ICON update: Newsarama updates its ICON story with statements from Brian Michael Bendis and David Mack, culled from their message boards. Here's Bendis, in part:

"Everything is the same except the company logo. Most people won’t even notice the change.

"If you are already a reader of Powers, stay cool. It’s all the same goodies.

"If you have heard of Powers but haven’t read it, but you are a fan of my Marvel work, particularly Daredevil and the Pulse, I truly think you will love Powers and now you have a perfect and totally easy way to get on board the first issue of the new series.

"The reason for the move is not a slight against image on any level. Both David, Mike and I are still part of Image. We will continue to produce our existing library through image, which thanks to your good word of mouth is a big part of our lives. That includes the first five Powers trades and all the Jinxworld titles (Jinx, Torso, Goldfish, Fire, and Total Sell Out.)

"We will still continue our foreign licensing through Image and I will still have my wild and crazy message board at Image as I have for many years."

Update addendum: Newsarama now has included a statement from Image Comics Publisher Erik Larsen, and it's not an entirely a cheery one:

"I think it's terrific that Marvel has come to their senses and finally realized that there is value in letting creators actually create. They've been dependent on 40 year-old characters for too long and while they've yelled from the rooftop that they're the 'house of ideas' -- it's nice to see the possibility of a few new ideas actually getting out there from this publishing giant.

"And, in what has become typical Marvel fashion -- their first move is NOT to innovate, but to imitate. They’re not creating something new, but are instead taking titles that have been around for years and have stood the test of time, essentially trying to imitate us in the process. As you might expect, I'm less than thrilled that they're cherry picking from Image. And I'd be lying if I said I wasn't concerned about the future of Brian, Mike and David and their creations. I can't help but feel this is ultimately an unwise move for these creators, but part of supporting creators' rights is supporting a creator's right to choose. These guys feel it’s the thing to do and if a creator does business at Image -- they have the freedom to do things like that. We don’t sink our claws into properties or tie people down. Creators are free to make their own choices, even if they’re not choices we agree with.

"How will the loss of these two titles affect Image? In all honesty -- not a lot. Kabuki hasn’t had a new miniseries in years and Powers is a single title. Brian, Mike and David are keeping their trade paperback libraries at Image and we will continue to sell them through our backlist. Of course we're sorry to see them go, but it’s not the end of the world. We take a small flat fee from every title that comes out through Image and financially this isn’t a huge hit. At this point we’ve got literally dozens of exciting new titles in the works that we’re thrilled to be publishing. The loss of a couple of our older titles isn’t something that pleases us on any level -- but we’ll get over it. All of us here at Image wish Brian, Mike and David the very best and if things go sour -- and they aren’t contractually bound to another company — we’ll be more than happy to welcome them back. These are good guys. We’ve treated them well, they've treated us well -- and I hope Marvel treats them well."