Gene Simmons' Sci-Fi Comic Zipper Breaks Loose in November

IDW Publishing and Simmons Comics Group debuts new ongoing sci-fi series 

KISS rock legend Gene Simmons credits his love of comic books and science fiction for inspiring the legendary costumes-and-facepaint band that has sold more than 80 million albums worldwide.

Now, Simmons will return the favor with Zipper, the first sci-fi title from his Simmons Comics Group, produced by IDW Publishing, in an intergalactic epic that unfolds this November.

In Zipper, the soldier Xeng Ral lives only to serve the collective society on his home planet, Etheria. But then something forbidden happens: He starts to think as an individual, contemplating his own autonomy. The Etherian solution to such behavior? "Reconditioning", which Xeng Ral escapes by stealing a protective zippered dimensional suit and plunging through a wormhole that lands him on planet Earth. Protected only by his suit, which conceals arsenal of interdimensional weaponry, Xeng Ral sets out to explore his new world while desperately evading those who would hunt him down from Etheria.

Simmons, who immigrated to America at age four, credits a sci-fi classic as part of the series inspiration, along with his own outsider childhood, which led him to bury himself in the sci-fi comics of the day that helped teach him English.

"The sense of Zipper came to me from Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land," says Simmons, referring to the 1961 award-winning novel. "A human being, born on Mars and raised by Martians, comes to Earth. I was born in another country and came to America. All of us share a sense of being from the outside."

The series also marks the return of the collaboration between artist Casey Maloney and IDW editor and writer Tom Waltz, the creative team behind IDW's popular Children of the Grave miniseries. Waltz, who oversees all of the Simmons Comics Group titles, has recruited illustrator Adriano Loyola, as well as Maloney, to provide covers for the monthly book.

"Gene has really nailed this one," says Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Chris Ryall, who helped bring the Simmons titles to IDW. "He started publishing sci-fi back was he was just a teenager doing fanzines in the 1960s, and it's clearly never left his system. If he never made it as a rock god, he would have probably become one of the top creators in the comics industry."

Zipper follows the debut of two other Simmons Comics Group titles: the fright anthology Gene Simmons: House of Horrors, and the sultry superhero story Dominatrix. Future titles include the all-ages sci-fi action book, Indy: Race of the Galaxies. Nick Simmons, Gene's son and Gene Simmons Family Jewels co-star on the popular A&E show, will contribute his own comic book to IDW in 2008, Skullduggery.

Gene Simmons' Zipper #1 hits stands in November, and is available for pre-order now, with Diamond Order Code SEP07 3766.

About IDW Publishing
IDW PUBLISHING, a division of Idea and Design Works, LLC, is a publisher of comic books and graphic novels. IDW's titles range from 30 DAYS OF NIGHT and FALLEN ANGEL to Hasbro's THE TRANSFORMERS, Fox's ANGEL, Paramount's STAR TREK, and many more. The 30 DAYS OF NIGHT film will be released by Sony Pictures on October 19, 2007. More information about the company can be found at www.idwpublishing.com.

ABOUT GENE SIMMONS

In addition to co-founding KISS 30 years ago, Gene Simmons can be seen on TV every week (alongside his family) on GENE SIMMONS FAMILY JEWELS, currently airing on A&E. His other TV shows include GENE SIMMONS ROCK SCHOOL (VH-1 in the US, and 22 other countries), in which he starred, and his cartoon show, MY DAD THE ROCK STAR (Nickelodeon and Nicktoons for four years) and he created MR. ROMANCE for the Oxygen Network.

He is partnered in the SIMMONS ABRAMSON MARKETING venture, which does worldwide branding/marketing for the legendary INDY RACING LEAGUE, as well as the iconic INDY 500 -- seen in 200 countries around the work and on ABC/ESPN in the US.

He has his own US Postage Stamp: Only 39 cents a stamp (at your local post office.)

He owns SIMMONS RECORDS, SIMMONS BOOKS and SIMMONS AUDIO VISUAL.

He has authored 2 New York Times/LA Times books: KISS AND MAKEUP/Crown Books and SEX MONEY KISS/Simmons Books-Phoenix Books.

He had his own magazine, GENE SIMMONS TONGUE/Sterling MacFadden, which lasted five issues and is in the midst of launching his new magazine: GENE SIMMONS GAME magazine.

He has acted on television shows and co-starred in movies such as RUNAWAY/Tristar and WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE/New World.

Oh, yes. He is also in KISS, a band that has broken box office records set by the Beatles and Elvis and which after 34 years, continues to be the juggernaut of licensing and merchandising...with almost 3,000 licensed products. Everything from KISS KONDOMS to KISS KASKETS.

"We'll get ya comin'. And, we'll get ya goin'," says Simmons.

And did we mention KISS' newest release: KISSOLOGY-the six-hour DVD-has just entered at Number One!!! in both America and Canada (the two countries it's been released in to date) and has been certified by the RIAA as 5x Platinum!

It's a KISS World. We're all just living in it. For more info, go to www.genesimmons.com. 

San Diego, CA (October 10, 2007)