Amazon creates a new comic books imprint

The imprint, titled Jet City Comics, released its first title, a work named 'Symposium #1," on July 9.

George R.R. Martin's story 'Meathouse Man' will be adapted as a graphic novel through Amazon imprint Jet City Comics.

It’s no secret comic books are big business, particularly with the box office success of multiple recent movie adaptations.

And now Amazon’s getting in on it with their new imprint, titled Jet City Comics, which will publish graphic novels and comics.

The imprint is scheduled to release works written by or based on writings from authors including “Game of Thrones” writer George R.R. Martin, “Snow Crash” author Neal Stephenson, and Hugh Howey of the sci-fi series “Wool.” (Howey's books are being published through the Kindle Directing Publishing System run by Amazon.) Works will be released in both digital and print form and, according to Amazon, print versions will be available through other comics booksellers as well as through the bookselling giant.

“It's a dream to work with superstar authors like George, Hugh, and Neal on the launch of a new imprint," senior editor of Jet City Comics Alex Carr said in a statement. "We're working with an incredible, hand-picked team of comics professionals, writers, artists, and translators, who have done an amazing job developing and expanding these inventive stories.”

The imprint launched July 9 with the publication of “Symposium #1” by Christian Cameron and Dmitry Bondarenko, a comic which is set in the universe of the Foreworld series created by Stephenson, Mark Teppo, Erik Bear, Greg Bear, Nicole Galland, Cooper Moo, and Joseph Brassey. Six comics set in the Foreworld universe will be released altogether and will come out on a monthly basis.

Meanwhile, Martin’s short story “Meathouse Man” will be illustrated by Raya Golden for Jet City Comics and Howey’s first novel in his “Wool” series will be put into graphic novel form as well, adapted by Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray and illustrated by Jimmy Broxton. "Meathouse" will be published as one issue in October and "Wool" will be released as six issues beginning also in October.

Through Jet City Comics, adaptations of Martin’s short works “The Hedge Knight” and “The Sworn Sword,” currently out of print, will be re-released in both paper and digital format. “Hedge” is scheduled to be released in November, while “Sword” will come early next year.

Comic book fans may remember that Amazon was at the center of a comic books spat when it got the exclusive rights to some of DC Comics’ most famous titles, including Alan Moore’s opus “Watchmen,” for digital publication. (They could also be viewed through the Kindle app, which could be downloaded onto non-Amazon devices like the iPad.) Bookstore chains Barnes & Noble and Books-A-Million, however, were unhappy with this and took the print versions of the graphic novels now owned by Amazon off their bookstore shelves.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Amazon creates a new comic books imprint
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/Books/chapter-and-verse/2013/0711/Amazon-creates-a-new-comic-books-imprint
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe