Broken Frontier

Image Comics has announced Jim Demonakos, co-owner of Seattle-area comic book store, The Comic Stop, and founder of the Emerald City ComiCon, will replace B. Clay Moore as the company's Public Relations and Marketing Coordinator.

Since opening The Comic Stop in Lynnwood, Washington, in 2000 with his brother George Demonakos and longtime friend Brian Meredith, Demonakos has worked tirelessly to make his store a success, expanding operations to a second location in 2003. The flagship store recently upgraded to a larger space, over doubling in size. Also in 2003, Demonakos founded the Emerald City ComiCon. The show quickly became Seattle's most successful comics convention ever with attendance growing on a yearly basis.

Demonakos views his move to Image as the next logical step in his career. He's been a retailer, a convention promoter and a Web designer, and he's looking forward to using all his experience to help Image continue to grow as a publisher.

"I'm thrilled to be able to come on board as Image Comics' new Public Relations and Marketing Coordinator," Demonakos stated. "I'm looking forward to letting the comics community know, from fans to retailers, that Image Comics is the home of some of the most innovative and exciting material being published today. I'm personally reading more Image books now than I have in years, and we're just getting started!

"Plus, I've been promised all the Home Run Pies I can eat!"

Demonakos will be giving up the day-to-day operations at The Comic Stop to join the Image staff in Berkeley, and while both Publisher Erik Larsen and Executive Director Eric Stephenson are disappointed to be losing Moore, they're excited to have Demonakos fill his post.

"Jim has a lot of fantastic ideas and we're looking forward to having him here at Image," said Larsen. "He’s a comic book fan, first and foremost, but he also knows the ins and outs of both retailing and running conventions, having done both. Plus, he’s a hell of a guy! I can’t think of a more qualified person for this position."

"I've known Jim for years, and he's a highly personable individual with a number of skills that can be put to good use at Image," added Stephenson. "We couldn't be more happy to have Jim as part of our team."