtesy of the fine folks at Image Comics. And here's the description of the comic, courtesy of Jonathan Ross himself:
Turf
A 4 issue hard boiled noir crime thriller with girls, guns, fangs and aliens.
New York, 1929. The height of prohibition. The cops turn a blind eye while the mobs run the city, dealing in guns, girls and illegal liquor. But the arrival of the mysterious Dragonmir Family from Eastern Europe with more of a taste for blood then booze coincides with a series of brutal attacks on the gangsters themselves. As the gangs fall before the fangs, only a handful of mobsters survive. But an unlikely alliance formed between tough guy Eddie Falco and a character from a LONG way from New York City – a long way from Earth, in fact - offers the humans a glimmer of hope. As the strong-willed young reporter Susie Dale from the Gotham Herald tries to survive in the middle of the maelstrom, and an ancient prophecy unfolds, no one can guess who’s going to win the battle for this particular slice of Turf.
And here's some additional information on the creators:
Jonathan Ross is one of the highest profile broadcasters in the UK. His weekly talk show, Friday Night with Jonathan Ross is entering it’s 11th year on BBC1, and is the UK’s most successful comedy talk-show. It is now broadcast via the BBC in the USA, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and in assorted other weirdly arbitrary territories. He also hosts an award winning weekly radio show, the BBC’s flagship Film review programme and the Bafta Film Awards, which is shown in numerous countries around the world.
In a career that spans over twenty years Ross has often been associated with cult entertainment. His award winning series The Incredibly Strange Film Show and it’s sequel, The Son of the Incredibly Strange Film Show won a fan following that remembers them fondly to this day. He was responsible for the first western television interview with Jacki Chan, Tsui Hark and many other leading Hong Kong stars. He has authored programmes on subjects as diverse as Korean Cinema, Drive-Through Funeral parlours in Louisiana and Steve Ditko.
He has a collection of comics and original art so large it frightens even him.
Tommy Lee Edwards: After studying film and illustration at the Art Center College of Design, Edwards took the comics industry by storm with his illustrations on such titles as X-Men, Daredevil, Marvel 1985, Batman, and The Question. Proving to be one of the most respected and versatile artists working today, he has also designed video games like Command and Conquer, James Bond, and Prey. Edwards created the licensing style-guides for films such as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Men in Black II, Superman Returns, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and Batman Begins. For Lucasfilm, he’s created countless pieces for books, merchandise, magazines, and posters.
Edwards perhaps feels most at home putting his imagination and storytelling flare to the test while working as a conceptual and storyboard artist for film. Recently he collaborated with the Hughes Brothers on their upcoming Denzel Washington epic The Book of Eli.
Currently on Edwards’ desk is a series of concept illustrations for the live-action film re-envisioning of Masters of the Universe, along with a Prince of Persia graphic novel for Disney Press.
A big tip of the hat to Joe Keatinge at Image Comics!