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Current Comic Book Publishers from Z-A – entry #25

Dec 25, 2015

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Christmas is here!! May Santa have brought you all that you desired >_^ Fatten yourselves with turkey and trimmings. Now that the shopping craze is over, you can re-do it for Boxing Day ^_< It’s the third letter of the alphabet but nowhere close to the end. Since there’s two dozen publishers under this particular letter, I’m dividing the list in two. Too bad there wasn’t one more to make it twenty-five on the twenty-fifth.

I already knew one publisher in this dozen is Canadian. Much to my delight, another one from my home land turned up J Go, Canada!!

I came across some bumps in the road yet again. Despite my best efforts, the searches have been unsatisfactory.

As has been repeatedly stated, all comic book companies mentioned deal with Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc. You can see much more of their stock in the monthly PREVIEWS catalog. Every day is a wicked awesome day to buy comics $-D

Established: 2014 (Caliber Entertainment); 1989 (Caliber Comics)

Official Name: Caliber Entertainment

Place of Origin: Wayne County, MI

Distinction: Caliber Entertainment’s mission is to bring to global reading and viewing audiences a unique brand of storytelling that is not only thought provoking but entertaining. Delivering its content along all media platforms through licensing arrangements and in production partnerships[1].

Through its Caliber Comics division the company offers creators, artists, and writers the ability to have their works published through a respected publishing house. Depending on the presented materials books can be made available as printed works or as a digital offerings through many of its mobile and PC platforms by way of its Caliber Digital division. Content is also licensed globally. With literary representation in Germany, other territories to follow shortly[2].

Caliber Comics was established in 1989 by Gary Reed and since that time has published over 1300 comics and graphic novels. Helping to launch the careers of some of today’s leading comic writers and artists[3].

Caliber Comics publishes both comics and graphic novels along with development of on-going webcomics. Its books cover all genre subject matter[4].

Operations: Gary Reed (Founder, Publisher, CEO), Jim Pruett

Output: http://www.caliber-entertainment.com/services.html

Current Titles: Deadworld: Restoration; Storyville: the Prostitute Murders

Upcoming Titles: The Shepherd

Branches: Caliber Comics, Caliber Digital, Caliber Studio, Transfuzion Publishing

Social Media: @CaliberComics ; Facebook

Multi-Media: Caliber has teamed with representative agents to formally represent its properties along television, film, multimedia platforms. Caliber is working closely with them to identify, develop, and produce titles within our library ideally suited for exploitation in this field. Along with showcasing titles to prospective and interested producers, directors and studios[5].

Established: 1964

Official Name: Cameron + Company

Place of Origin: Petaluma, CA

Distinction: Cameron + Company is a boutique publishing house, creating “books that need to be books, with a focus on photography, art, food + wine, children’s and publications of regional interest.”[6]

Cameron + Company is owned and operated by us: Chris and Nina Gruener. A true family business[7].

C + CO was founded in 1964 by Nina’s grandfather, aerial photographer Robert Cameron. We purchased the business in 2009, moving it from San Francisco to the North Bay town of Petaluma where we do life. Our goal has been to keep Robert Cameron’s legacy alive with an emphasis on art and photography, but also to expand the company’s list of titles to include children’s books and books of regional interest and local fare[8].

We have two little ones who can often be found tearing the office apart or making photocopies of their hands. Our cozy office is crammed full of books and in the true small town spirit of Petaluma, we walk to work. Being based in the heart of Sonoma County has definitely shaped our list. Somehow projects seem to choose us rather than the other way around, giving each a unique and personal story of its own. We hope to share some of those stories with you here as well as give you a sneak peek into the goings on of our little company: what we are working on, what inspires us and of course – what we are reading![9]

Operations: Robert W. Cameron (Founder), Chris & Nina Guener (Owners, Operators)

Output: http://www.cameronbooks.com/all-titles/

Current Titles: http://www.cameronbooks.com/new-titles/

Branches: N/A

Social Media: @cameronbooks ; Facebook ; Pinterest

Multi-Media: N/A

Established: 1991

Official Name: Candlewick Press

Place of Origin: Somerville, MA

Distinction: Candlewick Press arrived on the scene with some of the highest-quality picture books anywhere. And in the years since then, our offerings have grown to encompass all ages, from board books to e-books, high-end novelty to cutting-edge fiction. What hasn’t changed is our goal of excellence, our model of independence, and our commitment to the authors and illustrators who create our books and the readers who love them. Two decades and more than 2,000 awards and accolades later, we are as committed as ever to independent thinking and primed for a future that looks brighter than ever[10].

We are 100 percent owned and operated by our employees — who include our 85 staff members in Somerville and more than 155 authors and illustrators[11].

We are a progressive and creative company, with a steadfast commitment to the best, which is due in part to our rare independence–being 100 percent employee-owned gives us the freedom to publish only the books we believe in. Our reputation for excellence in creating beautiful, high-quality children’s books is accomplished through a staff of dedicated, focused, and energetic individuals who enjoy an innovative, team-oriented work environment[12].

Operations: Sebastian Walker (Founder)

Output: http://www.candlewick.com/cat.asp?browse=Season&season=current&page=1&mode=list&pix=y&catheader=y

Current Titles: http://www.candlewick.com/essentials.asp

Branches: Big Picture Press, Candlewick Entertainment, Nosy Crow, Templar Books (imprints)

Social Media: @Candlewick ; Facebook ; Pinterest ; Scribd ; YouTube ; Zazzle

Multi-Media: http://www.candlewick.com/websites.asp

Established: Unknown

Official Name: Canton Street Press

Place of Origin: Roswell, GA

Distinction: Canton Street Press specializes in quality restorations of long out-of-print books of historical significance[13].

Operations: Unknown

Output: http://www.cantonstreetpress.com/category_s/1839.htm

http://www.cantonstreetpress.com/category_s/1838.htm

http://www.cantonstreetpress.com/category_s/1827.htm

Current Titles: Moon Girl #1 replica edition

Upcoming Titles: Race for the Moon; Teenage Romances

http://www.cantonstreetpress.com/category_s/1839.htm

Branches: N/A

Social Media: N/A

Multi-Media: N/A

Established: 2007

Official Name: Capstone Publishers

Place of Origin: Mankato, MN

Distinction: Helping children develop a love of reading and learning, no matter their ability level, is at the heart of what we do at Capstone. Our passion for creating inspired learning has made us the most trusted publisher of children’s books and digital solutions for libraries, classrooms, and consumers for 25 years. Capstone’s content comes in a variety of print and digital formats including board books, picture books, interactive books, apps, audio and databases. Whether print, online, or new, yet-to-be-discovered formats, Capstone provides children and young adults with the content they love[14].

Operations: Bob Coughlan (Principal), Tom Ahern (CEO), Bill Rouse (COO, CFO)

Output: http://www.capstonepub.com/library/books/

Current Titles: The 12 Labors of Hercules: a Graphic Retelling; Jason and the Argonauts: a Graphic Retelling; The Voyages of Odysseus: a Graphic Retelling

Branches: Capstone Press, Capstone Young Readers, Compass Point Books, Heinemann Raintree, Picture Window Books, Stone Arch Books (imprints)

Owned by Coughlan Companies.

Social Media: @CapstonePub ; Facebook ; Pinterest ; YouTube

Multi-Media: Capstone Connect

Established: 1991

Official Name: Cartoon Books

Place of Origin: Columbus, OH

Distinction: Cartoon Books is Jeff Smith!!

Smith launched his company, Cartoon Books, in order to publish the series. Initially, Smith self-published the book, which meant that did all the work required to both produce and distribute the series as a business, including answers letters, doing all the graphics and lettering (which he did by hand), sending the artwork to the printer, handling orders and bookkeeping. This made it difficult to focus on writing and drawing the book, and as a result, he fell behind in his production. To remedy this, he asked his wife, Vijaya, to quit her lucrative job at a Silicon Valley startup company in order to run the business side of Bone as the President of Cartoon Books. As a result, Smith was able to refocus on drawing, and sales improved. Smith published 55 issues of Bone between 1991 and 2004. The black and white comic book proved very successful, and has been collected in a number of trade paperback and hardback collections, including a series of nine books that collect all 55 issues, originally published by Cartoon Books in black and white, and later reissued in color by the Graphix imprint of Scholastic. In 2004, when Cartoon Books released a “mammoth” one-volume black and white collection of the entire nine-volume series, Time critic Andrew Arnold called Bone “the best all-ages graphic novel yet published”.[15]

Operations: Jeff Smith (Founder, Owner), Vijaya Iyer (President), Kathleen Glosan (Production Manager), Tom Gaddt (Graphics Manager)

Output: Bone, RASL

Current Title: Tüki: Save the Humans

Branches: http://www.boneville.com/store/

Social Media: @jeffsmithbone ; Facebook

Multi-Media: N/A

Established: 1986

Official Name: Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF)

Place of Origin: New York, NY

Distinction: Comic Book Legal Defense Fund is a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting the First Amendment rights of the comics medium[16].

Our work takes us into courtrooms, classrooms, conventions and libraries all over the United States where we provide legal aid, education, and advocacy to protect the First Amendment rights of the readers, creators, retailers, publishers, and librarians of comics, manga, and graphic novels[17].

The CBLDF works independently and with coalitions to fight unconstitutional legislation that would affect how comics are made and distributed. We were active plaintiffs in the fight against compulsory internet filters in libraries. Most recently, we helped knock out an unconstitutional Utah bill to censor Internet speech, and were cited by the United States Supreme Court in a case against a California law that sought to broaden the definition of speech not protected by the First Amendment to include violent images[18].

Operations: Denis Kitchen (Founder), Charles Brownstein (Executive Director), Alex Cox (Deputy Director), Samantha Jones (Development Manager), Betsy Gomez (Editorial Director), Robert Corn-Revere (General Counsel)

Output: Comic Book Club Handbook; Raising a Reader! How Comics & Graphic Novels Help Your Kids Love to Read!

Current Titles: CBLDF Banned Books Week Handbook 2015; CBLDF Defender

Branches: N/A

Social Media: @CBLDF ; Facebook

Multi-Media: Radio Free Comix: The CBLDF Podcast

Established: 2015

Official Name: Chapter House Publishing, Inc.

Place of Origin: Toronto, Ontario, CANADA

Distinction: The Chapterhouse Comics Group was created in 2015 and publishes a number of titles including Canada’s own, Captain Canuck[19].

Operations: Fadi Hakim (Publisher), Richard Comely (EIC), George Zotti (CCO), Walter Durajlija (Executive Editor), Paul Gardner (Creative Director, Captain Canuck Inc.), Ryan Wilson w/ Neil Rantala (Design/Production)

Output: Beyond: the Quest for Meaden

Current Titles: Captain Canuck; Pitiful Human-Lizard, Spirit Leaves

Upcoming Titles: All-New Classic Captain Canuck; Northguard; True Patriot

Branches: http://chapterhouse-comics.myshopify.com/

Social Media: @chapterhouseca ; Facebook ; Instagram ; Tumblr

Multi-Media: Captain Canuck animated web series

Established: Unknown

Official Name: Chartwell Books, Inc.

Place of Origin: London, England, UK

Distinction: Unknown

Operations: Unknown

Output: http://www.quartoknows.com/imprints/1985/Chartwell-Books/

Current Titles: http://www.quartoknows.com/imprints/1985/Chartwell-Books/

Branches: Imprint of Quarto Group

Social Media: @QuartoKnows ; Facebook ; Pinterest ; YouTube

Multi-Media: Unknown

Established: 2008

Official Name: ChiGraphic

Place of Origin: Toronto, Ontario, CANADA

Distinction: An imprint of ChiZine Publications, bringing you the finest spec-fic graphic novels, with an uncompromising love of all things dark, subtle, and odd[20].

ChiZine Publications (CZP) is the winner of the British Fantasy Award and the HWA Specialty Press Award. Also a three-time World Fantasy Award nominee, CZP is an independent publisher of weird, surreal, subtle, and disturbing dark literary fiction hand-picked by Brett Alexander Savory and Sandra Kasturi, Bram Stoker Award-winning editors[21].

ChiZine Publications is willing to take risks. We’re looking for the unusual, the interesting, the thought-provoking. We look for writers who are also willing to take risks, who want to take dark genre fiction to a new place, who want to show readers something they haven’t seen before. CZP wants to startle, to astound, to share the bliss of good writing with our readership[22].

Operations: Brett Savory & Sandra Kasturi (Publishers), Samantha Beiko (Managing Editor, CZP and ChiGraphic), Klaudia Bednarczyk & Sam Zucchi (Editors-at-Large)

Output: http://chizinepub.com/titles

Current Titles: The H.M.S. Bad Idea; Infinitum: Time Travel Noir; The Lady ParaNorma

Upcoming Titles: Kindly Corpses ; Midnight City

Branches: Imprint of ChiZine Publications.

Social Media: @ChiGraphic ; Facebook ; YouTube (ChiZine Publications)

Multi-Media: N/A

Established: 1968

Official Name: Chronicle Books

Place of Origin: San Francisco, CA

Distinction: “Inspired by the enduring magic and importance of books, our objective is to create and distribute exceptional publishing that’s instantly recognizable for its spirit, creativity, and value. This objective also informs our business relationships and endeavors, be they with customers, authors, vendors, or colleagues.”[23]

Operations: Unknown

Output: http://www.chroniclebooks.com/bestsellers

Current Titles: http://www.chroniclebooks.com/new-releases

Branches: Under the purview of M^cEvoy Group.

Social Media: @ChronicleBooks ; Facebook ; Instagram ; Pinterest ; Tumblr ; YouTube

Multi-Media: N/A

Established: 2005

Official Name: Cinebook

Place of Origin: Canterbury, England, UK

Distinction: The 9^th Art Publisher. Cinebook, Publisher of the best-selling European comic books for all ages. For many English-speaking readers, knowledge of European comic books is limited to the popular characters Tintin and Asterix[24].

The comic book and its close relative, the graphic novel, are a highly respected art form in France, Belgium and the rest of Western Europe—so well regarded that Cinebook takes our tagline (“The 9th Art Publisher”) from the classification of comic books as No. 9 on the list of plastic arts in Europe (Plastic Art list: 1st-Architecture; 2nd-Painting; 3rd-Sculpture; 4th-Engraving; 5th-Drawing; 6th-Photo; 7th-Cinema; 8th-Television; 9th-Comic books), In fact, one of every eight books sold in France is a comic book[25].

Since the end of 2005, Cinebook has worked to become the premier publisher of the Franco-Belgian Ninth Art in English in markets dominated by American superhero comics and Japanese manga[26].

Cinebook selects series and individual titles based on a number of factors in order to please a wide range of readers—factors such as geographic settings, protagonists’ age and gender, historic themes, genres, etc.[27]

Operations: Olivier Cadic (Founder)

Output: http://www.cinebook.co.uk/index.php?cPath=145

Current Titles: Antares vol. 6; Kenya vol. 5: Illusions; Insiders vol. 4: Takeover Bid on the Kremlin; Lucky Luke vol. 55: Arizona; The Marquis of Anaon vol. 2: the Black Virgin

Upcoming Titles: Insiders vol. 5: Destination Gulag; Spooks vol. 6: Seth

Branches: N/A

Social Media: @CinebookLtd ; Facebook ; YouTube

Multi-Media: N/A

[1] http://www.caliber-entertainment.com/about.html

[2] Ibid

[3] http://www.calibercomics.info/

[4] Ibid

[5] http://www.caliber-entertainment.com/about.html

[6] https://www.facebook.com/CameronBooks/info/?tab=page_info

[7] http://www.cameronbooks.com/about-us/

[8] Ibid