Posted in: Comics, Current News | Tagged: comicspro, Ignition Press

Everything We Know About Ignition Press From ComicsPRO And Beyond…

Everything we know about Ignition Press from ComicsPRO and beyond...

Bleeding Cool has been following the early stages of Ignition Press, the new comic book publisher of exclusively creator-owned comics co-founded by longtime Boom Studios' President of Publishing and Marketing, Filip Sablik, former IDW Editor-in-Chief Jamie S. Rich, comic creator Jeremy Haun, and movie producer Eric Gitter, with great interest. Coming out of ComicsPRO, a couple of weeks ago, we scooped that the publisher brought out creators Cullen Bunn, Leah Williams, Jim McCann, Stephanie Williams, and Si Spurrier as part of the announcement of their initial slate of creators – which also included Mike Tisserand (The Dragon Prince), Marika Cresta (Star Wars: High Republic), Joe Eisma (Riverdale), Letizia Cadonici (House of Slaughter), and The Miranda Brothers (Blade Forger) with hints that there were many more to come. At the time, we promised a longer article unpacking everything we'd learned about the upstart company's plans… and we deliver on our promises. Even from London Book Fair…

Sablik is well known for his retailer presentations – weaving personal anecdotes into larger industry messages that rarely focus on pitching specific projects to his audience – and his inaugural presentation for Ignition Press was emblematic of that approach resulting in multiple spontaneous rounds of applause from the room over the 25-minute presentation. Sablik also followed up the presentation with an appearance on Beyond Wednesday's Industry of Comics video podcast that ran over two-and-a-half hours and dove deeper into the origins, goals, and plans of Ignition Press. Between the two, we have a rather comprehensive picture and have distilled it for those of you who don't have three hours to spare.

First, Sablik stressed that Ignition Press is thinking long-term and has the resources to support those plans with projects slated on a weekly basis through the middle of 2026 already and others in development that will carry them through 2027. The publisher promised retailers multiple complete issues to read when each project is announced and the ability to read a complete story arc or limited series before the first issue goes on sale. This has been reinforced by their recently announced hiring of Senior Editor Maggie Howell (which we scooped, naturally), and Director of Marketing Bre Sarpy (which we didn't.)

It's also no surprise, given the veterans involved, that the publisher is focused on getting the details right with quality, communication, commitment, and other aspects already planned and implemented. Highlights included being the first comic publisher to launch fully compliant with the new Comet Standard for metadata, a consistent cover trade dress, high quality production values, and a humane production schedule for creators. Yes, humane is their word, not mine.

Sablik also laid out the publisher's go-to-market plan, which includes a steady five-week release schedule and a creator-driven approach to marketing and sales. Perhaps most intriguing is Ignition Press' plans to promote creators ahead of any individual project promotion, meaning they can begin building creator brands and community immediately after signing a project rather than waiting until the project is ready to be announced. They've indicated these efforts will precede a project launch by 6-12 months and will be focused on growing creators' audience outside of existing comic readers through a combination of paid digital marketing focused on getting potential customers to opt-in to creator newsletters and video and audio podcasts. The first signs of this are already evident with Jeremy Haun increasing the frequency of his Substack and launching a new video horror and travel-themed podcast called Curious Haunts. Similarly, Stephanie Williams launched a newsletter recently, which we assume is connected.

Once Ignition Press has built a community around each creator, they intend to convert them initially through direct-to-consumer offerings, in the form of a short physical comic they have dubbed The Cold Open. This whole concept bears more unpacking, but in short, The Cold Open will act as an introduction to new fans that is delivered to them and will include educational information on how to continue the series at their local comic shop, bookstore, or digital service. And Ignition also pledged to limit variant covers, particularly gated incentives, and instead focus on providing stores with promotional and point-of-sale items to drive sell through.

And there's what we know about the Hollywood aspect of Ignition Press… which we'll unpack in another article.

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