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Celebrate Ten Years of BOOM! Studios

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BOOM! Studios' Founder and CEO, Ross Richie, Editor-in-Chief, Matt Gagnon, and  President of Publishing and Marketing, Filip Sablik discuss the publisher's past, present, and future!

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PREVIEWSworld: First off, congratulations on a spectacular first decade for the BOOM! Studios! It’s been incredibly exciting to watch the company grow and change throughout the years and see its impact on the comic industry. Can you give our readers a bit of history of how BOOM! has evolved throughout its first ten years? Why do you feel BOOM! has become such a successful part of the comics industry and how do you see this success continuing? What kind of publishing or company goals do you hope to accomplish in the coming years?

Ross Richie: Thank you so much for the kind words! Really appreciated. The company evolved out of Keith Giffen telling me that I should publish comic books. When it came time to publish the first series we were doing with Hero Squared, Keith urged the foundation of the company be a partnership between the publisher and the creator. That was the cornerstone of what we did—the belief that a company could work hand-in-hand in cooperation with comic book creators to bring the best comics to market. And we’ve never wavered from that approach and philosophy.

That core commitment to working with creatives hand-in-hand has only evolved in the kind of material we’ve published—whether it is the All-Ages content of KaBOOM! or materials like Lumberjanes and Help Us! Great Warrior that have a large female readership. The readership of comics is evolving, and BOOM! has evolved with that.

Matt Gagnon: I came to BOOM! early on, back in 2008, so I've had the opportunity to witness, and be a part of, most of the major transformations the company has gone through. It's been a remarkable experience. We were only publishing a handful of titles a month back then; today, it's not uncommon for us to publish upwards of 40 titles a month. That progression has been steady and organic over the years, increasing our production and position in the industry gradually. I think that's been a big contributor to our success. We've grown along with the industry over the years.

I also think the level of quality we strive for in our creative is something that's distinguished us. It took many years, but we ultimately got to the point where our readers, retail partners, the press, et al, really started to see us as a company that publishes with passion and has high creative standards. That applies to both our original work and all of the licensed properties we publish. You can only achieve that, consistently, if you have a commitment to working with the best creators in comics and building the best staff in the business. That's something we strive to do every day.

Filip Sablik: I have a really unique perspective on the evolution of BOOM! Studios, because I started my relationship with Ross and BOOM! when I was in the Purchasing Department of Diamond. I was BOOM!’s first Brand Manager and from the first phone call with Ross I could tell he and the company had a ton of potential, and not just because he had names like Keith Giffen, Mark Waid, and JM DeMatteis on his roster. It’s those core values that have remained consistent with BOOM! from the beginning—joyful enthusiasm for the medium, an elevated but commercial sensibility, and a real desire to make comic books that appeal widely to non-traditional comic book readers.

Ross Richie: We’re committed to helping to grow the next generation of readers with KaBOOM!. We get excited when we see projects like Rush’s Clockwork Angels series, because we know it’s an opportunity to drive new readers into the Direct Market (in this case, Rush fans).

Filip Sablik: One of the key elements to BOOM!’s success is definitely our ability to draw new readers into the marketplace. Early on, it was with series like Farscape, Warhammer, and the Disney titles, and now, more recently with series like Adventure Time, Bravest Warriors, Lumberjanes, and The Woods. It’s something we’re always mindful of—our responsibility to the market and to our retail partners is to add new customers, not just syphon existing customers from our competitors. It’s something we hear over and over again when we talk with retailers and they appreciate that about us.

Matt Gagnon: One of the ways you do that is by publishing genres and stories that aren't already widely available in our industry. The potential of our medium to tell any type of story is just as legitimate as film, TV, or any other medium. From the very beginning BOOM! has been a company that takes risks. All of us believe that in order to push the industry forward and make it more accessible we need to be publishing comics for everyone. I've always been proud of how we curate our line. If somebody comes up to our booth at a convention, we want to have something they would enjoy reading—it doesn't matter who they are or where they come from.

Ross Richie: We unabashedly, wholeheartedly believe the medium can do anything and I think in the future you’ll see us continue to push the boundaries as we chase this ideal.

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PREVIEWSworld: In addition to marking a milestone, 2015 also saw the kick-off of the “Push Comics Forward” movement, an effort to make both the comics community and industry more inclusive for all comic lovers. Can you tell us a bit about what prompted the initiative and why you feel now is an ideal time to get this message out?

Filip Sablik: The origins of Push Comics Forward were incredibly organic. We knew that our 10 Year Celebration would naturally create an opportunity for extra attention on BOOM! as a brand and a publisher, both inside and outside of the direct market. Everyone loves to celebrate anniversaries and certainly it would have been perfectly natural for us to take a look back and celebrate our past accomplishments. We decided though that we’ve never been ones to look backwards. We come to work every day excited about publishing the next great comic book and truly believe the best comics are yet to be published. We wanted to use this opportunity to look forward.

Matt Gagnon: We have a team here at BOOM! that loves this industry and wants to see it grow and flourish. The Push Comics Forward movement comes out of that love. We want to stand with folks who are already working so hard to make comics a healthy industry that's accepting and safe for anybody interested in our medium.

Filip Sablik: There’s a change happening in the industry that is reflected in our core values and in the work we’ve been doing. We’ve been playing our small role in trying to broaden the inclusiveness, accessibility, and diversity in the direct market for many years. But recently it seems to be tipping over into the mainstream in a really exciting and authentic way with series like Ms. Marvel, Gotham Academy, and Saga, to name just a handful. The goal of Push Comics Forward is pretty simple: to create a focus, a tent if you will, for the larger conversation of what we, as an industry, believe comic books should look like in 10 years.

Let’s not let it just accidentally happen; let’s work at speeding up the process by celebrating the projects, creators, and publishers that are moving things forward and talking about what we can do better still. And have that conversation in a positive way; the industry has plenty of voices focusing on what’s wrong. That’s an important part of the conversation, but has its fair share of advocates. We’re certainly far from the only ones having this conversation, but it felt important that a Top 10 mainstream direct market publisher take a public stance on this conversation. The great thing is that it’s reflective of what we’ve already been doing and will continue to do, because we believe it’s not only the right thing to do, but terrific for the long-term health of the industry.

Ross Richie: We believe comics are for everyone. We’re not the first people who have put this idea forward and we won’t be the last, but we’re trying to walk the walk. We were a big part of the new era of All-Ages comics and are on the forefront of the influx of female readers. We believe in inclusion, diversity, and a broadening of the kinds of stuff that gets published.

PREVIEWSworld: BOOM! has established itself as a go-to publisher for up-and-coming artists and writers as well as notable creators who haven’t previously pursued traditional publishing routes. How did you go about cultivating your current publishing environment (in terms of working with industry newcomers) and why do you believe the benefits of pulling in new voices outweigh the risks? How would you like to see your company’s relationship with creators evolve with time? 

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Matt Gagnon: Working with up-and-coming writers and artists and breaking new talent is something that's in our DNA. And for me, personally, it's one of the joys of the job. I feel like we're coming to work every day and building the future of comics. Developing that next great comic or creator is what we live for. Whether it's Emma Rios or Declan Shalvey or Russell Dauterman, we have a long track record of helping new creators establish a foothold in the industry. That's something we'll always be passionate about.

Filip Sablik: The next great comic book could come from anywhere. We sincerely believe that, which is why we work with not only experienced and novice comic creators, but non-traditional creators like musicians, screenwriters, directors, and novelists as examples. In particular, we love working with creators who have developed a voice in webcomics, on social media platforms like Tumblr, indie comics and zines. One of the things that outweighs the risks of working with newer creators is that we have an absolutely world-class editorial team here at BOOM! that can help guide them through making the best version of their story. We invest a ton of time in developing series and working with creators as our partners to deliver a consistent level of quality. 

Ross Richie: I hired Rafael Albuquerque to draw The Savage Brothers back in 2005. That was a risk worth taking. New voices are where the next generation of talent is going. We’re excited about the future and the brilliant new voices the medium is attracting to guide it there.

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PREVIEWSworld: Your publishing slate includes a mix of licensed properties and original creator-owned series. What kind of balance is BOOM! striving to strike between the two in terms of your output? Do you see these two aspects shifting in a specific direction in the future (i.e. will BOOM! focus more on one over the other)? 

Filip Sablik: In general, we try to maintain an even balance between licensed and original material, but it swings one way or the other fairly organically from year to year. We view both of them as critical to our success as a publisher and also as vehicles for broadening our audience. For licensed material, we’re always evaluating potential properties against our personal passion and vision for the license as well as what new audience we believe we can draw into the direct market.

Our goal is always to do the best comic book we can for a license so that we create new readers that stay in the market. The original series broaden the audience in a different way by creating new content for potential fans of different genres and creators.

Matt Gagnon: A good story is a good story. It could be something that's a pre-existing brand or something we've developed from whole cloth hand-in-hand with a creator; the common denominator is our excitement for the project. That excitement and enthusiasm has to be there. We want everything we publish to be authentic and satisfying for our readers.

Ross Richie: You’ve got to chase the project. Escape From New York took five years of pursuit to come to fruition—its own time was its own time. Certain creators take two or three years to line up. They come when they come. The key is to chase your passion and hope that the comic shops share your love of creator-owned or licensed material.

PREVIEWSworld: Are there any new licensing deals or properties you can reveal at the moment? What about original titles? Are there any specific creators you’re excited to work with on upcoming projects? 

Matt Gagnon: We have so many originals I'm excited about this year. But I'd take up the whole article talking about them so I'll kick out the project that's on my desk right now! The Spire by Si Spurrier and Jeff Stokely is a real beauty. Si and Jeff did a series for us called Six-Gun Gorilla last year that made a lot of noise. I think they're two of the most phenomenal creators working in comics right now. These guys create comics that are complex and imaginative and visually stunning. I think this project is going to solidify their creative partnership as a force in the industry. 

Filip Sablik: We just announced a new original graphic novel based on The Maze Runner film franchise, which I think has some incredible potential to bring YA novel readers into the world of comic books. We have a number of exciting projects in the works for the Fall under our Peanuts license to tie into the 65th Anniversary and new CGI feature film. And we also have more fun all-ages material coming up from our Cartoon Network partnership.

Ross Richie: At Emerald City Comic Con we just announced the Adventure Time with Fionna and Cake: Card Wars mini-series. As our retail partners know, the gender-swapped Fionna and Cake are always a huge hit, but this particular story focuses on Card Wars, which is a collectible card game played on the TV show. Cryptozoic is actually making the Card Wars game and our comic book mini-series will tie in with that—so fans can watch the show, play the card game, and then read the comic book story about the card game played on the show!

Filip Sablik: I’m personally incredibly excited to see Strange Fruit by J.G. Jones and Mark Waid realized. Both guys have been pals for years and I’ve been cajoling J.G. to dip his feet in the original comic waters for a long time. When he came to us with a story set in the Jim Crow-era South that tackled legacy, race relations, and the nature of humanity, we were blown away. I really think this is going to be one of those projects that becomes a seminal, award-winning work and I’m proud to be publishing it.

I also can’t wait for folks to read Broken World by Frank Barbiere and Christopher Peterson. Frank is that rare combination of a creator that really understands the marketplace and is also incredibly talented as a writer. Broken World will be to disaster speculative fiction what The Walking Dead is to zombie apocalypse fiction. It’s Frank’s only original series in 2015 and he’s giving it all he’s got.

Ross Richie: There isn’t a book that I’m not proud of, but in particular it’s exciting to see the strong launch behind Giant Days and the heat it’s building in the market!

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PREVIEWSworld: Along with your main line of titles, BOOM! has a number of imprints that serve a wide variety of readers: KaBOOM! for all-ages content, Archaia for fantasy titles and YA-aimed series, and BOOM! Box for more experimental works. Why do you feel these imprints are important to BOOM!’s publishing mission and what unique qualities do they bring to your overall line-up of titles?

Filip Sablik: It’s critical to our mission—to be accessible for all types of readers. Readers can come in and discover a corner of the BOOM! publishing line up that feels like home and explore from there. I think all four imprints (counting the main “Studios” line) have evolved over time and will continue to evolve over the next few years.

Matt Gagnon: These imprints allow us to publish virtually anything we're interested in publishing. It's important to us—and to our mission—to be able to have that type of range.

Ross Richie: They’re facets of the company that bring into focus the areas that the staff are passionate about.  We’re all excited about these four areas of publishing and the imprint is a way to separate out and focus that passion. There’s no way to mix-and-match them—you can’t put Strange Fruit into KaBOOM! and Peanuts doesn’t really make sense in Archaia.

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PREVIEWSworld: To coincide with your anniversary, you’ve been releasing a number of special variant covers for serialized titles. Will there be other anniversary-related comic events or promotions that fans can look forward to later this year? Are there any other surprises in store for BOOM! for this year (or the years ahead) that you can share?

Filip Sablik: Absolutely. We’re working on coordinating additional events with retailers, particularly our BOOM! Innovators. Additionally, we have some special thank you's for our retail partners toward the end of the year and perhaps one or two surprises to celebrate 10 years of following our passion. We’re so fortunate to be able to do what we love and we never take for granted the risk retailers take every time they support us by taking a chance and ordering a new title, creator, format, or idea.

Matt Gagnon: We'll also be celebrating this milestone at our convention appearances throughout the year. Our fans are our partners, too—so we encourage anybody who reads our titles to stop by at shows and see what we're up to. All of our organized company drink-ups at conventions are typically open to everybody.

Ross Richie: There’s one thing that I can promise that we’ve done from the beginning: We will continue to tackle big ideas with big projects that are unconventional with the hope that it will diversify and bring many different kinds of people into the comic book market. We love this medium and want everyone from everywhere to appreciate it. We think the next 10 years are going to be a really fun and interesting ride!

 

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