Update that scorecard! The Lab Press, a new graphic novel publisher, has just announced new distribution agreements with Diamond UK, Lunar Distribution, and Universal Distribution.
In the new world of comics distribution we need to get used to distribution announcements that cover multiple outlets – and Universal is now one of the players. But in a world of multiple outlets, retailers can continue to order titles from THE LAB through Diamond Comic Distributors II (Sparkle Pop) and Simon & Schuster.
“One of our biggest goals at THE LAB is to get our premium original graphic novels in front of as many readers as possible,” says Mike Zagari, Chief Creative Officer for THE LAB in a statement. “We’re thrilled to be parting with these fine distributors to provide retailers even more options for ordering!”
THE LAB has been brewing for a while, and has been debuting books this year, standing out with lavish, slipcased hardcovers – all with handsome covers by Bill Sienkiewicz.
Their books will be available from Diamond UK, Lunar Distribution, and Universal Distribution with these 2025 titles with a November on sale date:
ESSENTIALS VOL. 1 BILL SIENKIEWICZ PREMIERE EDITION
Writers: Luke Arnold and Chris “Doc” Wyatt
Artists: Glenn Fabry, Jason Howard, Vince Locke, Brendan McCarthy, Andrea Mutti, M.K. Perker, and Dani
Colorist: Brad Simpson, Wesley Wong, and Dee Cunniffe
Cover: Bill Sienkiewicz
In Essentials, mathematician Harris Pax predicted the end of the world but failed to prevent it. Now he’s living alone in a bunker and his niece’s favorite toys have started talking to him. The good news? He’s not the world’s sole survivor. The bad news? The other survivors are trapped in alternate realities-imprisoned in imagined worlds full of zombies, robots, mythical creatures, and chaos. And now Harris Pax and an unlikely ally must travel the country on a quest to restore reality, save humanity, and defeat his new interdimensional nemesis: Snuggles. This debut graphic novel from THE LAB ships in a gold-foil stamped cloth slipcase!
SUPER SCIENCE VOL. 1 BILL SIENKIEWICZ PREMIERE EDITION
Writer: N. Alessandro K.
Artist: M.K. Perker
Colorist: Adam Guzowski
Cover: Bill Sienkiewicz
Super Science is a sci-fi/comedy about a world where the limits of human imagination have become real. For five days the entire sky over twelve spots across the globe turn purple. The result was in each location, professional engineers and scientists, as well as tinkers, amateur inventors, and high school science teachers were able to create scientific and engineering breakthroughs in ways far surpassing the world’s top scientific institutions. Our story starts three years later in Los Angeles, where a breed of actual superheroes and super villains are emerging. Dealing with this new phenomenon is the LAPD’s new “Mad Scientist Division,” including no-nonsense Sergeant Esmerelda Villanueva and her idealistic young partner, Officer Jack Mantle. Other characters include manipulative industrialist Burt Montague and his lab assistant Felicia Bari; perpetually unlucky Karen Katz, a former biology teacher who has turned herself into a human-cat hybrid; Esmerelda’s son, Gabe, who might be the smartest teenager on the planet; nefarious super villain Dr. Cornelius Otherland and his nemesis, bumbling superhero Gas Giant. This graphic novel follows up on Super Science: Chapter Zero and ships in a gold-foil stamped cloth slipcase!
HUNGER VOL. 1 BILL SIENKIEWICZ PREMIERE EDITION
Writer: Nihaarika Negi
Artist: Joe Bocardo
Colorist: José Villarrubia
Cover: Bill Sienkiewicz
In 1896 Bombay, under British rule, a concentration camp holds Izna, a plague-infected and famine-stricken being. Mutated through medical experiments, she, along with others, becomes a mutant. British officers invite famine photographer William Wallace Hooper to document the mutants, unaware he’s controlled by a shape-shifting vampire called Pisach. The Pisach infects prey with insatiable hunger, while Hooper bonds with Izna amidst rulers’ games with famine slaves. Unbeknownst, Izna descends from women embracing monsters. Discovering Hooper’s role in her mother’s death, she wishes to become a monster herself. Transformed into a half-human, half-mutant, half-beast, she embraces her hunger, consuming oppressors and drenching her land in blood. This infinite hunger mirrors trauma’s generational and cultural impact, forging an inseparable link between oppressed and oppressor.
CREATURES & CORRIDORS VOL. 1 BILL SIENKIEWICZ PREMIERE EDITION
Writer: Brandon Auman
Artist: Andrea Mutti
Cover: Bill Sienkiewicz
It’s the summer of 1992, and five high school sophomores play a rare role-playing game that was banned for being “too Satanic” – Creatures & Corridors. As the kids play the mysterious fantasy game, it unleashes a curse that warps reality around them: orcs storm the living room, killing their parents. The front yard turns into a moat filled with tentacled horrors. And their basement “game cave” transforms into a literal dungeon, laden with bloodthirsty monsters and terrifying death traps. Now, the kids are forced to play Creatures & Corridors for their very lives, as a devilish Gamemaster judges their every move.
