In a transfer that reinforces that graphic novel publishing is right here to remain, Abrams ComicArts, the graphic novel arm of Abrams, is turning into its personal division. Previously an imprint of mother or father firm Abrams Books, the reorg means it will likely be its personal standalone division, alongside the grownup and kids’s divisions.
The line, which has printed such books as Fantastic Four: Full Circle by Alex Ross, Mom’s Cancer by Brian Fies, Joseph Smith and the Mormons by Noah van Sciver, and The Nighteaters by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda, was based in 2009, by ex DC alum Charlie Kochman.
The new division shall be run by Rodolphe Lachat, who has the title Vice President and Publisher of Abrams ComicArts, reporting to Abrams president and CEO Mary McAveney, who introduced the transfer.
Abrams Comic Arts founding editor Charlie Kochman will retain the title of editor-in-chief and report back to Lachat, and persevering with to edit the Wimpy Kid line of books, Jeff Kinney’s mega-popular collection. Abrams ComicArts is already house to the Megascope imprint, edited by John Jennings, a line of graphic novels devoted to speculative fiction and nonfiction by folks of colour; and Lachat will proceed as editor of Cernunnus, an grownup fiction imprint on the home.
Abrams’ mother or father firm is French writer Média-Participations, which additionally owns French comics publishers Dargaud and Dupius; underneath this new construction ComicArts will work extra carefully with their French counterparts to carry extra worldwide comics and manga to their US line. Manga is a selected focus, as Lachat revealed in a press release. “Media-Participations has built much of its success and reputation based on its extraordinary catalog of comics, graphic novels, and manga,” he says. “Launching the first Abrams manga program, we will be able to leverage the relationships MPP, one of the first manga publishers in Europe, has built. Our new titles—soon to be announced—will further the immense richness and diversity of the Japanese culture here in the US.”
Upcoming authentic graphic novels embrace Cormac McCarthy’s The Road: A Graphic Novel Adaptation and Thomas Piketty’s Capital and Ideology: A Graphic Novel Adaptation.
“Graphic novels, comics, and manga are an area of tremendous growth with a devoted and diverse fan base,” says McAveney in a press release. “Our unique access to rich content through MPP allows us to strategically expand our presence in this market. Our best-in-class publishing in the art of comics makes Abrams ComicArts the division to magnify our backlist publishing while expanding into this important market.”
This is an enormous deal that not solely validates Kochman’s management of the imprint over the past 14 years, however exhibits that comics – together with grownup comics – proceed to be successful story within the mainstream publishing world.
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