Archaia offers a mix of hardcover graphic novels, foreign licensing and more
Mar 22, 2010
Independent graphic novel publisher Archaia
Entertainment has come a long way in a short time. Originally launched in 2002
to self-publish founder/artist Mark Smylie's graphic novel/role playing game, Artesia, Archaia has used a mix of
original hardcover and periodical comics, foreign licensing and media
co-development deals to grow from an ambitious artist's dream to become a
significant entertainment media presence.
By 2007, Archaia was licensing European comics like The Killer by Matz and Luc Jacamon (now
optioned for a film by Paramount) and had signed David Petersen's Mouse Guard, an original fantasy series
about three warrior mice and their adventures in a mouse kingdom, that has gone
on to sell more than 100,000 copies in hardcover and developed a following by
adults as well as kids. Despite many changes at the house—Smylie's original
partner sold his shares and left; the main office is now in Los Angeles (Smylie
still lives in New Jersey) and more staff—Archaia's model of focusing on a
combination of original works and established licenses (with film and
videogames added to the mix) continues to flourish.
"Archaia was started to be a home for creator-driven
brands" said founder Mark Smylie, "and we're pretty much the same now. We're
looking for new voices as well as established creators; stuff that may not fit
other places."
Archaia president P.J. Bickett said that house has
"evolved and continues to evolve," and outlined the coming year. Archaia will
add to its staff of 10 ("we're planning to grow larger over the next three to
six months," Bickett said) and will publish 20 hardcover graphic novels this
year in addition to periodical comics: "We're building a graphic novel backlist,"
Bickett said, pointing to the emphasis on quality works and hardcover comics.
Although the house focuses on hardcovers (paperback rights to Mouse Guard were sold to Villard) they
initiate many of their comics as periodical series before collecting them into
books. Look for the first issue of the late Jim Henson's Fraggle Rock, a comics series based on his 1980s kids TV show, in
April. It's one of the first comics to come from a comics co-development deal
with the Henson Company announced last summer; a deal that also includes adaptations
of such popular Hensen TV/film properties as The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth and
Mirrormask.
Archaia has just released Days Missing a new science fiction graphic novel created through a
separate co-development deal with Rodenberry Productions, the production house
of the late Star Trek creator. And the house is about to publish two new Mouse
Guard mini-series that will be collected into books in 2011: Mouse Guard: Legends of the Guard, a Canterbury Tales-like anthology that
will include a variety of top artists and writers—among them artists Gene Ha,
Ted Naifeh and Katie Cook as well as Smylie—who will create new Mouse Guard
adventures in the short story format. And in Sept. Archaia will begin
publishing Mouse Guard: Black Axe, a
new 6 issue mini-series by Petersen. In November the house will also release a
new original graphic novel called Return
of the Dapper Men, a fantasy work written by Jim McCann, who also happens
to be the publicity manager at Marvel Comics, and illustrated by Janet Lee,
that's already generating buzz about Lee's extraordinarily rich, painting-like
artwork.
Bickett makes a point of outlining Archaia's digital
plans, which include at least three more limited exclusive digital
releases—followed by print editions—through the Amazon Kindle. The deal will be
much like the house's 2009 deal with Amazon to release Joshua Hale Fialkov and
Noel Tuazon's crime graphic novel, Tumor,
in serialized chapters via the Kindle before releasing a print edition.
Bickett, who has a background in digital startups, said the house is also aggressively developing a digital platform that will make Archaia titles available on all devices, including the iPad, iPhone, kindle, PC and other mobile devices. And he issued a call to retailers. "We want retailers to reach out to us about digital publishing," Bickett said, "I want to show them how they can get involved and capitalize on this new business. We want to be innovative and bring retailers into this space."
Publishing news from across the Web
Comics journalist Joe Sacco’s powerful history of a 1956 massacre in Palestine, Footnotes in Gaza (Metropolitan Books), a 2009 PW Best Book, was awarded the Oregon Book Awards’ biennial Graphic Literature Award.
Carla Speed McNeil’s Eisner award-winning epic science-fiction graphic novel, Finder: Voice, a PW Best Book, was awarded the 2012 L.A. Times Book Prize for Graphic Novels over the weekend at the L.A. Times Book Festival.
Anders Nilson’s massive and inventive graphic novel, Big Questions (D&Q), a PW Best Book, has been awarded the Lynd Ward Graphic Novel Prize, an annual prize for the “best graphic novel, fiction or nonfiction,” published in the previous calendar year.
Philly theater group Save the Day Productions’ Super Heroes Who Are Super!, is a word-for-word staged reading of superhero comic books that is both celebration and parody.
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