DORK TOWER: FIVE YEARS, 25 ISSUES MARKED WITH NEARLY 100-PAGE CELEBRATION
***Press Release***
Dork Tower 25, the special landmark
celebratory issue originally solicited at 56 pages, has been delayed
in part due to an ever-expanding table of contents that now threatens
to push the comic book past 100 pages.
“The book is 96 pages long at the moment,” said Dork Tower creator
John Kovalic. “But more people want to join the party every day.
There’s so much that will be packed in here, it’s almost like putting
together a trade paperback.”
Dork Tower 25 is now scheduled to ship from the printer the last week
of August for September sales. Despite the page count increase, the
price will remain $3.99.
Dork Tower 25’s many features bow include:
* A cover by Chris Gossett, of The Red Star fame.
* “Dork Tower Frag,” a complete, eight-page full-color game from
Steve Jackson Games.
* “Dork Wanderings,” a brand-new new game from Cheapass Games and James Ernest.
* “Igor’s Big Date,” a short story by New York Times bestselling
author Mike Stackpole.
* “One Gold Coin,” a seven-page fantasy comic story by Eisner Award
winner Alex Robinson
* Extra pages of Dork Tower comics.
* The launch of a new regular feature, “Dr. Blink: Superhero Shrink” by
John Kovalic and Chris Jones.
* Pin-ups and comics from the likes of Brandon Peterson (CrossGen),
Paul Jaquays (id Software, “Duck Tower,” jaquays.com), Ted Rall (“To
Afghanistan and Back”), Rachel Hartman (“Amy Unbounded”), Shannon
Wheeler (“Too Much Coffee Man”), Mark Smylie (“Artesia”), Phil Foglio
(“Girl Genius”), Liz Rathke (“SnapDragons”) and many others, as well
as special episodes of the regular backup strips.
* The return of Jason Holmgren’s “Joe Genero” gaming comic strip,
from the late, lamented pages of Shadis Magazine.
“When I first started the comic book, I thought I’d be lucky to get
to issue five,” said Kovalic. “Dork Tower 25 is really one huge
“thank you” card to the readers who’ve made all of this possible. And
there’s no way this could have happened without all my friends in the
comics and games industries. That so many of them would come together
for this is extraordinary. Talk about getting by with a little help
from your friends…”
Dork Tower began life as a comic strip on the pages of Shadis
magazine in 1996, but was launched as a comic book in 1998. “Dork
Covenant,” the first trade paperback collection, is approaching its
fifth printing, and has sold almost 20,000 copies since its first
printing in 2000. The Dork Tower comic strip now runs in magazines
such as Dragon, Scrye and Games, as well as at wizkidsgames.com and
at dorktower.com. But its long history shouldn’t deter new readers,
said Kovalic.
“Dork Tower 25 is also designed as a good jumping-on point for
people,” he noted. “The inter-character dynamics are set for the next
year or so, and you won’t have to have read a single previous issue
of Dork Tower before to join the fun!”
Dork Tower has won five Origins Awards, and in June 2003,
Kovalic became the first cartoonist inducted into the Academy of
Adventure Games Arts and Design Hall of Fame.
For more information, please contact:
Sales and Advertising: Ross Jepson
jepsonr@telusplanet.net
Editorial: John Kovalic
john@kovalic.com