FIRST LOOK AT KIERON GILLEN & STEPHANIE HANS’ HIGHLY ANTICIPATED DIE: LOADED SERIES RETURN

Escape #1

PORTLAND, Ore. 08/21/2025 — Image Comics is pleased to reveal a first look at Die: Loaded—Kieron Gillen and Stephanie Hans highly anticipated return to the beloved Die series. This brand new chapter will invite fans back to the British Fantasy Award winning, three-time Hugo Award nominated Image Comics series this November.

Alongside this spectacular new issue, will be The Die RPG Quickstart Game Guide, by Gillen and Hans (Lunar Code 0925IM0268)—released simultaneously in November—for fans interested in trying out the Origin Award winning Die RPG in a standalone and inexpensive format. It includes everything needed to play—rules, characters and a multi-session scenario fans need to play. Just add dice, friends, and a desire to get sucked into a game.

A year after the hellish game world events of Die #20, the players reunite in Die: Loaded to gather for Chuck’s wake. They’ve finished with the game. But the game isn’t finished with them. Get ready to roll initiative. Who’s going to DIE this time?

Over the course of its original run, Die topped Image Comics’ sales charts, with multiple distributor-level sellouts and strong reorder activity fueling its rise. Often described as “goth Jumanji,” the series has gained a cult following since its 2019 debut and helped spark a wave of RPG-inspired storytelling.

This year, eagle-eyed fans caught a glimpse of new art from the series’ Die: Loaded return story arc displayed prominently on the Image Comics booth wrap at San Diego Comic-Con.

Die: Loaded #1 will be available at comic book shops on Wednesday, November 12:

  • Cover A by Hans – Lunar Code 0925IM0266
  • Cover B by Peach Momoko – Lunar Code 0925IM0267

Die: Loaded will also be available across many digital platforms, including Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, and Google Play.

Readers interested in catching up or binge-rereading the Die series so far can read it digitally or find it in print format at local comic book shops, independent bookstores, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, Indigo, and Waterstones.

Available in trade paperback:

  • Die Volume 1 (collects issues #1-5) – ISBN 9781534312708
  • Die Volume 2 (collects issues #6-10) – ISBN 9781534314979
  • Die Volume 3 (collects issues #11-15) – ISBN 9781534317161
  • Die Volume 4 (collects issues #16-20) – ISBN 9781534319264

Available in hardcover:

  • Die (collects issues #1-20) – ISBN 9781534323445

Select praise for the Die series:

“Gillen subverts high fantasy adventure tropes with an infusion of creepy horror, resulting in an exploration of arrested adolescence and the effects of childhood trauma made truly haunting by Hans’ realistic illustrations and Cowles’ gloomy color palette.” —Library Journal

“Makes for a heady combination of fascinating worldbuilding, compellingly broken characters tearing each other apart (sometimes emotionally, sometimes literally), and vivid, striking artwork.” —io9/Gizmodo

“A deliciously dark Phantom Tollbooth-like journey told through a lens of broken humanity and a deconstruction of the role-playing game’s roots. I am entranced.” —Matthew Mercer, Critical Role

“Kieron Gillen and Stephanie Hans are a powerful merging of talents. Feels like a well-oiled team that’s been working together for years. Image Comics continues to innovate.” —Rick Remender, Deadly Class, The Sacrificers, Grommets

“Wonderfully nerdy and emotionally complicated and… utterly beautiful.” —The Hollywood Reporter

“A smart, gripping story about fantasy, gaming, aging and things that can’t be said.” —Al Ewing, Immortal Hulk

“A remarkable Jumanji-esque story for fantasy fans.” —GrimDark magazine

“If ever you’ve played a TTRPG and thought, ‘I’d love to just live in this world,’ this series is for you.” —The Comics Beat

this series is for you.” —The Comics Beat
image comics logo

ABOUT IMAGE COMICS
Image Comics is a comic book and graphic novel publisher founded in 1992 by a collective of bestselling artists. Image has since gone on to become one of the largest comics publishers in the United States, and is the #2 graphic novel publisher in America. It is the publisher of such award winning titles as, Spawn, The Walking Dead, Invincible, Saga, Monstress, Deadly Class, Chew, The Old Guard, I Kill Giants, Criminal, The Department of Truth, W0rldtr33, Geiger, Descender, Gideon Falls, It’s Lonely At The Centre of The Earth, Do A Power Bomb, Stray Bullets, and more. The company currently has six individuals on the Board of Directors: Robert Kirkman, Erik Larsen, Todd McFarlane, Marc Silvestri, Jim Valentino, and Eric Stephenson. It consists of five major houses: Todd McFarlane Productions, Top Cow Productions, Shadowline Comics, Skybound Entertainment, and Image Central. Image publishes comics and graphic novels in nearly every genre, sub-genre, and style imaginable. It offers science fiction, fantasy, romance, horror, crime fiction, historical fiction, humor, and more by the finest artists and writers working in the medium today. For more information, visit: www.imagecomics.com.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *