DSTLRY’s first title will arrive in August

DSTLRY, the new company started by former Comixology execs David Steinbeger and Chip Mosher, has announced their first title: The Devil’s Cut, an anthology featuring comics by the company’s “founding creators.” The anthology will go on sale Aug. 30.

Steinberger and Mosher announced the new venture last month, which is taking some unique approaches to how they operate:

1. They’ve enlisted a group of creators who they are calling “founding creators” who each have equity in the venture. They’ve set aside an additional 3% of company equity to be distributed among all creators who release projects during the first three years of their publishing slate, with allocations being based on title performance. This part seems to have been generally well-received, as it’s an attempt to address the financial and ownership disparities that have cast a shadow on the industry in the past.
2. As part of their release plans, they will publish print comics and digital comics, and have announced distribution deals with Diamond and Lunar Distribution for print. Their digital single issues will be sold on their website (and/or through an app, or something … they haven’t released details on the specifics of how this will work yet) and they plan to somehow make them collectible and resellable “with no crypto or NFT-hassle.” This part has not been so well-received, with many noting that digital scarcity is the kind of notion that drives things like the NFT market. DSTLRY has said that they plan to collect individual series in trades that will be available widely in print and on digital, even outside their own marketplace. So they seem to be trying to appeal to both collectors and readers, the two wolves that exist inside the comics community that are constantly eating each other.

The Devil’s Cut will be distributed digitally by DSTLRY through Sept. 6, according to the press release, which signals that their digital marketplace will be up and running by the end of the summer.

Jock provides the main cover, which will be one of six covers for the anthology:

Will Dennis is editing the anthology, which will feature new stories by their founding creators:

• Mirka Andolfo (Sweet Paprika, Mercy)
• Brian Azzarello (100 Bullets, Joker)
• Marc Bernardin (Adora and the Distance, Star Trek: Picard)
• Elsa Charretier (Love Everlasting, November)
• Becky Cloonan (Wonder Woman, Batgirls)
• Lee Garbett (Spider-Man, Skyward)
• Jock (Batman: One Dark Knight, Wytches)
• Joëlle Jones (Lady Killer, Catwoman)
• Tula Lotay (Barnstormers)
• Jamie McKelvie (The Wicked + The Divine, Captain Carter)
• Junko Mizuno (Pure Trance, Ravina the Witch?)
• Stephanie Phillips (Grim, Harley Quinn)
• Scott Snyder (Batman, Wytches)
• James Tynion IV (Something Is Killing the Children, The Joker War)
• Ram V (Detective Comics, The Many Deaths of Laila Starr)

and a few other artists:

• Francesco Francavilla (Detective Comics, Night of the Ghoul)
• Ariela Kristantina (InSEXts, Deep State)
• Eduardo Risso (Batman: Broken City, 100 Bullets)
• Christian Ward (Invisible Kingdom, Aquaman: Andromeda)

Here’s a look at the trailer, which — spoiler’s warning — doesn’t show any artwork from the book, if like me that’s what you were hoping to see:

“The Devil’s Cut is the perfect debut from DSTLRY, with our founding creators and friends delivering an amazing collection of completely self-contained stories. It’s a prime example of the ambition and skill that you can expect from top-flight creators when they’re given the canvas, freedom and support to create the next generation of comics,” said DSTLRY co-founders Chip Mosher and David Steinberger in a joint statement.