Formerly An Imprint of Lion Forge, Mike Kennedy’s Prestige Portfolio of European Comics Returns to Full Service Publisher of Comics and Graphic Albums
ST. LOUIS—Three years almost to the day after the acquisition of Magnetic Press was announced at New York Comic Con, the former Lion Forge imprint is announced to return to its status as full-service publisher under the David Steward II founded Polarity holding company, which also operates Lion Forge Comics and Oni Press.
Independently established in 2014 by founder Mike Kennedy, former publisher of Archaia Entertainment, Magnetic Press was acquired by Lion Forge in October of 2016 and rebranded as The Magnetic Collection. Kennedy has received numerous accolades in Magnetic’s first five years of operation, including 17 Eisner Award nominations over their first four consecutive years of eligibility.
“What Mike Kennedy achieved with the establishment of Magnetic Press in both the quality of content and its presentation was what drew my interest from the beginning,” says Polarity founder and president, David Steward II. “Now that we have consolidated Lion Forge and its imprints through our merger with Oni Press, it seemed the right time to have Mike return to publisher status, to continue to carry out his vision under our larger family of brands.”
“Magnetic enjoyed so many proud achievements with so many wonderful books released over the past three years with Lion Forge” says Magnetic Press founder and publisher, Mike Kennedy. “We’re now looking forward to building on that momentum with even more exciting and unique titles and projects with Polarity’s enthusiastic support. Being able to define our own strategies and to focus a spotlight on our talented authors in the way that best suits their individual appeal will allow us to kick off some dynamic plans for increased growth and fan engagement in the coming year.”
Titles planned for 2020 include the dystopic fantasy Nils: The Tree of Life by Jerome Hamon and Antoine Carrion), Streamliner by Fane, Paris 2119 by Zep and Dominique Bertail, and Gunland by Captain Artiglio. The coming year will also the continuation of sci-fi series Infinity 8 by Lewis Trondheim and ORPHANS by Roberto Recchioni and Emmanuel Mamucari, as well as the return of several popular series including KLAW by Ozanam and Jurion and The Ogre Gods by Hubert and Bertrand Gatignol. Other titles will be announced in the coming months, with Magnetic offering something for all ages across its diverse lineup.
The company will also build a robust gaming catalogue with new original projects and more, adding to current titles like the graphic novel/RPG hybrid Hugo Broyler and the fantasy card game universe The World of Cassyno.
Magnetic Press, LLC will be distributed in both the direct and book markets exclusively by Diamond, with an active digital first strategy through Comixology.
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