Archie Comics and IDW Publishing will collaborate with the rock band KISS on two projects. Reportedly, this will be the first time two major comic publishers have shared a license simultaneously.

Frontman Gene Simmons had this statement in the release: “KISS has a comic book history that spans almost four decades … Archie and IDW will tell two unique and in-your-face tales of KISS, and we’re thrilled to be working with them on these projects.”

Archie Comics will launch the KISS storyline series in November with Archie #627. The four-part mini-series features writing by director of publicity & marketing Alex Segura and illustrations by veteran artist Dan Parent. IDW plans to release their comic in 2012, but has not revealed any further details.

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John Robison is known in one sphere as the guy who helped KISS concoct their stadium show in the 1970s, customizing guitars to shoot smoke bombs and flames. He’s also the older brother of notorious memoirist Augusten Burroughs. The cred combination may well have helped him land a book deal with Crown for a memoir about his lifelong struggles with Asperger’s Syndrome, the New York Post‘s Keith Kelly reports. The $1.1 million dollar figure is, well, classic New York Post dollars money, but he does get a revealing quote from editor-in-chief Steve Ross. “We pre-empted the book about two hours after we saw the manuscript,” he said about the “darkly comic” proposal. The book is slated to hit stores this fall.