New KISS Comic Covers Revealed

On June 13, IDW Publishing is bringing back the rock group KISS in comic form. Last year, Archie Comics released a story in which Archie met KISS. This time IDW is giving them marquee status.

According to IDW, the series is rooted in KISS fandom, featuring KISS characters like "Wicked" Lester, the Destroyer, She, the Elder, and more, but it will be very accessible to all comic readers.

KISS will be written by Chris Ryall (Zombies vs Robots) with art by Jamal Igle (The Ray) and KISS #1-4 come with a special "solo album" covers by artist Michael Gaydos.

Variant covers will also be available, including a Michael Gaydos "Demon" cover and a KISS photo cover.

A photo of the advance copies of the new KISS comic issue #1 can be seen below. Pictured are the six different covers that will be available for the first issue.

In the photos:

Top row: two regular covers available at most retailers; and one limited cover available at select retailers

Bottom row: limited cover available at select retailers; the black cover is exclusive to one retailer only; last one on right is the KissOnline.com exclusive.

KissOnline.com spoke to IDW Publishing's chief creative officer and editor-in-chief Tom Waltz and senior staff writer Chris Ryall last July at the San Diego Comic Con.

KISS has been the subject of several comic book series with several different publishers. Why did IDW pick the group to work with?

Chris Ryall: "It pretty much follows the way we choose to pursue any license: we're fans of the material. Both Tom Waltz and I are lifelong KISS fans; and add to that the fact that we produced a line of Simmons Comic Group releases with Gene Simmons a few years back and it's just been something we've always wanted to do. Some of my earliest comic-reading moments are of enjoying the KISS Super Specials that Marvel produced in the '70s, and it's a personal thrill to not only be able to carry on with KISS comics but to now write them myself, too."

Tom Waltz: "As Chris states, we tend not to pursue any license at IDW that won't have an editor behind it who is a fan and willing to champion it through the long process of getting it approved and into print. In the case of KISS, Chris and I are not only champions of the license, we're uber-fans of the band and their music, not to mention the KISS comics from various other publishers in the past. Like Chris, I ate up those Marvel KISS comics and to now be able to be a part of the ongoing adventures of our hard-rockin', kabuki-wearin' heroes is a real highlight of my career as a writer/editor."

The four different covers of the first issue of IDW's new KISS comics that will be released in late June can be seen below. The top left hand image is the cover that will be most widely available. The other three are alternate covers that will be released in limited supply.