Posted in: Comics, Recent Updates | Tagged: Comics, entertainment

How Clint Sabom Entered The World Of Comics

Clint Sabom  writes,
Long before I began working for Dabel Brothers Publishing, I had met Les Dabel under different, non-publishing-industry circumstances. It wasn't long before I began to get supsicious: something was different about him. Either he was the greatest actor on the planet, hell-bent on playing a compassionate, well-adjusted virtuoso for the benefit of others, or…he was just one of those rare people that is (dare I say it?) genuinely happy.

I needed an outside opinion. Over cigarettes and coffee, I broached the subject with a mutual friend.

"The Dabels are one of those rare things," he said, "they got a healthy upbringing. They're not messed up like the rest of us."

In the same way Americans can take their culture for granted until they are alone in a different country, I never realized the ubiquitousness of human brokenness until meeting someone who isn't, well…broken. That's not to say that he had some special ability, or some saintlike quality. On the contrary, saints and holy men are usually those who have been at one time rendered incoherent by life's harshness and raised to super-human heights by the miraculous. Les Dabel had just somehow managed to glide through the harshness unscathed, as if shielded by an invisible cloak straight out of a fantasy book.

And that's how, randomly, I decided to explore the world of comics, graphic novels, and whatever other publishing adventures this Dabel kid might pile on my desk. I learned only later that his company had quite a history before me, rising and falling, reinventing itself, licensing top talent, and adapting fiction books to the graphic novel format that otherwise would never have come to life in bleeding color. Yet a new, more expansive era seemed to be at its dawn when he brought me on board: the digital world was changing the business daily, and new strategies and technologies presented us strange opportunities for historic growth.

So here I am. Our latest effort is the first appearance in the graphic novel format for a fantasy fiction writer, Michael J. Sullivan. It has been a special treat working with Sullivan, who is arguably the 21st century's new hero of self-publishing. His own writing career is an epic fantasy itself, from decades of defeat and rejection, to ultimate self-publishing success, and, later, to lucrative book deals from a major imprint. HIs novel, The Death of Dulgath, will become a graphic novel, and the art does aesthetic justice to Sullivan's original vision…and then some. Our kickstarter is already fully funded, and special bonuses now await all backers if the stretch goals are reached. It can be viewed here.

Clint Sabom works as Special Projects Coordinator for Dabel Brothers Publishing.. Les Dabel is VP of Operations and the original founder of Dabel Brothers Publishing. All backers from Bleeding Cool will get a special surprise bonus in their email inbox.

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