Leading off the new imprint will be The Midas Flesh, helmed by webcomics sensation (and Boom! Adventure Time writer) Ryan North. He's joined by his Adventure Time creative team, Shelli Paroline and Braden Lamb, for this comic.
A quote from the release about the new line:
“This imprint is about new ideas and unique ways of doing things,” said BOOM! Studios Editor-in-Chief Matt Gagnon. “Shannon Watters, our mastermind editor behind ADVENTURE TIME, REGULAR SHOW, and BRAVEST WARRIORS, has brought some amazing talent into BOOM! over the last couple years. These are creators that have inspired us; they have an undeniably energizing spirit to what they do, and all have their own stories to tell. That jump-started the idea to give them—and other great creators we’ve come to know who aren’t involved in KaBOOM!—the opportunity to go wild and come up with their most outrageous ideas—and for us to say, ‘Yes, we will publish that.’ It’s about experimenting, having fun, and embracing the limitless form of comics.”Boom! is no strange to experimentation. They're the folks who distributed the Daniel Johnston Kickstarter, after all, and they've been working extremely hard to bring in creators of all kinda for work on Adventure Time, whether it's covers or short back-up stories. The release goes on to state that part of the goal of this is to bring creators who might not have done a traditional monthly book into the creative fold working on whatever they feel like doing.
As a person who loves indie comics, I am of course extremely excited about this news. Anytime a publisher with a significant book store and comic shop presence (not to mention being a front-page Comixology publisher) wants to give money and a home to folks who want to do things that sound insane and fun, its' a good thing.
The opening title is North riffing on a former Dinosaur Comics gag and based on King Midas, with the Earth turned to gold and a crew looking to take down an evil empire. It's exactly the kind of ridiculous premise that North brings up all the time in his webcomic, and it will be fun to see it play out on a larger stage.
Joining KaBoom! (kids), Archaia (upscale graphic novels), and Boom! Town (literary line), Boom! Box looks to be another solid addition to their lineup, and I'm looking forward to see how this plays out. Hopefully with lots of creative fun, and good, solid paychecks for creators that deserve it.
