Posted in: AWA, Comics | Tagged: artists writers artisans inc, AWA, axel alonso, bill jemas, Comics, entertainment, Gabe Yocum, monsterwednesdays, new york

Is He a Glutton For Punishment? Gabe Yocum Rejoins Bill Jemas at AWA Comics

Gabe Yocum used to run the direct sales department at Double Take, the comic book line of Take2 Interactive that was run by Bill Jemas. He'll have been there when Bill Jemas fell out with Ken Levine so the original plan to publish comics in a shared gaming universe of X-Com, Civilisation and Bioshock fell apart, necessiting graig the public domain Night Of the Living Dead and doing that instead. He'll have been there when Hot Topic sent palettes of the comics back, unopened because they discovered a drugs reference in one of the comics. And he was there when it all ended.

But it seems he has not been deterred. And, ahead of San Diego Comic-Con, Bill Jemas' new comics publisher Artists, Writers and Artisans, Inc has announced the hiring of Gabe Yocum as their Director of Sales. 

Yocum, who has been running sales for ReedPop's Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo for two years has a long background in dealing with the direct market, having spent time as the Purchasing Manager at Midtown Comics and running direct market sales efforts at Double Take. Yocum will focus on both direct market and book market sales for the publisher whose first titles are scheduled for release in February 2020.

"Working in the direct market again is incredibly exciting – when you get out there and visit comic shops and get a chance to see the passion that these retailers have distilled down into 500 or 1000 or even 10,000 square feet of ink and paper you can't help but be in awe", Yocum gushed.  "We are a well-funded creative studio, an anomaly in comics, and I intend to take full advantage of that in my efforts to treat retailers as true partners. Plainly, I plan on spending money at retail. Our goal is to equip retailers with quality content from incredibly talented, well known creators, the best terms in the industry, bar none, and perhaps most importantly, direct participation in AWA's publishing plans."

Yocum will also head up AWA's fan convention appearances.  "If I've learned anything in my incredible 2 years at ReedPop, it's that conventions are where to find new fans, so we will be hitting the road to introduce AWA's offerings to fans far and wide".

Artists Writers & Artisans is a comic book and digital media publisher, owned and operated by creators, founded by Marvel alumni Bill Jemas and Axel Alonso, along with Jon Miller, the former CEO of News Corp. Fully funded by James Murdoch and Lightspeed Venture Partners, AWA has some of the biggest names in comics and film, such as J. Michael Straczynski, Reggie Hudlin, Garth Ennis, and Frank Cho.

And Bill Jemas, of course

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