Archaia Changes Name, Resumes Publishing

Archaia logo

Archaia sent out a press release announcing that they would be resuming publishing in June. Also, “we are no longer called Archaia Studios Press or ASP. Please refer to us as simply Archaia or Archaia Comics from now on.”

Here is part of the press release:

“Our number one priority is to show our commitment to publishing by completing the great stories we have already begun to tell,” said Publisher Mark Smylie. In June, Archaia will release hardcovers of The Awakening and Some New Kind of Slaughter and has committed to put out at least two hardcover collected editions per month, thereafter, for the rest of the year. Making good on this promise, July will see the hardcover releases of The Engineer (which will be offered at an unprecedented $9.99 price point) and the second volume of the Eisner Award-winning Mouse Guard. Collections of the critically acclaimed Primordia and Gunnerkrigg Court Vol. 2 are set to debut in August.

Archaia logo

“We’re also moving forward with series that are ongoing, such as The Killer, Okko, The Secret History, and Artesia: Besieged,” added Smylie. “These titles will pick up with individual issues and eventually be collected into hardcover editions.”

“In addition, books like Robotika, Killing Pickman, and Titanium Rain, which had just started toward the middle and end of last year, will be relaunched in double-sized formats, with 48 to 64 pages of art for only a $4.99 cover price,” exclaimed Smylie. “And as the year goes on, we’ll be slotting in new titles we’ve recently signed, like God Machine, Days Missing, and others we’ve yet to announce,” the publisher teased.

An interview at Comic Book Resources attributes many of the publisher’s previous problems to late-shipping and uncompleted titles, so now they’re vowing not to solicit until the art for a book is completed.

Not mentioned are the following titles, which will not be returning: Cursed Pirate Girl has moved to Olympian Publishing. The Devil’s Panties will be self-publishing, as will Runners after web serialization.



2 comments

  • With all the ill-conceived and “fly by night” publishers who complain about how unfair and hard the market is on them, I genuinely felt sad when I saw that Archaia was having problems last year, because they DON’T fall into either one of those categories.

    Mark Smylie is so dedicated to making good comics, and the challenges he faced weren’t because he was out trying to rent limos and have champagne parties at cons. From what I heard from him, most of his problems stemmed from him trying to do right by his creators and their books. Yes, he had to make some really hard choices, but they were motivated by his wish to put out the best books he could publish.

    I’m really glad that Archaia is back up and running. Tough times like this thin out the herd, but the people in it for the long haul are the ones who find the way to bounce back and keep playing the game. Good luck to Mark and company.

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