New players in the game! Aethon Books, publisher of SF, fantasy and audio books, has acquired a majority stake in Vault Comics. The news broke at Forbes.
Aethon and Vault previously partnered for various adaptations of each other’s material. Now they are partnering up even more. Vault will continue to be run by CEO Damian Wassel, and CCO Adrian Wassel whiel Aethon’s Rhett Bruno and Steve Beaulieu joining the Vault board. Terms were not disclosed.
“Since we met the team at Vault, we have shared a vision of creating a one-stop-shop for the next generation of market-leading fantasy and science fiction authors and their stories. By joining forces with Vault, we believe we are one step closer to that dream,” said Aethon CEO, Rhett C. Bruno.
“The goal is to expand what we’ve been able to offer everyone we’ve been working with across the publishing line,” said Damian Wassel. He promised that the increased resources resulting from the acquisition will enable “additional product categories and a significantly expanded marketing budget and resources behind everything we’re bringing to the comic and graphic novel categories.” He said announcements of new projects and licenses were forthcoming.
Vault has had several previous investors including Jeff Ubben, UTA, Crush Ventures and Metallica/Black Squirrel Partners, who will continue to be involved in the venture.
The very model of the scrappy, indie comics publisher, Vault made a mark with its own line of SF/fantasy titles, including Heathen and Barbaric. They are currently partnering with musician Post Malone for Big Rig, a trucking epic, and have other music crossovers planned. (Disclosure: Big Rig is a current advertising partner with The Beat.)
Back in February, when the Diamond troubles were brewing, Vault announced they would begin selling direct to retailers, while remaining available via Lunar and S&S.
Aethon Books is a fast growing publisher with such authors as Paul Antony Jones, Joshua Gayou, Rick Partlow, and actor Lou Diamond Phillips. They have also partnered with Webtoon to create scrolling adaptations of various series.
