Mark Millar has been the lynch-pin of Marvel’s creator owned imprint Icon for the past several years, way back to the first volume of Kick-Ass in 2008. Since then, at Icon and beyond, he’s generated a wave of new independent comics with A-List collaborators such as Steve McNiven, Frank Quitely and Sean Gordon Murphy, and many of those books have been adapted to films.

Empress continues Millar’s trend of superstar collaborators as he teams with Stuart Immonen (plus inker Wade von Grawbadger and colorist Ive Svorcina) to tell a sprawling sci-fi story about an enslaved intergalactic queen on the run from her tyrannical husband, with her three children in tow.

In the past, Millar has published hit comics such as Kick-Ass, The Secret Service and Superior, all through Icon, and Immonen is coming straight off Marvel’s uber-popular Star Wars comic.

As is the tradition with Mark Millar creator-owned properties, the wheels are already moving on the Empress movie adaptation, with Mark Millar cryptically tweeting a picture of the lead actress in a disguise, with plans to announce who it is on April 6th, the same day Empress #1 comes out.

One possible candidate for the actress under the scarf and sunglasses is Anne Hathaway, though at 33 she just falls outside the 35-50 age range that was initially reported for the role.

Here’s the full solicit for #1, plus a host of variant covers and lettered preview pages from the first issue!

EMPRESS #1 (of 7)

MARK MILLAR (W) • STUART IMMONEN (A/C)

VARIANT COVER BY STUART IMMONEN

SKETCH VARIANT COVER BY STUART IMMONEN (MAIN COVER ART)

VARIANT COVER BY SEAN GORDON MURPHY

VARIANT COVER BY STEVE McNIVEN

BLANK COVER VARIANT ALSO AVAILABLE

Imagine you're married to the worst bad guy from your favorite sci-fi movie. An alien dictator feared throughout the universe, who will kill you if you leave -- but you need to escape for the sake of your three children. All you have are your wits, your bodyguard, and three guns. Welcome to EMPRESS, your new favorite comic.

32 PGS./RATED T+ ...$3.99

Stuart Immonen

Stuart Immonen

Steve McNiven

Sean Gordon Murphy