Posted in: Boom, Comics, Comics Publishers, Current News | Tagged: animal farm, Animal Pound, clay mann, george orwell, Peter Gross, Tom King

Retailers Can Unlock Clay Mann Variant of Animal Pound #1 With Ashcan

First teased at SDCC by Tom King and Peter Gross is the upcoming Animal Pound comic, promising to be Boom's biggest release of the year.

George Orwell died at University College Hospital, London, on the 21st of January 1950, at the tragically early age of 46. He had seen a lot, fought in the Spanish Civil War against the fascists, then saw fascists come to power in Germany, and fought against them in a different way, in the British Home Guard teaching Broits how to fight Germans in the street in the event of an expected invasion, and working on government wartime propaganda for the BBC. Creating classics such as Animal Farm and 1984, his early death saw his work slip into the public domain in the UK and Europe a lot earlier as well, in January 2021. However, in the US, you still have to wait until the twenty-thirties for his books to start going into the public domain under the Disney rule of 95 years after publication. 1984 won't be public domain in the US until 2044. Most countries use the "rule of shorter term", which means that if it is public domain in the author's home country (which it is), then it is public domain everywhere. However, the US does not abide by that policy. So what, then, for Animal Pound? Some tricky legalese?

First teased at San Diego Comic-Con with a surprise appearance by DC mainstay Tom King at Boom Studios' primary publisher panel, the upcoming Animal Pound event series with Chosen/American Jesus/Chosen One co-creator Peter Gross promises to be Boom Studios' biggest releases of the year.

King has described the series as "the most ambitious story I've ever told," which is probably not overstating things considering he's reimagining George Orwell's classic Animal Farm for today's America. Copyright law be damned? We'll see.

Gross is no stranger to ambitious projects either, having worked with the likes of Neil Gaiman on Books Of Magic, Mike Carey on The Unwritten, and Chosen – then renamed American Jesus to sell it, then renamed Chosen One for the Netflix series, with Mark Millar; and even Gross claimed: "Tom's pitch for Animal Pound was the best pitch I've ever read."

Boom splashed Animal Pound on the cover of Diamond Previews and gave it an early first look with one of their rare ashcan releases. As I understand it, initial retailer orders for the Animal Pound Ashcan are already equal to the final order cutoff orders for the hotly anticipated and rapidly sold-out one for Rare Flavours by Ram V. and Filipe Andrade. Like Rare Flavours, the Animal Pound Ashcan features both a standard cover with a trade dress and a full art unlockable variant, limited to one per store. The one-per-store unlockable of Rare Flavours is still selling at over $25 consistently on the aftermarket… if you can find a copy. Will the unlockable variant of the Animal Pound Ashcan fetch an even higher premium based on King and Gross' pedigree?

And Boom has snuck another variable into the Animal Pound Ashcan that could make things very interesting…

Just today, they revealed the image for the unlockable cover of Animal Pound #1 by frequent King collaborator Clay Mann limited to one per store, except… for stores that order at least ten copies of the Animal Pound Ashcan. Retailers who do that will unlock the Mann cover as an open-to-order item and can order as many as they want.

Mann is not the only red-hot cover artist covering Animal Pound #1. Boom has stacked the deck with covers by Vision artist Gabriel Walta, industry legend Bill Sienkiewicz, and Skottie Young's third cover for the publisher. The Young cover hasn't been revealed yet, but I expect Boom to drop it ahead of FOC for Animal Pound #1 to spike interest like they did on Sirens Of The City and Zawa.

In the meantime, Animal Pound Ashcan is on FOC today, Monday, October 23rd so if you want to guarantee a copy of that Mann cover, you may want to encourage your local retailer to order a few extra copies of the ashcan.

ANIMAL POUND CVR A ASHCAN GROSS
BOOM! STUDIOS
SEP230037
(W) Tom King (A/CA) Peter Gross
From the publisher of Slaughterhouse Five: The Graphic Novel comes a bold reimagining of George Orwell's timeless masterpiece by two award-winning creators working together for the first time! Visionary writer Tom King (The Human Target, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow) and acclaimed artist Peter Gross (American Jesus, The Books of Magic) invite readers to experience a modern allegory inspired by Animal Farm. Don't miss out on the exclusive ashcan, strictly limited to its initial print run and never to be printed again, of the series everyone will be talking about for years to come!In Shops: Nov 15, 2023 SRP: $2.99

ANIMAL POUND #1 (OF 4) CVR A GROSS (MR)
BOOM! STUDIOS
OCT230009
(W) Tom King (A/CA) Peter Gross
When animals grow tired of being caged, killed, and sold off-it's only a matter of time before they've had enough… When an uprising puts a pound in control of the animals, they quickly find themselves as comrades, united against everything that walks on two legs. But with this newfound power comes a sudden challenge: how best to lay the groundwork for this new democracy as they write their first constitution! Discover an epic graphic storytelling event from celebrated New York Times bestselling, Eisner Award-winning writer Tom King (The Human Target, Love Everlasting) and New York Times bestselling, Eisner Award-nominated artist Peter Gross (American Jesus, The Books of Magic). King and Gross collaborate for the first time ever to bring this enduring Orwellian allegory to life for the 21st Century.In Shops: Dec 20, 2023 SRP: $4.99

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