Rounding up this week’s coming and goings around the world of comics:
§ Alien Books has shored up its Valiant line with the promotion of Lysa Hawkins to Editor-in-Chief and has hired Ron Cacace as Director of Communications. You’ll recall Alien Books puts out many titles, including manga, and licensed comics featuring the Valiant characters.
Hawkins is veteran of Marvel and DC and also worked at the standalone Valiant. As the new Editor-in-Chief at Alien Books she’ll “continue to utilize her expert storytelling sensibilities and eye for talent to deliver exciting new comics for readers around the world.” Her current projects includethe upcoming RESURGENCE OF THE VALIANT UNIVERSE crossover event due in the fall.
Cacace is another veteran, with Marvel, Archie and Zestworld on his resume. He also wrote the Bite Sized Archie webcomic. Cacace will be integral in Alien Books’ press, social media and convention efforts. He says: “The team at Alien Books is working hard to deliver exciting new Valiant comics to shops every week and we want both long-time and new readers to jump on board with us on this journey. I’m looking forward to engaging with the Valiant fans on social media about all things comics and working together with our press partners as we start a new chapter in the story of both Alien Books and the Valiant Comics publishing line.”
And since they sent along a bunch of covers here’s a gallery:
§ A rather juicy story ran earlier this week, and The Beat can confirm that Jamie S. Rich has left IDW, where he served as Editor-In-Chief. As regular readers may recall, IDW has had much turmoil in the last 12 months. Rich survived a big reorganization at the company, but he’s moving on to a new venture so let the wonderings begin! Rich already held roles was EiC at Tapas Media and Oni, Group Editor at DC, and editor at Dark Horse, so it’s safe to say he knows a lot about many things.
We understand that there may be more executive shufflings coming at IDW in the future, as well.
§ Marvel laid off 15 people back in April, including staffers at both the West Coast and New York-based offices as part of a wave of Disney cuts. However it appears that there have been a few more at the New York offices – extent unknown. Sorry to not have more information on this.
§ This is OLD (a month) news, but Dafna Pleban, a mainstay at Boom! Studios for 14 (!) years, has moved over to Viz, where she’ll be Managing Editor, Original Publishing. It’s reasonable to wonder if she’ll be part of the Viz Originals initiative, which is expanding, as reported this week at Publishers Weekly, with a bunch of one shots, although former Shonen Jump EiC Hisashi Sasaki will lead the effort.
Viz Media will expand its Viz Originals initiative to include Viz Originals One-Shots, which the company called, in a release, “bite-size original manga stories created locally by debut and up-and-coming creators.” The program, Viz Originals executive editor Fawn Lau told PW, follows “the successful methods that Japanese manga magazines use to discover new talent and support and showcase aspiring mangaka.”
…
New one-shots will be added monthly to the VIZ Manga service. The initial lineup includes “Ancient Melody” by Jonathan Lareva, “Cinematic Certitude” by Naf, “The Stranger” by Liam Naughton, and “Skin & Bone” by Josh Tierney and Valentin Serber. The publisher added that successful one-shots—which run approximately 20–50 pages—will be considered as ongoing series, among other licensing and IP-related possibilities.
§ And on the topic of FUTURE hirings, Random House is seeking an editor for their Inklore imprint, salary range $70,000-$85,000. You’ll recall Inklore is an imprint publishing webtoon, light novels, manga-esque series, and other modern comics stuff. The job listing:
We are currently seeking an Editor or Senior Editor to join the Inklore imprint to manage partner relationships in east Asian territories and edit 8-12 titles per year on the manga and manhwa localization list. While this role will have the opportunity to work on our established projects from Korea and Japan, we hope candidates will also bring their own interests and expertise to the team, continuing to expand Inklore’s list globally. The position provides an opportunity to immerse yourself in a creative and hands-on department, dedicated to creating best-in-class manga, manhwa, and light novels. We are a highly collaborative team who love to bring our authentic style of nerdery to our favorite pop culture worlds.
Specific Responsibilities Include:
- Brainstorming, refining, and pitching new project acquisitions to partners
- Researching top comics and light novels gaining overseas or digital notoriety
- Coordinating translator & localizer pools, then line editing new text in both manuscript and final comic lettering formats
- Editing scroll-to-print adaptations, with notes for adapting designers regarding visual storytelling, pacing, and authenticity to the original material
- Submitting materials to relevant partner approval systems
- Keeping up to date on current trends in international comics, fandom, and pop culture
- Identifying strategic white spaces in the Inklore list and developing projects that expand the diversity of titles we publish
- Attending regular meetings with partners to communicate developments, challenges, and solutions on relevant projects, including frequent calls outside of EST working hours
- Positioning works for target readerships, then working with the cover design team, publicity, and marketing to developing publishing plans that reach the widest possible audience
- Working with production and managing editorial departments on copyediting, schedule, and design
- Preparing sales materials as needed, including brand guides, flap copy, and title information sheets
- Handling special projects, backlist titles, and legacy books as assigned
