CBR can exclusively reveal a preview and 1:25 incentive variant cover -- which comes from legendary artist Marc Silvestri and colorist Alex Sinclair -- for Metal Society, an upcoming sci-fi series from Top Cow Productions and Image Comics set in a futuristic world where robots have conquered the planet.
The variant cover shows the series' heroine, Rose, standing over a robot she seemingly defeated in hand-to-hand MMA combat. Silvestri is CEO of Top Cow Productions and co-founder of Image Comics. He's worked on a number of projects for both Marvel and DC, including 1996's Batman Black and White, Uncanny X-Men and Civil War: The Initiative. Sinclair previously worked on Batman: Hush, The Flash and more.
CBR also has an exclusive seven-page preview of Metal Society #1, which is described as a new dramatic five-issue series that's "Blade Runner meets Rocky." The synopsis reads, "In an inverted future, evolved robots have resurrected humans for manual labor. When a tribalistic cultural clash breaks out, a fearless human fighter and a frustrated, displaced robot will square off in a public MMA-style sport fight of epic stakes to determine once and for all who reigns supreme: man or machine."
Writer Zack Kaplan previously shared the inspirations behind Metal Society and teased the story's relevant themes in an exclusive interview with CBR. "In the vein of Eclipse and Port of Earth, Metal Society felt like a really fantastic project to bring to life with Top Cow and Image. In terms of where the idea came from, it was a confluence of a lot of different aspects that I was seeing in life, reading about modern automation and the trend of displacing human workers, and how technology was transforming our workplace and society. I think you hear a lot about people being afraid of where this is all going: Will technology change and take our jobs?"
Kaplan continued, "I thought, what if that was flipped? Could a sentient robot feel that same fear? I really like to think about sci-fi premises taking a device like a robot and finding a way to personify the theme in a way I haven't seen before because that allows me to explore certain themes about us and our humanity. That was the playground I found myself in here."
Check out the variant cover and preview for Metal Society #1 below.
Metal Society #1 is by Kaplan, artist Guilherme Balbi, colorist Marco Lesko and letterer Troy Peteri. The issue releases in comic book stores and on digital platforms -- including Amazon Kindle, Apple Books and Google Play -- on May 4. Pre-orders of all variant covers are now on sale at Previews World.
Source: Top Cow Productions