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Rock group rolls on shingle
By PHIL GALLO
After 34 years of a comicbook presence in rock 'n' roll, Kiss has created a comicbook entertainment company.
Platinum Studios and Kiss Catalog, the company run by Kiss leaders Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, have partnered to create the Kiss Comics Group, which will kick off with a book, "Kiss 4K," and eventually venture out into platforms such as mobile, online, film, television and licensed merchandise products.
"Kiss 4K," the story of the transformation of Simmons, Stanley and other Kiss band members from rock stars to world-protecting warrior spirits, will debut as the world's largest comicbook, priced at $50. It will be the first comicbook-based property to simultaneously launch all of its merchandise in the U.S., France, Germany, Italy and Spain.
Eventually, a new Kiss comic involving characters King of All Beasts, Demon, Starchild and Celestial will appear weekly online at Kisscomicsgroup.com. "Kiss 4K" will be unveiled at the Wizard World convention in Los Angeles in March.
The second title is expected to be "Kiss Girls," which features four teenagers who "talk about shopping and are about as dysfunctional as anyone until something happens to them and they get to wear the Kiss makeup and look good doing it," Simmons said.
Simmons and Platinum Studios founder and chairman Scott Rosenberg started discussions about creating the joint venture at the 2005 Comic-Con.
"Kiss Comics Group and Platinum Studios -- they are the same as we are," Simmons told Daily Variety. "This is a company not burdened with corporate considerations. It's all about the one-on-one."
Signatures Network and Dell Furano will be handling worldwide licensing for Kiss Comics Group. Characters from Platinum Studios' library of more than 3,800 will appear in the Kiss books.
Kiss has had a comic presence for nearly 30 years. Band started with Marvel in 1978 and in the '90s issued comics with Stan Lee, Todd McFarlane and Dark Horse.
Platinum Studios has more than a dozen of its projects in various stages of production at several film studios, among them "Cowboys & Aliens," "The Darkness" and "Unique."
WHY?!