Somewhere, maybe halfway between a meeting of Marvel Try-Out Book, and the Twilight Zone, comes a new series of one-shots that gives fans the ability to vote on which characters graduate to ongoing comics or additional specials. Top Cow Productions, one of the founding Image Comics studios, has launched an initiative called “Pilot Season,” which consists of six one-shots, spotlighting established characters f that have been out of the spotlight in recent times. Each of these one-shots serves pilot episode, offering readers and creators alike a chance to try it out for size and fit. According to the company, after all six issues are released then readers will be encouraged to vote for their favorites. Top Cow has said they will give the top two vote getters their own series in 2008.

Scoop talked with Filip Sablik, Vice President of Marketing & Sales for Top Cow, and Rob Levin, Vice President of Editorial, about Pilot Season.

Scoop: How would you describe the underlying idea of Pilot Season ?
Filip Sablik (FS): Vice President of Marketing & Sales: It's up to you. That's the underlying concept for me, the ultimate fan interactive company event. I know there's been times I've looked at a publisher's new title list and thought “Why in God's name would you launch a book with that character? That creative team?” So Pilot Season is about involving the fans and putting them in the driver's seat.
Rob Levin (RL): Well, as much as it's also about the fans, it's really about the characters and the stories we're telling. Everyone is getting a fresh start to win the fans over and garner a vote. And the spectacular creators we've brought on board are here to help.

Scoop: How did the idea first come up?
RL: Top Cow's President, Matt Hawkins, and I had been looking for a better way to keep characters from languishing in limbo if they didn't have a series to call their own. We put out a small number of books every month to make sure all are quality reads, so we really don't have the luxury of keeping every Top Cow book coming out as a monthly. Instead of years between re-launches, we figured why not give a little taste here and there with some one-shots. Some other ideas we had been tossing around came into play with the same concept, and away we went.
FS: Yup, I can remember Matt calling me with the idea and thinking “this might just be crazy enough to be awesome.” Quickly followed by the paralyzing fear of trying to figure out how we'd make the whole thing work.
RL: Strangely, you still haven't recovered...

Scoop: How long was it between the genesis of the idea and making it reality?
FS: Probably about 8-10 months before we announced Pilot Season, we were talking about it. You can't coordinate a project of this magnitude either from an editorial standpoint or a marketing standpoint on short notice.

Scoop: How did your team decide who was going to get to try their concepts?
RL: We approach all of our stories from the mindset of, “What do we want to read?” From there, it's not hard to narrow down who is telling the kind of stories you and enjoy and who might have an interesting take on established concept or character. We basically picked guys we dig and let them run free. We knew they were the right creators for the projects, and trusted where they were going. Not to say there weren't notes or direction, but the first step should always be finding the right person and asking what they have to say.

Scoop: Not all of the creators associated with this project are known for Top Cow work in the past. Was that deliberate and why?
RL: Absolutely it was deliberate. Pilot Season gives us a chance to show people who might not normally look at one of these books (or for that matter our entire line) that we're not what they expect. In order to break the mindset, we broke the mold. We targeted guys whose work we loved, and who could bring something new and different to the table. That's not to say we don't love the creators people normally associate with our work, but we did take the opportunity of a fresh start for each character and try to make the most of it.
FS: That is definitely one of the coolest things about this project. It gives us an opportunity to work with creators that people might not associate with Top Cow. Vertigo darling Jason Aaron on a book from the company that brought you Witchblade? Indy wunderkid Joshua Hale Fialkov on a book from the home of art legend Marc Silvestri? But if you stop to think about it, it makes perfect sense. The spirit of Top Cow and Image has always been about creative freedom and cutting edge material. Pilot Season is just another example of us thinking outside the box.

Scoop: The two most popular Pilot Season books will be turned into series in 2008. Does that mean that the ones that don't make the cut are gone for good or can they find other life?
RL: Well, this is comics after all. Does anything ever really stay dead? We're going to let the fans tell us what they want first, and then discuss what comes next for the remaining titles. Let's just say “Because You Demanded It!!!” is not a slogan we're opposed to. We're crazy enough to do Pilot Season, who knows what else could happen...

Scoop: Where all the different places fans can vote on their favorites?
FS: I'm actually finalizing the details of this currently and there will be a major announcement at San Diego Comic-Con regarding the voting process. I'm pretty damn excited about it and have had to threaten to kill myself should I leak this info. Fans can keep an eye out on the Top Cow website for details.

Scoop: If this is successful, will you do more in the future?
FS: Let it never be said we weren't willing to go back to the well on a successful idea. Or to put it another way, we're always endeavoring to give the people what they want.

Scoop: You're launching with Ripclaw. What should readers expect in that one?
RL: A punch to the gut. Ripclaw is an intense guy, and he has a whole new reason to be intense in this story. We've really boiled the character back down to his core, and we'll be playing with his Native American heritage. He's on a mission, and the where and why will be played out in ways you might not expect. It's all delivered by great writing and art from Jason “Add Another Superlative Here” Aaron and Jorge “Startlingly Detailed” Lucas.
FS: Plus about ten gallons of awesome.

Scoop: What comes next?
RL: September puts us in our second month with Velocity and Cyblade, from the minds and pens of Joe Casey & Kevin Maguire and Joshua Hale Fialkov & Rick Mays, respectively. From there, we'll see The Angelus and The Necromancer in October, followed by the return of Aphrodite IX in November.

Scoop: Anything else you want to mention?
FS: Just to remind fans that it is up to them. You determine the success of the promotion and the titles that will get their own series in 2008. It's pretty exciting and I know I'll be voting!