I’ve long been afraid that Disney might set up a monopoly in comics. Maybe it’s not the Mouse I should be worried about, but the Penguin!
WHAT HAPPENED?
BOOM! Studios recenlty was sold to Penguin Random House (more specifically, Random House Worlds), a transition from being partly owned by Fox, Disney, or even Ross Richie, chairman and founder of BOOM! Studios.
“The BOOM! Studios publishing program will join the Random House Worlds portfolio of imprints alongside Del Rey, Inklore, and the RH Worlds licensing program,” said the accompanying news release. “Random House Worlds is a portfolio of imprints within the Random House Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House, the world’s largest trade publisher. It consists of Del Rey, founded in 1977 and is the world’s foremost publisher of science fiction and fantasy, publishing the renowned authors such as Terry Brooks, Naomi Novik, Douglas Adams, Siliva Moreno-Garcia, Robin Hobb, Max Brooks, Pierce Brown, Katherine Arden and Danielle L. Jenson, among others; Inklore, which publishes the best in manga, manhwa, manhua, webcomics and graphic novels, both licensed and original, for adult audiences; and the Random House Worlds imprint dedicated entirely to licensed book publishing, acting as a home for the largest pop culture brands across genres and media types.”
Richie said on Facebook, “This is exciting news for our fans. The biggest prose book publisher in the world is excited about comics and wants to get into the action and believes it is an area of growth. They want more people to read — more people to read comic books!”
For those not familiar with BOOM! Studios, here’s the description: “Founded in 2005 by Richie, BOOM! Studios publishes under four distinct lines—BOOM! Studios, BOOM! Box, KaBOOM!, and Archaia—and has produced bestselling, award-winning original work, including Keanu Reeves’ BRZRKR, Something is Killing the Children, and Lumberjanes, while also breaking new ground with established licenses such as Power Rangers, Dune, The Expanse, Garfield, Firefly, Labyrinth, and Dark Crystal. BOOM! Studios has produced numerous feature films and television series including 2 Guns (2013), The Empty Man (2020), Just Beyond (2021), and Mech Cadets (2023). It is currently in production on Butterfly, a live-action series for Amazon Prime Video starring Daniel Dae Kim and Reina Hardesty.”
This is sure to help raise BOOM! Studios’ standing in the comics community as well as with the general public. Penguin Random House is better known overall, which will aid their efforts to sell more BOOM! Studios product.
Will there be change? Or course… with any changing of the guard, there will always be people coming and going. Look for that to happen in the months ahead. Just how this will all shake out is anyone’s guess at this point.
PENGUIN’S RELATIONSHIP WITH MARVEL AND OTHERS
Back in 2023, Penguin Random House became the exclusive book market distributor for Marvel. While Penguin does distribute pretty much all the other comic book publishers, the rates may vary, which is why many local comics shops now use several distributors to get their books. The better the deal, the more likely LCS’s pick and choose among them.
Of course, an exclusive deal with the number one comics producer is a big deal, so they may charge more for Marvel books just because, well, they can! And pretty much every LCS sells Marvel, so on some level—either directly or indirectly—they interact with Penguin.
Granted, this is show business, so every LCS is trying to make enough money to survive and even thrive. The shop I go to each week buys comics from several distributors because they make more money that way.
Of course, I remember the days when Diamond was king of the hill, and just about every LCS bought all their comics from them! That’s not true any longer, and I believe the industry is better for it!
I also remember the days when Marvel was bought by Disney. I wasn’t the only one worried that they would find a way to remove all their competition and “make everyone Marvel,” as one person put it. It seems that Disney is pulling their horns in when it comes to comics. I hope Penguin doesn’t try to monopolize the market, either!
IS THIS GOOD FOR THE INDUSTRY?
Like all big changes, it will take a while for everything to fall into place. But overall, anything that helps companies like BOOM! Studios grow is something I support!
My hope is that BOOM!’s books will find their way into more hands, which means they will be read by more eyes! That’s ALWAYS a good thing for comics!
And this can also help other companies because, if someone becomes a fan of comics and they are looking for even more good reading, then they just might discover other companies’ products and help comics as an industry to prosper! The more, the merrier!
Is there a downside to this? Well, I’d hate for the BOOM! staff to get moved around or even removed because I like what they are doing. If that does happen, I hope that other companies will snap them up in a hurry because they do good work!
Of course, if Penguin fumbles the ball and treats BOOM! shabbily, well, that will become known right away! I remember when Marvel bought Malibu and then shelved all their characters and properties! I’m still ticked at that! Bring back Malibu, I say! And support BOOM! Studios!
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