A brand new comic book publisher, TKO Studios, launched this month, with plans to reinvent the comics industry, and to do it, they've assembled a lineup of legitimate superstar creators, including writers like Garth Ennis, Jeff Lemire, Joshua Dysart, Mike Weiss, Natalie Chaidez, Roxane Gay, Salvatore Simeone, Steven Simeone, and Tze Chun, artists like Alberto Ponticelli, Andy Belanger, Artyom Trakhanov, Dan McDaid, Gabriel Walta, Ming Doyle, Nik Virella, and Steve Epting, colorists such as Daniela Miwa, Elizabeth Breitweiser, Giulia Brusco, Jordan Boyd, and Ruth Redmond, and letterers Ariana Maher, Jared K. Fletcher, Rob Steen, and Steve Wands.
And to prove that TKO Studios ain't your grandpa's comic book publisher, all of this went down not through press releases and arranged EX-X-XCLUSIVEs with the usual comic book news sites, but on social media:
Writer: #GarthEnnis
Art: @SteveEpting
Colors: @bettieb
Letters: Rob Steen
Editor: @SGirner— TKO Presents (@TKOpresents) December 7, 2018
HERE'S A SNEAK PEEK AT:
SARA
Writer: #GarthEnnis
Art: @SteveEpting
Colors: @bettieb
Letters: Rob Steen
Editor: @SGirnerFollow @TKOpresents here and on Instagram for more announcements! #comics #comicbooks #illustration #WW2 #WWII pic.twitter.com/V3qceePxqm
— TKO Presents (@TKOpresents) December 7, 2018
CREDITS:
Writers: @thetzechun & Mike Weiss
Art: @danmcdaid
Colors: @DanielaMiwa
Letters: @swands
Editor: @SGirner— TKO Presents (@TKOpresents) December 7, 2018
Sneak Peek!
THE FEARSOME DOCTOR FANG
Writers: @thetzechun & Mike Weiss
Art: @danmcdaid
Colors: @DanielaMiwa
Letterer: @swands
Editor: @SGirnerFollow @TKOpresents here and on Instagram for announcements!#comics #comicbooks #illustration pic.twitter.com/IBpD4puFrC
— TKO Presents (@TKOpresents) December 7, 2018
CREDITS:
Written by @JoshuaDysart
Art by @a_ponticelli
Colors by Giulia Brusco
Letters by @swands
Edited by @SGirner— TKO Presents (@TKOpresents) December 7, 2018
CREDITS:
Writer: @thetzechun
Artist: @ohotnig
Colors: Giulia Brusco
Letters: @jaredkfletcher
Editor: @SGirner— TKO Presents (@TKOpresents) December 7, 2018
Cats out of the bag! Please RT and follow @TKOpresents to get all of the news about my new book, 7 DEADY SINS. Written by @thetzechun, drawn by yours truly, colored by Giulia Brusco, lettered by @jaredkfletcher and edited by @SGirner. Finally, cover colors are by @DaveMcCaig 😍 pic.twitter.com/3tJKBZU2Fb
— Artyom Trakhanov (@ohotnig) December 7, 2018
In addition to the four first wave books above, TKO plans to launch a second wave of comics next Summer, including:
THE BANKS
BY ROXANE GAY & MING DOYLESENTIENT
BY JEFF LEMIRE & GABRIEL WALTAPOUND FOR POUND
BY NATALIE CHAIDEZ & ANDY BELANGEREVE OF EXTINCTION
BY SALVATORE SIMEONE, STEVEN SIMEONE & NIK VIRELLA
One of the ways TKO plans to innovate is by giving the entire creative team, including editors, cover credit:
We try to put every member of the creative team on our covers. Comic book editors contribute so greatly to their projects and are too often overlooked!#comics #comicbooks https://t.co/oVHSxvswOT
— TKO Presents (@TKOpresents) December 7, 2018
Following a simple business model:
Epic stories brought to you by the top names in comics and entertainment.
This is TKO. #TKOpresents #TKOstudios #graphicnovels #comicbooks #comicbookday #comicbook #comics #comic #art #drawing #artist #illustration #comicart #artwork #comicbookart #ncbd #indiecomics pic.twitter.com/r17peVsgT4— TKO Presents (@TKOpresents) December 5, 2018
Expanded on their website:
TKO Studios seeks to redefine the comic book industry creatively and commercially.
TKO Studios was founded by award-winning comic book, entertainment, business and tech professionals. We create unique takes on established genres, promoting diverse and exciting voices that reflect the modern audience.
Our aim is to publish high quality books and expand the comic book audience using modern methods of marketing, distribution, and audience engagement. We proudly offer the premier issue of each new miniseries available for free digital download.
And introducing an ambitious new publishing and distribution scheme aimed directly at readers, not retailers:
We're working with some of the top creators in comics:
Roxane Gay (@rgay), Jeff Lemire (@JeffLemire), Garth Ennis, Natalie Chaidez (@armedkandy), Gabriel Walta (@ghwalta), Steve Epting (@SteveEpting), Josh Dysart (@JoshuaDysart), Elizabeth Breitweiser (@bettieb), Giulia Brusco-
— TKO Presents (@TKOpresents) December 10, 2018
Sal & Steven Simeone, Jordan Boyd (@jordantboyd), Ariana Maher (@CommentAiry), Rob Steen, Dave McCaig (@DaveMcCaig), Steve Wands (@swands), Jared Fletcher (@jaredkfletcher), our Editor-in-Chief Sebastian Girner (@SGirner) and our co-founder and publisher Tze Chun (@thetzechun).
— TKO Presents (@TKOpresents) December 10, 2018
We ALSO know people like to read their books in a variety of formats. So we make our books available in THREE DIFFERENT FORMATS, right off the bat:
— TKO Presents (@TKOpresents) December 10, 2018
2/ Trade Paperback pic.twitter.com/dw0W100l0F
— TKO Presents (@TKOpresents) December 10, 2018
All our books are printed in DELUXE OVERSIZED FORMAT, so you can take in every detail of our incredible art. And all our books are printed right here in the USA.
— TKO Presents (@TKOpresents) December 10, 2018
And including an idea taken from Bill Jemas's Double Take (Bill really was ahead of his time):
We also love our local comic book stores. It's where we fell in love with comics, and they're an important part of our community. If you're a store that would like to stock our books, please contact sales@tkopresents.com #ncbd
— TKO Presents (@TKOpresents) December 10, 2018
As a THANK YOU for taking time to read about us, here's our FRIENDS & FAMILY PASSWORD for early entry to our site https://t.co/nNmYDOHw8S: vipaccess
— TKO Presents (@TKOpresents) December 10, 2018
Our first wave of books are currently available for purchase, so please feel free to spread the word.
Thank you all. Now let's go enjoy some comics!
— TKO Presents (@TKOpresents) December 10, 2018
You can head to TKOPresents.com, enter the password "vipaccess," and purchase the books right now.
So what are you waiting for? What are we waiting for, for that matter? This article is over… we've got comics to buy!