IDW Is Totally @#$%ing Awesome

?I can’t believe I missed this last week; you have my infinite apologies. From the press release:

IDW Publishing is daring fans to switch to a vampire franchise with
some teeth! This year at San Diego Comic-Con, in an unprecedented
promotion, fans can turn in any copy of a Twilight book or graphic novel
at the IDW booth #2643 for a free copy of a 30 DAYS OF NIGHT graphic
novel! IDW is vowing to help vampire fans get back on track with the
undead the way they were always meant to be: bloody and terrifying.
“Real horror fans have watched vampires systematically turned into
wimpy fodder for years now. It’s time to fight back” said Niles. “I’m
happy to be working with IDW on the Sparkles for Blood event. Hopefully,
working together we can put an end to this nightmare.”

IDW’s exclusive “Sparkles for Blood” outreach program is designed to
help all fans of the undead get what they really want – bloody, vampire
horror. Sprung from the twisted minds of Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith
in 2002, 30 Days of Night graphic novels and major motion pictures
offer vampires as the feral, animalistic creatures that stalked humans
under cover of night that they really are.

“Recently, vampires in pop culture have started to swing back to the
romanticized vamps of other literature and films before 30 Days of
Night,” said IDW chief creative officer, Chris Ryall. “In some cases,
they’re even being treated more as chaste immortal teenagers than as the
murderous creatures that they are. ‘Sparkles for Blood’ will remind
everyone that vampires are creatures of the night, not of the twilight.”

As part of the book-swap being offered to fans at Comic-Con, everyone
who receives a 30 Days of Night graphic novel in trade for their
sparkly novel will also receive information about the coming 30 Days of
Night ongoing series. Written by 30 Days co-creator Steve Niles, with
art by acclaimed artist Sam Kieth, this first-ever ongoing 30 Days of
Night series kicks off very appropriately in October.

“We may need a forklift at the end of the show, for all the Twilight
books,” says Dirk Wood, IDW’s director of retail marketing. “But it will
be worth it. It’s time to start scaring people again.”

Every lapsed 30 Days of Night fan and sparkly vampire purveyor is
invited to the IDW Publishing booth #2643 at Comic-Con to get back on
the straight and bloody path. Steve Niles will be in attendance and
signing at the IDW booth every day.

So, so, awesome. And financially ballsy, because god knows how many people are going to come by and earn themselves a free 30 Days of Night trade (and I don’t think he’s joking about the forklift, or he won’t be by the end of SDCC). Still, it’s quite a brilliant PR move for 30 Days of Night and IDW, and should be commemorated purely for that.Well done, IDW. Well done indeed. (Via Comics Alliance)