Former Marvel and DC editor in Chief Bob Harras has joined Wuxia-focused transmedia company Immortal Studios as Editor at Large, Deadline reports.
Immortal was founded by Peter “Payhuan” Shiao, who is both CEO and creator of the line’s “storyverse” which thus far comprises four titles, Adept, Assassin G, Chronicles of the Immortal Swordsmen and Fa Sheng. The titles are all examples of the Wuxia genre, which is popular in China and beyond and features sweeping fantasy/martial arts storylines.
Harras is no stranger to editing – as EIC of Marvel from 1995 to 2000 he oversaw many epochal events and titles, including the X-Men, Avengers, Spider-Man, Hulk and Deadpool. After a stint at Wildstorm, he became Editor in Chief at DC in 2010, overseeing many epochal events and titles, before being laid off in the “DC Bloodbath” of 2020. Before that his accomplishments there included running MAD magazine, Black Label and Vertigo as well as spearheading DC’s first YA and middle-grade line of publications.
Hall of fame cred: He is the only person to have been editor in chief at Marvel and DC.
Just what “at large” means isn’t mentioned, but spearheading a storyverse sounds about right – and certainly given his vast knowledge and experience, it’s good to see Harras editing again.
Harras joins another former DC VP, Hank Kanalz, who is currently Head of Publishing at Immortal. Yet another former DCer, Brian Cunningham, was involved with Immortal, but is also involved with Aftershock, at last notice.
Deadline included the usual celebratory quotes and here they are:
“As we embark on our mission to awaken heroes everywhere through the Immortal storyverse, and Wuxia is again awakening as fan/youth favorited stories, Bob Harras’ unparalleled experience shepherding story worlds for both Marvel and DC, the two most successful companies to have created cinematic universes, is helping us succeed in creating our own lane,” said Shiao.
“Now that we have established the core pillars of our storyverse, which has brought together all the diverse influences that have existed in the big tent of Wuxia, it’s time to take these stories to the world and Bob is the perfect leader to bring legs to our current stories and to increase new ones on this foundation across all media using our dynamic tech enabled approach to build and scale communities.”
Harras: “I’m excited to join Immortal Studios with its bold plan to deeply engage with fans across the globe to thrill to the adventures of martial heroes confronting the challenges of modern day. I’m really looking forward to working with the incredibly talented team of artists and writers at Immortal as we tell the stories of our characters who help us discover the hero within us all.”
Kanalz: “I couldn’t be more thrilled to be working with Bob again. He brings a wealth of experience to Immortal, and I’m looking forward to building this new universe with him and the amazing creative teams we’ve assembled. Watch out – we’re just getting started.”
Immortal’s ip includes the rights to more than 60 titles from the library of legendary Wuxia creator Shiao Yi. Their comics have been Kickstarted thus far, but they also have a distribution deal with Dynamite. You can read more about their mission here.
