IMAGE UNITED, the six-part crossover featuring Image Founders Erik Larsen, Rob Liefeld, Todd McFarlane, Whilce Portacio, Marc Silvestri and Jim Valentino, made its debut today with a near-immediate sellout at the distribution-level.

Image Untited #1 "As soon as I held IMAGE UNITED in my hand, I just knew these would go," said Marc Nathan, owner of Reisterstown, MD's Cards Comics & Collectibles and Promoter of the Baltimore Comic Con. "You just knew the covers were going to go. It was perfectly smart on Image's part to put them out this weekend - the best shopping week of the year. Everyone is coming to this weekend to shop, so you know people will be coming back for #2."

IMAGE UNITED is a six-part crossover encompassing the entire Image superhero universe and features each Image founder illustrating their own characters. Since its announcement, the crossover has garnered headlines from the New York Times, USAToday and other massive media outlets with its once-in-a-lifetime approach to the superhero crossover. Despite a significant overprint, the first issue managed to sell out at a distribution-level in less than twelve hours. A new printing will be released to coincide with the second issue and features a cover by SPAWN and HAUNT creator Todd McFarlane.

IMAGE UNITED writer Robert Kirkman said, "With an overprint this substantial, this immediate sellout is a clear indication the founders and their pantheon of characters are as hot as ever. The greatest part about the sell out is this is just the beginning. The best is yet to come."

Added Image Publisher Eric Stephenson: "Working to pull this project together has been an amazing experience for everyone involved, but it's been even more incredible to hear the response we've been getting not only from fans but our partners in the retail community. Everyone's enthusiasm has been extremely gratifying and we can't wait for everyone to see how this whole project unfolds."

IMAGE UNITED #1 2nd Printing, a 32-page full color comic book for $3.99, will be on-sale December 23.

And for those who can't wait for the second printing, a special collector's edition of IMAGE UNITED #1 featuring a gold foil-stamped logo is on sale December 3.

Image Comics is a comics and graphic novels publisher formed in 1992 by a collective of best-selling artists. Since that time, Image has gone on to become one of the largest comics publishers in the United States. There are currently five partners in Image Comics (Robert Kirkman, Erik Larsen, Todd McFarlane, Marc Silvestri, and Jim Valentino), and Image is currently divided into four major houses (Todd McFarlane Productions, Top Cow Productions, Shadowline, and Image Central). Image comics and graphic novels cover nearly every genre, sub-genre, and style imaginable, offering science fiction, romance, horror, crime fiction, historical fiction, humor, and more by the finest artists and writers working in the medium today. Visit www.imagecomics.com.