. for the episode of back at the barnyard see list of back at the barnyard episodes . this article has multiple issues . please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . learn how and when to remove these template messages this article needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . december 2007 learn how and when to remove this template message this article may need to be rewritten entirely to comply with wikipedia s quality standards . you can help . the discussion page may contain suggestions . february 2012 this article includes a list of references but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations . please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations . april 2009 learn how and when to remove this template message this article s tone or style may not reflect the encyclopedic tone used on wikipedia . see wikipedia s guide to writing better articles for suggestions . february 2012 learn how and when to remove this template message this article s lead section may not adequately summarize key points of its contents . please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of all important aspects of the article . please discuss this issue on the article s talk page . october 2015 learn how and when to remove this template message top cow productions parent company image comics technically a sister company founded 1992 founder marc silvestri country of origin united states headquarters location los angeles key people marc silvestri matt hawkins fiction genres superhero fiction science fiction horror fiction licensed properties official website www.topcow.com top cow productions tcp is an american comics publisher a partner studio of image comics founded by marc silvestri in 1992 . contents 1 history 2 titles 3 media adaptations 3.1 the darkness 3.1.1 film 3.1.2 video games 3.2 witchblade 3.2.1 television series 3.2.2 film adaptation 3.2.3 anime series 4 see also 5 notes 6 references 7 external links 7.1 interviews history edit top cow president matt hawkins left speaking with fans right at the image comics booth at the 2012 new york comic con . during early years of image comics which was founded in 1992 co founder marc silvestri shared a studio with jim lee where he created his first creator owned comic book cyberforce as part of image s initial line up . after setting up his own studio top cow productions he expanded into other comics launching codename strykeforce a new cyberforce series and various spin offs . the company attracted several professionals including artist brandon peterson writer garth ennis and former marvel staffer david wohl . it also helped launch the careers of various writers and artists such as christina z. joe benitez michael turner and david finch . benitez turner and finch have since worked for dc and marvel comics . in 1996 top cow briefly departed from image during a power struggle with image associate rob liefeld until liefeld left the company shortly after . 1 at the same time top cow was moving more into the fantasy genre . new properties were witchblade where turner had his first big success and the darkness where marc silvestri returned to artist duties . thanks to the success of witchblade top cow was able to expand adding to its line with titles that included the darkness magdalena aphrodite ix and others . silvestri was heavily involved in training and developing new talent through the studio and top cow was known for a time for its house style . in addition to company owned properties top cow has from time to time worked with creators to develop creator owned properties . these properties have included turner s fathom which eventually ended up at aspen comics and joe s comics created exclusively for j. michael straczynski which included rising stars and midnight nation . top cow is also known for bringing tomb raider s lara croft to comics with various graphic novels written and drawn by some of the industry s best known creators including dan jurgens paul jenkins and artist andy park . the cartoon battle of the planets is another licensed property in which top cow has invested collaborating with cover artist alex ross . in 2006 top cow made a business agreement with marvel comics to use several of their licensed properties in their own series with characters including wolverine and the punisher appearing in crossovers darkness wolverine and witchblade punisher . also as part of this agreement several top cow artists are to provide art chores on various marvel series such as tyler kirkham phoenix warsong and new avengers transformers mike choi x 23 target x and silvestri himself x men messiah complex . at the 2007 san diego comic con an announcement was made by marvel comics extending the deal into 2008 . they have also used kick starter to fund some of the comics . at the 2007 new york comic con it was announced that top cow will be one of the first major comics publishers to offer online distribution through a partnership with ign . 2 the initial titles offered will be tomb raider 1 50 the darkness 1 50 and witchblade 1 50 at around 1 per issue . 3 they have also announced a deal with zannel to license their comics as mobile comics . 4 titles edit main article list of top cow productions publications media adaptations edit like many other comic book companies top cow has used many of their properties to create video games movies and television series . to explain the late with which top cow produced non comic book projects top cow publisher filip sablik said in an interview with nicholas yanes that both film and television as well as video games and animation are things that top cow is regularly and constantly pursuing . all of those things also take a long time to develop and set up . the witchblade anime that gonzo produced and was released by funimation in the us took almost a decade to come to fruition . add on to that marc silvestri and matt hawkins mantra of we d rather have no movie than a crappy movie and you can see why it can take a while to bring a witchblade or the darkness movie to fans . 5 the darkness edit film edit in december 2004 dimension films paid an undisclosed six figure sum to develop a movie based on the comic possibly for release in 2008 . the film was pitched as a movie similar to the crow which was also produced by dimension . there have been no further developments . video games edit in march 2005 the darkness was licensed by majesco for a console game to be developed by starbreeze studios . 2k games later obtained the rights to the game and the first person shooter was released for the xbox 360 and playstation 3 console systems on june 25 2007 in the united states and on june 29 2007 in the eu xbox 360 only ps3 version was released on july 20 . to promote the video game a five issue mini series was released with each issue chronicled a chapter of the game . in june 2007 it was collected into a trade paperback isbn 1582407975 . 6 the game is mostly based on the events of the first volume of the darkness comics however it does alter some key elements such as having paulie being the one that adopts jackie . during the game the darkness holds true to the comics with the same powers . though the darkness becomes extremely resillient and tries to make you kill people it is relatively docile toward the beginning of the game . by the time the darkness realizes you are taking control of it then starts to try to persuade you to stop . in february 2012 a sequel to the video game entitled the darkness ii was released for pc xbox 360 and playstation 3 . the script for the game was written by comic book writer paul jenkins who previously worked on the darkness comic series . unlike the first game the graphics for the darkness ii were developed using a cel shading technique emulating the aesthetic of its graphic novel namesake . the style was achieved with the development artists hand painting the majority of the game s assets instead of relying on digital methods to create a comic book style . it received positive reviews from critics . witchblade edit television series edit main article witchblade tv series following a pilot film in august 2000 the cable network tnt premiered a television series based on the comic book series in 2001 . the series was directed by ralph hemecker and written by marc silvestri who also wrote the comic book and j.d. zeik . yancy butler starred as sara pezzini . although critically acclaimed and popular with audiences it was canceled in september 2002 . 7 announced as a production decision the cancellation nevertheless provoked widespread speculation that the true reason was butler s alcohol addiction . butler was ordered to enter rehab for alcohol addiction a year later after being arrested for wandering intoxicated amidst traffic . 8 witchblade ran for two seasons of 12 episodes on tnt . the first episode aired on june 12 2001 and the last episode aired on august 26 2002 . on april 1 2008 warner home video announced a long anticipated dvd release . witchblade the complete series a seven disc collectors set including the original made for tv movie all 23 episodes of the series and special features was released july 29 2008 . 9 film adaptation edit an american superhero film based on the series was announced in 2008 . 10 11 the film was to be directed by michael rymer who directed the 2002 film queen of the damned and several episodes of battlestar galactica and was to be written by everett de roche . 12 13 the film was one of two being produced and financed back to back by platinum studios idg films and relativity media . the film was to be produced by arclight s gary hamilton and nigel odell platinum studios scott mitchell rosenberg and steve squillante of havenwood media . top cow s marc silvestri and matt hawkins were to be executive producers with platinum studios rich marincic and greenberg group s randy greenberg . filming was announced to begin in september 2008 with china and australia among the possible locations being considered for filming . 14 15 megan fox was approached for the role of sara pezzini at the 2008 san diego comic con . 16 17 the film s website and teaser poster were released in may 2008 . 10 the project has since entered development hell . anime series edit main article witchblade anime in 2004 japanese animation studio gonzo announced an anime version of witchblade with a subsequent manga adaptation . the anime version is considered controversial by some because gonzo has announced that the main character of the anime is of japanese ethnicity but is not itagaki one of the previous bearers of the witchblade . instead it is a new character named masane . although this series sets up an entire new story with all new characters it is considered canon . 18 the anime series began broadcast during april 2006 and ran for 24 episodes a standard series run . the lead character and new blade wielder is the kind hearted masane who despite her good intentions is fairly clumsy and not good around the house . after the events of an earthquake that struck her home six years before the series year zero masane has no recollection of