Little, Brown Considers Comics Imprint
This story originally appeared in PW Comics Week on October 3, 2006 Sign up now!
by Calvin Reid, PW Comics Week -- Publishers Weekly, 10/3/2006
The Hachette Book Group and its Little, Brown Books for Young Readers imprint is the latest New York trade book publisher looking to jump into the comics and graphic novel market after hiring Rich Johnson, former D.C. Comics v-p of trade book sales, last week. Megan Tingley, v-p and publisher of Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, says the publisher has hired Johnson "to explore the possibility of launching a graphic novel imprint." Contacted by PWCW, both Tingley and Johnson expressed excitement and enthusiasm about the prospect of a comics imprint at Little, Brown, although both declined to provide more details at this time.
Johnson's hiring ended speculation in the comics community over his plans since leaving DC Comics in June after nearly 10 years. Johnson is credited with being instrumental in establishing DC Comics' presence in the book market. Tingley says that Johnson has been hired to "consider" an imprint at Little, Brown, that would publish "across the wide spectrum of the graphic novel market,... licensed manga, [but also] original manga publications, original American comics and graphic novels, Web comics, licensed adaptations and children's graphic novels." Johnson has been hired as "a consultant" and will attend the Frankfurt Book Fair, said Tingley, "to make contacts and gather information for this potential new venture."
Although Little, Brown is emphatic that the house is only "considering" launching an imprint, the publisher certainly looks ready to take the plunge. Hachette remains the last major New York publishing unit that has not established a serious program of some sort in comics and graphic novel publishing. Indeed, other parts of the Hachette Book Group, formerly known as Warner Books, are also considering book format comics—most prominently after Hachette's acquisition of Anthony Lappe and Dan Goldman's acclaimed Web comic Shooting War at this summer's San Diego Comic-con for print publication in 2007.
And the list keeps growing. Disney's Hyperion imprint is publishing a series of comics biographies produced through a copublishing venture with the Center for Cartoon Studies, in White River Junction, Vermont, a new cartooning school with a faculty that includes such acclaimed artists as James Sturm and Kevin Huizenga. Over at Random House, comics seem to be everywhere, including the flagship graphic novel line at Pantheon and a burgeoning Del Rey manga line. Del Rey is also planning for more titles, more genres and original comics publishing.
Simon & Schuster is publishing both graphic novels and comics-influenced kids' picture books as well as distributing Viz Media manga titles nationally. HarperCollins has entered into a copublishing distribution agreement with Tokyopop and has plans to produce original manga adaptations of some of its bestselling young adult print franchises. Harper continues to publish a variety of comics outside of that deal, including publishing Scott McCloud's new book Making Comics. Scholastic's Graphix imprint is in the midst of publishing Jeff Smith's Bone and a growing list of comics adaptations of many of its best-known young adult series. Over at Harry N. Abrams, editor Charles Kochman, a former DC Comics editor, is publishing new comics work, like Brian Fies's Eisner award-winning memoir Mom's Cancer and similar works.
Henry Holt launched its First Second graphic novel imprint this year, publishing an impressive list of translated and original comics works. And Holt's sister company Farrar, Straus & Giroux has just published The 9/11 Report: A Graphic Adaptation—which debuted on both the PW and New York Times bestseller lists. The house has plans to follow that book with an impressive list of nonfiction comics works and biographies, among them of Malcolm X and Ronald Reagan, in 2007. Not to be outdone, Norton published James Vance and Dan Burr'sKings in Disguise this year. Norton also has the rights to Will Eisner's backlist of literary graphic novels and will publish R. Crumb's much anticipated graphic adaptation of the biblical book of Genesis sometime next year.
Who's left out of the New York publishing comics party? Two major independent houses are missing—Perseus Books and the Avalon Publishing Group are dragging a bit behind. But comics continue to be one of the fastest growing categories in the bookstore market; don't think New York trade book publishers haven't noticed.
