Posted in: Comics | Tagged: immortal london, Stu Levy, wild river comics
Wild River Comics Publisher Closing Down, Staff Laid Off
Bleeding Cool has been informed that the editorial, marketing and publication staff have all been laid off and the company is expected to close.
Wild River Comics is a Shoreditch, London-based comic book publisher behind the Immortal London series of titles that were heavily promoted at recent MCM London Comic Cons. However, they are unlikely to be at May's event, as Bleeding Cool has been informed that the editorial, marketing and publication staff have all been laid off and the company is expected to close any day now.
Wild River Comics first saw publication a year ago, after a successful Kickstarter, with the dystopian sci-fi series Daughter Of Albion, by Denis Phan, Trevor Jayakody and artist Matt Timson, and created by Wild River Comics' studio head Trevor Jayakody and editor Martin Eden. It was followed by the horror comic series Lurker, by Beanie White and Anna Readman, part of the Immortal London universe. They were about to launch their direct market offerings in Diamond Previews and Lunar Distriubution for July, but the shutdown came in just before solicitations were due to be sent off to distributors.
There have also been suggestions that Wild River Comics still owes money to comic book creators behind the published – and unpublished – titles that the publisher has been developing. Bleeding Cool has been informed by sources that the intent is for everyone to be paid out when the company closes. Those who may still be owned money, feel free to keep Bleeding Cool up to date with that. Board member Stu Levy who was appointed a director of Wild River Comics in February 2022, went through similar issues with TokyoPop, so we expect he won't want to make that same mistake twice.
Wild River Comics was originally founded in 2021 by Gently co-founder Anas Aljumaily and attourney and charterered accountant Kyran Peng Thomas. Thomas had his directorship terminated in April, leaving Levy and Aljumaily as the remaining directors.