Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips have renewed their exclusive deal with Image Comics, the company announced Thursday.  The original five-year deal was signed on the eve of the release of The Fade Out (see "Image Announces Major 2014 Projects"), and the new deal is being announced on the eve of the re-launch of Criminal in early January (see "Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips Are Returning to their ‘Criminal’ Ways").

"The last five years at Image, with the freedom to just follow our creative instincts and do whatever we want to, has been the most successful time of our long career together," Brubaker said of the exclusive deal he and Phillips signed with Image, identifying The Fade Out, Kill Or Be Killed, My Heroes Have Always Been Junkies and their Criminal magazines as the biggest hits under their Image deal so far.

Click Gallery below for a preview of Criminal #1!