A couple of weeks ago, writer Chris Roberson teased a new comics publishing imprint called MonkeyBrain Comics, an extension of his own MonkeyBrain Books. Via telephone press conference today, Roberson revealed the nature of MonkeyBrain Comics, and it's exciting indeed.
MonkeyBrain is a new comic book imprint that will debut this Wednesday, July 4th -- dubbed "Independents Day" -- exclusively on comiXology. Co-Publishers Roberson and his wife/business partner Allison Baker stated that they're currently exploring trade paperback releases to follow up the digital installments.
"MonkeyBrain Comics was born out of a desire to directly explore what opportunities there were in the newly expanding digital marketplace for creator owned material," said Roberson. "We knew from the get go that we’d want to work exclusively with comiXology, who have become the undisputed leader in the digital comics field with their platforms’ unparalleled reading and shopping experience. And we’re pleased to have so many of our close creator friends along for the ride. I can’t wait to see what fans around the world think about our first batch of releases!"
"We’re excited to be the exclusive digital home of MonkeyBrain Comics," says co-founder and CEO David Steinberger. "ComiXology’s mission is to get comics into the hands of people everywhere and we look forward to doing just that with Chris and Allison’s stellar line of creator owned comics!"
The press conference clarified that the only monetary gain that MonkeyBrain gets from digitally publishing these titles is to cover the company's marketing, with the rest of the profit going to the creators. The company also takes nothing except exclusive license for digital distribution, meaning MonkeyBrain owns no portion of the IP or residuals from movie options or anything of that ilk. In fact, the creators themselves can print copies of their books if they so choose, as MonkeyBrain only has rights of the digital format. Similarly, this opens up MonkeyBrain comics to print deals with other existing publishers in the future.
Roberson said that the length of their projects vary book-to-book, and that the pricing of the comics would reflect that. However, the price range would remain between .99 cents and $1.99 depending on the book.
Roberson and Baker also expressed that they weren't interested in using their marketing efforts before the release of the books -- which a print model necessitates because of the pre-order system -- and instead will wait to promote the books until they are actually available for purchase.
Finally, Roberson stressed that they were only accepting projects in which the property was shared among all of the creative team involved, and that the company isn't open for submissions at this time.
Some of the talent involved includes the following:
Grace Allison, Nick Brokenshire, J. Bone, Chad Bowers, Wook-Jin Clark, Colleen Coover, Kevin Church, Dennis Culver, Matt Digges, Ming Doyle, Curt O. Franklin, Ken Garing, Chris Haley, David Hahn, Phil Hester, Joe Keatinge, D.J. Kirkbride, Adam Knave, Axel Medellin, Jennifer L. Meyer, Michael Montenat, Ananth Panagariya, Thomas Perkins, Adam Rosenlund, Chris Schweitzer, Brandon Seifert, Chris Sims, Matthew Dow Smith, Paul Tobin, J. Torres, Josh Williamson and Bill Willingham.
Quite the lineup! Better yet, there are more creators set to be revealed at the MonkeyBrain panel at San Diego Comic-Con on Friday, July 13 at 7PM.
The first books to release this Wednesday are as follows:
- Aesop’s Ark by J. Torres and Jennifer L. Meyer
- Amelia Cole and the Unknown World by Adam P. Knave, DJ Kirkbride and Nick Brokenshire
- Bandette by Paul Tobin and Colleen Coover
- Edison Rex by Chris Roberson and Dennis Culver
- October Girl by Matthew Dow Smith
For more information, you can visit the official MonkeyBrain Comics website.
Joey is IGN's Comics Editor and a comic book creator himself. Follow Joey on Twitter, or find him on IGN. He thinks creator-owned comics are the only thing that will keep comics afloat forever.
Source : ign[dot]com
No comments:
Post a Comment