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Written by Jason Green Thursday, 15 March 2007 16:00

WARD OF THE STATE #1 hits stores in MAY!

BERKELEY, CA - March 9, 2007 -- Norma Balitzer has her own brand of justice. An average foster mother by outward appearance, Balitzer takes in her young wards and trains them to be deadly contract killers in her private war on pedophiles, rapists, and murderers.  When Dravis Trucker comes under Norma's unique brand of foster care, his hopes for a normal life become a struggle for survival. This May, Shadowline presents the controversial three-issue thriller WARD OF THE STATE!

"Even after a life enduring the violence and misery of the foster care system, Dravis is unprepared for Norma's terrifying home," explains writer Christopher E. Long. Through his eyes we meet her band of young killers and experience his turbulent path through their amoral underworld. It's like Oliver Twist by way of Mean Streets - a brutal, uncompromising look at a world where personal tragedy is compounded by savage violence."

Chee, artist of IDW's WAKE THE DEAD and GEORGE A. ROMERO's DAWN OF THE DEAD brings Long's story to life. Long says, "The book is all about the disturbing undercurrents of suburban life and Chee captures that perfectly. Chee's America looks serene at a glance but beneath the surface reveals a much more sinister reality."

WARD OF THE STATE #1 (of 3) ships this may in May. It is a full color 32 page comic available through Diamond Previews (MAR071822) 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 four partners in Image Comics (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.