Archaia

Archaia is another company that's throwing its hat in the growing category of "digital release, then print." Certainly, digital comics are an increasingly common thing, but the relationship between digital and print is still evolving. They're taking a direction with a couple titles that I think will end up being fairly common. They're also adapting/remaking a classic manga title.

I read (almost) every Free Comic Book Day title, and let you know what's the best!

A hardcover comic book! Which costs more like a comic, but looks more like a book! And the first one is free!

. Here are a selection of books due out this month. All of the information presented below are from publisher or distributor websites. ALL information is subject to change, and something which might ship this...

New comics! Fun stuff for everyone! (And, of course, before you hand the book over to a young impressionable mind, you have to read it first to make sure it is age-appropriate!)

Who the heck is Afu Chan? He drew a story in SPERA, the fantasy anthology by Josh Tierney that also sports art by Kyla Vanderklugt, Hwei, and Emily Carroll, and was published by Archaia. But a glance at his Deviant Art page reveals an illustrator very much in the modern, pan-comics Moebius-inspired vein, but with violent, pastel brawls breaking out all over the place.

Muppets (the non-Disney variety)! Marjane Satrapi! Miranda Mercury! The Dare Detectives! And lots of other interesting titles from Archaia!

Writer Victor Quinaz and illustrator Brent Schoonover, the creative team behind the recent Archaia and Before the Door graphic novel, Mr. Murder Is Dead, have created a brand-new strip just for Halloween.

Webcomic sensation Emily Carroll has joined the team on Spera, the graphic novel edition of a long-running online comic by Josh Tierney. Arachaia is publishing the print edition, which includes art by Kyla Vanderklugt, Hwei Lin Lim and Carroll.

So much good stuff! Bestselling author Christopher Moore writes a graphic novel! Ray Bradbury, Grandmaster, has two classics adapted! Grant Morrison writes about superheroes and religion! Disney and Hitler, together again! Girlie comics from Marvel! "Good Girl" comics from Jim Silke, Doug Sneyd, and Dean Yeagle! Great Women comics from Gail Simone, Colleen Coover, Megan Kelso, Jill Thompson, and Corinne Mucha! (Can't find female creators on the newsstands? Check the bookshelves!) And lots of masterful work from Jim Lee, Todd McFarlane, Jim Starlin, and Floyd Gottfredson!

Archaia is making some moves, both with a new distributor -- PGW -- and its first illustrated novel, strong>Conspiracy of the Planet of the Apes. Buried in a PR on the Ape book is the news that Archaia is leaving Diamond for PGW, which already distributes Cartoon Books. PGW distributes over 100 independent publishers, so picking up a few GN publishers makes sense. And Archaia's new books-only plan is also a good bit for a books-only distributor.

Wow! Lots of great books coming out this month!