After 20 years and 100 books, Adhouse calls it quits

Chris Pitzer plans to close down the company he started in 2002 after publishing two more books this fall.

Chris Pitzer, publisher and owner of AdHouse Books, has announced plans to close down the “boutique publishing juggernaut” later this year.

For the past 20 years, AdHouse has brought a variety of creative indie comics and graphic novels to market from Joshua Cotter, Jim Rugg, Paul Pope, Hartley Lin, Zack Soto, Joey Weiser and many more. The recently announced Grass of Parnassus by Kathryn Immonen and Stuart Immonen will be AdHouse’s 100th release, and as it turns out, one of its last. He also ran a program called AdDistro, where he helped distribute small press/self-published comics.

Pitzer explained his reasoning for deciding to shut down what was essentially a “side gig”:

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AfterShock makes a Seismic shift to YA content

The company launches a new line of young adult comics, starting with ‘Rainbow Bridge’ by Steve Orlando, Steve Foxe and Valentina Brancati.

AfterShock Comics will begin publishing comics aimed at young adults under a new imprint, Seismic Press, starting with Rainbow Bridge by Steve Orlando, Steve Foxe and Valentina Brancati.

“AfterShock’s mission has always been to push readers out of their comfort zones and defy expectations – providing top creators and up-and-coming storytellers with an opportunity to tell the stories they’ve always wanted to tell in the ways they’ve always wanted to tell them,” said Editor-in-Chief Mike Marts. “With Seismic Press, our mission is to apply the same high-quality approach to content, talent selection and presentation but extend it to a much wider audience and demographic.”

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Bedside Press shuts down

The Canadian publisher shuts down operations after publisher Hope Nicholson admits to sexual misconduct.

Hope Nicholson, the publisher behind Winnipeg-based Bedside Press, has announced she’s shut down the graphic novel imprint. The closure came a few days after she admitted to sexual misconduct involving unwanted kissing against another creator.

According to the Twitter post, Bedside Press publications currently in distribution will remain so for the near future. “I will try my best to find publishers to take on future reprints of these titles,” Nicholson said in her statement. Books in production “will be assigned to new publishers before print.”

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MAD Magazine to stop newsstand distribution after 67 years

Mad will cease to be available on newsstands, with new material only available in the year-end specials.

After 67 years of publishing, MAD Magazine will cease to be available on newsstands, with new material only available in the year-end specials.

The last surviving title of the EC Comics line and the most culturally significant American satire magazine, MAD, will undergo a major transformation as newsstand distribution ceases. It will only be available to the direct market and subscribers, will reprint old content from their 67-year library and only create new material for the year-end specials.

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So What? Press becomes an imprint of It’s Alive!

The former IDW imprint will help distribute ‘Tales of the Night Watchman.’

A former IDW imprint now has an imprint of its own. Drew Ford’s It’s Alive!, which publishes reprints of out-of-print graphic novels, translations of foreign material, classic comics and other projects, will now distribute Tales of the Night Watchman from So What? Press.

This effectively gets the critically acclaimed indie comic into comic shops via Diamond, which is good news for comic fans and creators Dave Kelly and Lara Antal. The partnership kicks off with a new two-issue miniseries called “The Final Kill,” which will be followed by a crossover with Dean Haspiel’s The Red Hook.

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Smash Pages Q&A: Lee Francis on The Indigenous Comic-Con and more

The publisher, retailer and convention organizer talks about Albuquerque’s upcoming convention, Native Realities Publishing and much more.

Dr. Lee Francis IV is the CEO and publisher of Native Realities Publishing, which has made a mark with comics like Tribal Force, Hero Twins and The Wool of Jonesy, and graphic novels like Tales of the Mighty Code Talkers and the upcoming Deer Woman: An Anthology.

Francis also runs Red Planet, a bookstore in Albuquerque, NM, and The Indigenous Comic-Con. The show takes place next weekend, November 10-12, in Albuquerque with additional events on Nov. 9. We spoke about publishing, the convention, and being an indigenerd.

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Comics Lowdown: Comics will break your heart

Plus: Jillian Tamaki on Q, Comic Nurse compiles HIV stories, Drawn to Change wins, Chris Ware, Captain Harlock returns

Today’s thoughtful read is a painful one: Maggie Umber chronicles the end of her marriage and the struggle to make 2dCloud a successful indy publisher. It’s a reminder that nothing is ever simple when viewed from the inside—she writes poignantly about the part she played in 2dCloud and the tension between that and her own career as a cartoonist, and the strain that put on her relationship with her soon-to-be-ex-husband Raighne Hogan:

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