03/17/2025 NY. NY:
GARBAGE PAIL KIDS’ JOE SIMKO ILLUSTRATES NEW CRANIACS COMICS, BASED ON HIT TRADING CARDS!
CRANIACS BRAND EXPANDS WITH A NEW TITAN COMICS PARTNERSHIP AND A TITMOUSE ANIMATED SHOW IN THE WORKS!
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The popular trading card property, CRANIACS, is on the move in 2025 with an eagerly awaited Series 2 in stores this Spring, a highly anticipated TV series in active development from animation studio TITMOUSE (Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Star Trek: Lower Decks), and brand-new adventures in comic books, coming in the Fall from TITAN COMICS.
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Created by former Topps senior executive IRA FRIEDMAN and lead Garbage Pail Kids card artist JOE SIMKO, CRANIACS trading cards launched in October 2023. The visually stunning artwork and engaging storyline have hit a nerve with fans and collectors who are having fun chasing exclusive inserts including: 1/1 sketch cards, foil cards, sequentially numbered variants and a “golden ticket” card entitling the grand prize winner to an original painting from the card series.
In the CRANIACS universe of skull-headed folks, two planets collide and force two very different societies – Stone-Aged Retrovia and ultra-futuristic Futerra – to figure out how they’re going to make this new world order work -- or not! (Hint: this often results in crazy competitions in the ‘Chrome Dome’ to settle their differences!)
The new CRANIACS comic book series will feature fan favourite “GPK” artist
JOE SIMKO teaming up with acclaimed writer SHOLLY FISCH (Batman, Superman, Scooby-Doo) for comics full of high-octane action, wacky physical comedy, and tournament high jinks -- alongside the importance of friendship, fraternity and family.
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“We cannot be more jazzed about joining forces with the TITAN COMICS team and collaborating on Craniacs,” says co-creators IRA FRIEDMAN and JOE SIMKO. “Our popular trading cards have set the stage for TITAN to build upon the foundation of a unique and highly imaginative universe. We can’t wait to see the characters and storyline expand in exciting new directions. And, with TITAN at the helm, we know that fans are in for a wild and wonderful ride.”
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​About Titan Entertainment Group:
Founded in 1981 Titan Publishing Group is part of the Titan Entertainment Group
(which also includes Titan Magazines, Titan Merchandise and Forbidden Planet, the prestigious
SciFi specialist shop chain).
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Titan Books is a leading publisher of Film, TV and Game tie-in fiction and art books, as well as
publishing a robust original fiction list specializing in SF, Fantasy, Horror and Crime.
Titan Comics, a Titan Publishing Group company (which includes Titan Books, Titan Magazines and Titan Merchandise) is the comic book arm of the Titan Entertainment Group, and its sister company is the pop culture retail chain, Forbidden Planet. Titan Comics offers astounding comics and graphic novels from the world's greatest licensed properties, alongside creator-owned comic books from new and world-renowned talent and classic graphic novels re-mastered for brand-new audiences.
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Titan Comics publishes a variety of genres through its imprints; Hard Case Crime (world-renowned pulp-crime publishing), Statix Press (critically-acclaimed translated comics and graphic novels), the new Titan Manga (exciting manga and anime-based titles) and Titan Nova (new young readers imprint).
For more information, visit: https://titanbooks.com , https://www.titan-comics.com
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About Ira Friedman Enterprises and Craniacs:
After over three decades as a product development, publishing and licensing executive at Topps, Ira Friedman formed his own company in 2022. Specializing in creating and incubating original intellectual properties, Craniacs is Ira Friedman Enterprises’ debut project. This unique IP is the brainchild of Friedman and Joe Simko, his partner in the venture. Simko’s extraordinary character designs and environments, as showcased on the trading cards, have brought Craniacs to life in spectacular fashion. For more information go to: craniacsworld.com.
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