Belle and Sebastian take different approach to Image Comics in February

By M&C News Dec 9, 2005, 22:45 GMT

Bursting out of Glasgow in 1996, Belle & Sebastian took the U.K. by storm, going from an independent underground sensation to placing an album on the British Top 20 in just two short years. With their infectious brand of indie pop, Belle & Sebastian has become a college radio staple in the United States. Thanks to its bittersweet love songs and fanatically loyal fans, the band has sold over 2 million albums worldwide.

Now, the band’s colorful lyrics and gorgeous, full-bodied melodies have provided Image Comics with the inspiration for a new kind of comics anthology. With the full-color, 144-page Put the Book Back on the Shelf, a stellar collection of independent comic creators and cartoonists put their own spins on a cross section of Belle and Sebastian’s songs, crafting stories inspired by the band’s music, drawn from the band’s entire catalog.

With an all-out marketing assault, including mailing out to the over 40,000 fans that are on the various official and unofficial newsletters & fan clubs, a strong push over radio, online and in print, plus the band itself talking about the book while promoting their new album, The Life Pursuit, sales of the book are expected to be stellar.

Put the Book Back on the Shelf: A Belle & Sebastian Anthology GN, (ISBN: 1-58240-600-6), is tentatively scheduled to be released in February the week before The Life Pursuit is in stores, giving it an extra push through cross-marketing.

Visit Image Comics for more information on this and other available titles.