EDITOR’S NOTE: ComixTribe publisher Tyler James reveals some of the everyday realities of small press publishing as a new series is prepared for release. It’s good information for fans curious about what it’s like on the other side of the aisle. Thanks for the guest column, Tyler! . . . . . . . . . .
"Honestly, it's easier to get into Harvard than it is to get a comic pitch accepted at ComixTribe."
Even as I said that to a young comic creator asking about submitting her book to us for publication, I could hear how pretentious it sounded.
And yet, statistically, it's true.
ComixTribe is a small-bandwidth operation that will never compete with the big publishers in terms of output.
Nor do we ever want to.
Rather than flood the market with a ton of concepts hoping something, anything, sticks... we pick our projects extremely carefully, and only put out books we believe in 100%, would read ourselves, and think our longtime (and new) fans will be into as well.
And after a few meetings at New York Comic Con 2017, we officially greenlit WAILING BLADE as the newest series in the ComixTribe line-up.
Now, I say new, because it's likely new to you... but to tell you the truth, I've been hungry to put this series out for years.
Several years ago, after crushing an awesome story in the OXYMORON Volume 1 Hardcover Anthology, writer Rich Douek pitched me a series unlike anything else I had read before... and certainly unlike anything ComixTribe had in its stable.
I loved it.
Rich hooked me in a single type-written page.
Shortly after, I met a young artist who I thought was perfect for Rich's book, concepts started coming in, and the thing looked like it was happening.
And then...
It all fell apart.
The artist, more of a illustrator than a comics guy, realized that this sequential art thing was a lot more work than he thought and bailed out after working on only a few pages.
That's always a tough thing to deal with for a writer...
To have an idea in your head that's just yours, connect with an artist who shares the vision and starts to bring it to life... and then have it stop cold.
It sucks.
And it takes a lot of the wind out of the sails of a project.
Rich decided to put Wailing Blade on the shelf, and instead pursue another series, which ultimately became the incredible GUTTER MAGIC, published by IDW.
(Go grab the trade, it's awesome.)
But WAILING BLADE kept on calling to him.
And over beers a few months back, Rich and fellow New Yorker / ComixTribe VP of Creative artist Joe Mulvey (SCAM) decided to take another swing at this dystopian horror fantasy series... and it's now found its way back home at ComixTribe.
And I. AM. PUMPED!
As hard as it was to lose WAILING BLADE the first time around, I can't tell you how excited I am to get to bring this book to you all soon.
Because over the years, this story and the WB universe has grown into something pretty damn special.
And with a partner like Joe, who gets to cut loose (pun!) on a series unlike anything else we've ever seen him draw, it's going to be a special book.
Now, a lot of you have been asking about when this book will hit the shelves.
Well, there's no ship date yet and here's why...
It's ComixTribe's new policy not to even solicit a series in the direct market until 75% or more of the series is complete, so that we can work on a monthly (or close to it) release schedule when it drops in the DM.
However, as with SINK, you may want to keep your eyes peeled for those advance release (and not impossible to find) convention exclusive limited edition runs coming to a convention near you to build buzz for the series before it formally releases.
And Joe has been teasing some pages in the ComixTribe Insiders Private FB Group so definitely join us over there as well.
Expect to hear a whole lot more about this series in the months to come.
And we hope you'll #TakeTheBlade with us.
Best,
Tyler James
ComixTribe Publisher
No comments:
Post a Comment