It tells you how well comics are doing these days that new publishers are starting to roll out. The latest to hear about is Black Mask, from an unusual mix of people, and an unusual mix of books.
Apparently having nothing to do with the mystery magazine, Black Mask is avoiding superhero books. And honestly, some of it is probably going to be controversial: It’ll be putting out Occupy Comics and Liberator, a book about vigilantes going after people who torture animals, both of which will be donating some of the proceeds to the related cause.
Apparently Niles feels that current publishers play it safe and don’t get political which is… a subjective statement, considering some of the books on the stands and coming to them, like DC’s The Movement and Image making a cottage industry of looking at the collateral damage of the military industrial complex.
But some of the other books, and creative personnel, seem to have a more universal appeal. Art Spiegelman, Mike Allred, Darick Robertson, J.M. DeMatteis, and the RZA and Ghostface Killah are all involved in the new company to some degree or another. Those last two will be developing 12 Ways To Die as a tie-in to the upcoming album of the same name. Robertson will be drawing Ballistic, about an air-conditioning repairman and his talking gun. And Black Mask apparently has more in the pipe they’re not ready to talk about just yet.
Regardless of how it goes, it’s always good to see a new publisher opening its doors. We wish them luck, and we’ll be curious to see the first issues. We’re getting in touch with Black Mask and hope to have a more comprehensive look soon.