EXCLUSIVE: Paul Renaud's covers for "Prophecy" #2 & #3

Last month, Dynamite Entertainment announced "Prophecy," a massive line-wide crossover featuring Dynamite mainstay characters Vampirella, Red Sonja, Kulan Gath, Dracula, Eva, Herbert West, The Reanimator, Allan Quatermain, Athena, Dorian Gray, Purgatory, Pantha and many more. Written by Ron Marz with interior art by Walter Geovani and covers by Paul Renaud, "Prophecy" focuses on the end of the world as prophesied by the ancient Mayans and, according to Marz, spans a giant section of Earth's history.

"We mark history in the deeds and heroes and villains," Marz told CBR News. "The story in 'Prophecy' ranges from the pre-history of the Hyborian Age to what might well be the end of time in 2012, so we're bringing together heroes and even a few villains from all the eras in between. Part of the fun of this story is coming up with ways to make that happen. Part of what sold me on doing the project was Dynamite's mindset of keeping it fun -- or at least as fun as the apocalypse can be. There's not a damn thing wrong with letting a comic book be a comic book."

Dynamite President and Publisher Nick Barrucci further explained the impetus driving "Prophecy" and what fans can expect from the publisher's most massive crossover yet.

"Prophecy is Dynamite's biggest crossover to date. We wanted to ensure we launched it the best we could," said Barrucci. "We've been discussing the idea of creating a cross-over for 2012 with the Mayan Prophecy for over a year now.The more we thought about it, the more discussions we had, the more we realized that Ron was the writer to ask.He'd been involved in the Marvel/DC Crossover as well as 'Batman/Aliens' and currently Top Cow's 'Artifacts.' He's worked with all four top publishers on cross-overs.I can't recall anyone else who has created cross-overs with the four major comics publishers. How could we not ask him first?We approached Ron at Baltimore Comic Con, and he needed to give it some thought. He wanted to ensure that he could tell a story that would be worth telling so that fans would enjoy it, and not create a cross-over for cross-overs sake, which we agreed and it's also why we're only releasing one 7 issue series.One cross-over.One story.One stand alone, focused and earth-shattering series.No spinoffs to force fans to buy more books.

"To encourage new fans to jump on board, Ron's written this so that if this is your first Dynamite comic, it's one that will introduce you to our worlds," Barrucci continued."We're giving fans and retailers what they asked for.Fortunately, Ron came on board, and we've been working on this ever since, figuring out which characters would work best, clearing the licensing hurdles, everything involved.The series spans through time, and Ron makes it work.Ron's undertaking a huge cross-over for us, and I have to say creatively, having read the outline, the first issue, it's a home run.And looking at the art Walter is handing in, we couldn't be happier.And the icing on the cake: Paul Renaud on covers.This series will rock!"

Check out the exclusive "Prophecy" #1 preview pages below and stay tuned to CBR News for more on Dynamite's line-wide crossover.