Archaia has a wide variety of interesting and unique tales being told in their publications, one of these tales is Mouse Guard, which has captured the attention and the imaginations of readers everywhere. Continuing on with Mouse Guard week, Jef spoke with Mark Smylie the Publisher of Archaia and the gentleman who brought Mouse Guard under the Archaia banner.
NC: So I understand you’re who first decided to bring Mouseguard into the Archaia family, correct?
MS: David Petersen first approached me at San Diego Comic-Con back in 2005, if I remember correctly, with his self-published black-and-white MOUSE GUARD #1. He’d heard from a mutual friend, the comics journalist Bill Baker, that Archaia was looking for new creator-owned titles and I am very thankful that he brought it over for me to look at.
NC: Is MG one of those projects you just knew would work, what made you decide that it was right for Archaia?
MS: I knew the moment I saw it that I wanted to publish it, but there were still a few concerns we had initially. At the time we were only looking to publish full-color books (which is still largely true), and so we asked David if we could bring a colorist on board. He immediately asked to do a few samples himself to show what he thought the book would look like in color if he were doing it and when he showed them to us we were thrilled. David’s art style is really pretty unique in the comics field. We were also a little concerned about the 8” x 8” format of the book, which is unusual for comics; comic store retailers have a reputation for resisting unusually sized books, and so that was a definite concern. But we thought it fit the book so well that we were willing to risk it.
NC: Now it’s doing incredibly well, and getting praise from fans and critics, why do you feel that is and was this the kind of success you expected from the title? What is it that you feel sets Mouseguard apart from other titles in the current market?
MS: David is crafting something fairly unusual for the comics market, which is a genuine all-ages title. His book can be appreciated by both adults and by younger readers in equal measure, which I think is not true for many comics written exclusively for children or younger teen readers, which can often seem simplistic to older readers. It’s an adventure story in the classic mode, about very small creatures overcoming enormous odds, so I think the story has that kind of universal, mythic appeal to it. At the same time, his world is so detailed and filled with the little things that mark a fully conceived fantasy environment, that it doesn’t come across as generic. That’s a tricky balancing act when it comes to fantasy world-building and David is pulling it off with aplomb.
NC: Do you have a theory as to what’s been the secret to it’s success?
MS: Well, if there’s a secret to the success of MOUSE GUARD it’s really David himself. He’s a very personable artist and I think his fans really respond to his personality, both in person and as it comes through in the book. He’s also a real student of the comics medium and of art in general, and really brings a measured thinker’s approach to both the art and story of MOUSE GUARD. I think readers really respond to the amount of effort and thought that goes into even the smallest panel of the book.
NC: For that matter, why do you think Archaia as a whole has done so well recently? When contrasted against titles from other Publishers in the same sort of market, and even against stuff coming out from the big two, you have some truly great projects coming out from Archaia, what is it do you think it is that seems to draw people to your over titles at other publishers?
MS: We’ve always looked at ourselves as something of an art house, where the emphasis has been on unique, off-beat art styles and original adventure storytelling. We’ve tried to make ourselves a home and family for creators and creator-driven stories, and to take risks in terms of story material, art and presentation. Hopefully, we’ve earned a reputation for quality titles.
NC: As far as 2010 in concerned, what should we be on the lookout for from Archaia Press?
MS: Very shortly a number of graphic novel collections should be in stores from us, including DAYS MISSING, THE SECRET HISTORY Omnibus, and the second volumes of THE KILLER, Alex Sheikman’s ROBOTIKA and Tom Siddell’s GUNNERKRIGG COURT. Coming soon should be the collected editions of the near-future war story TITANIUM RAIN, the crime noir mystery TUMOR, and the second volume of the samurai epic OKKO (this volume is THE CYCLE OF EARTH). HYBRID BASTARDS will be collected soon, that’s one of our more esoteric titles, kind of a Disney-on-acid take on Greek mythology. And we’ve got a new series from the creative team behind THE KILLER on tap, a near-future story called CYCLOPS, about the collision between the media and military contractors, as well as new individual issues of THE KILLER, THE SECRET HISTORY, KILLING PICKMAN and the new OKKO cycle.
But our big push right now is the launch of new titles from our partnership with the Jim Henson Company, in particular FRAGGLE ROCK. We’ve got a MOUSE GUARD/FRAGGLE ROCK flip book on line for Free Comic Book Day, and just before that in April FRAGGLE ROCK #1 will be hitting stores. It’ll be followed later in the year by our first DARK CRYSTAL series, and then by a LABYRINTH series, both with covers and art direction from Brian Froud, who did all the original design work on the original Henson movies. The FRAGGLE ROCK series will also be in the 8” x 8” format, similar to MOUSE GUARD; the format fits both titles perfectly now, which shows how far we’ve come since first contemplating that format with David’s book.
NC: What are some other titles from Archaia that are up and comers we should watch for?
MS: Some new titles debuting later this year include the original graphic novel RETURN OF THE DAPPER MEN, by New Avengers scribe Jim McCann and artist Janet Lee (doing her first comics work), and CRITICAL MILLENNIUM: DARK FRONTIER, a sci-fi epic written by Drew Gaska and illustrated by newcomer Dan Dussault. We’re also very excited about LUCID, the first title emerging from our collaboration with Zachary Quinto’s Before the Door Pictures. It’s an espionage adventure story set in a modern United States where magic actually works, sort of James Bond meets Harry Potter, being written by Michael McMillian and illustrated by Anna Wieszcyzk.
NC: Of course as Publisher, it must be difficult making the decisions on what titles will work and which won’t. Do you have a list of things you look for in a potential Archaia title? Or do you just look for a solid creative project that stands out?
MS: Well, we look for interesting art, usually in a style that isn’t just a clone of a popular style of the moment, and original storytelling, with something of a literary bent. If there are elements of history and mythology in the story, then that will tend to attract our attention, as we appreciate research, on the one hand, and settings on the other. Lots of comic work is very character-focused at the expense of a developed setting, and we like to see creators working on both. If we look at a submission and think to ourselves, “Oh, this book would fit right in with the lineup at [insert company name here],” we usually won’t be interested in publishing it. There has to be something about it that makes it unusual and unique for us to want to put it out under the Archaia name.
NC: Now I was looking on your site yesterday, and I noticed, you guys don’t have any Superhero books at all do you?
MS: No, we don’t. We have only a few titles that skirt the Superhero genre a bit.
NC: Is that a policy or just the way it worked out?
MS: That’s very much policy. We tend to believe that there are already two very good Superhero genre publishers that dominate the comics market, and don’t really see the need to compete with them. As creators, writers and readers, I think we’re more drawn to stories in the adventure genres: fantasy, science fiction, crime noir, cyberpunk, etc. Despite the fact that those genres are all very well suited to the comics medium, historically there have been fairly few comics and graphic novels that truly fall into those genres (as opposed to being superhero stories in disguise).
NC: Back to Mouseguard for a moment, it’s set for it 3rd print run, and I’m told you may be considering a 4th?
MS: The first collected edition of MOUSE GUARD: FALL 1152 is now on its third hardcover printing, and has had two softcover printings through Random House. We’ll be watching sell-through carefully to see when a fourth printing might be necessary, but the third printing was for 15,000 copies so that should hold us for a little while. I hope.
NC: In comparison with the first two volumes of Mouseguard, is there anything in you opinion that’s going to stand out in the upcoming Mouseguard projects?
MS: Well, MOUSE GUARD: LEGENDS OF THE GUARD will be a bit of a departure, as it’s an anthology series. David has invited other artists from throughout the comics industry to do short stories set in the MOUSE GUARD world, and is drawing the intro bits for each story. It’s kind of a version of the Canterbury Tales set in a tavern where various mice are engaged in a kind of tall-tales contest, telling each other stories about legendary Guardsmice and their adventures. So David is providing the art for the framework tavern scenes, and then some great indie and mainstream art talent is involved writing and drawing the various tall tales, with short stories coming from folks like Gene Ha, Ted Naifeh, Guy Davis, Jeremy Bastian, Katie Cook and Alex Sheikman. LEGENDS OF THE GUARD will be a four-issue series, leading into the next main series, THE BLACK AXE, which David is already hard at work on. THE BLACK AXE is a prequel series, filling in some of the background of the Mouse world.
NC: Well thank you for you time Mark, I look forward to talking with you again.
MS: My pleasure! Thanks for your interest in MOUSE GUARD and Archaia! NC