Wretched Things, written by Devon Wong, drawn by Ken Perry, and colored by John Hunt, will debut as a collected print edition from Source Point Press and Comics Experience! The book will be available beginning at C2E2, April 6-8, 2018 — one of four titles to launch our exciting new partnership!
We caught up with Devon and Ken to ask them a couple of questions about making the change, and what it means for the future of Wretched Things.
Comics Experience: What has the transition been like between publishing via Comics Experience and publishing via the Source Point Press/Comics Experience partnership?
Devon Wong: Publishing with Comics Experience initially, we really had to scramble to produce the issues in time; we didn’t get them out on schedule in the end due to an almost comedic string of crises including Ken nearly dying in a fire, which I wish was an exaggeration. That’s right, Ken almost died for this book. That’s how great it is.
This time, we had everything already finished, so the stress wasn’t there in that respect. We just had to lay out the book and prep files for the printer. Overall, the process wasn’t too different. We’re still dealing directly with Andy and CE’s Design and Production Manager, Marco, who helped walk us through what we needed to get ready.
Also, the printed version of the series is going straight to trade as a completed collection. The physical book that most readers will encounter for the first time will be the entire completed story, so, essentially, it’s being launched in print as a graphic novel instead of as a limited series.
Given that the series is being published in this way, the communication with Source Point moving forward is going to be less about production and more about promoting the book at conventions. In addition to the Chicago launch, Ken will be attending conventions in the States and I’ll mostly be promoting the book in Canada.
Ken: The original CE deal was digital only and published as singles of a limited series. With SPP we are printing as a collected trade, presenting the entire story instead of the suspense of waiting for the next installment. With everything that happened that year, the wait between issues was horribly prolonged.
Devon and Marco are performing all the heavy lifting here, reformatting the pages from the digital spec to that of SPP’s printer. Some of that involves tweaking the words balloons and such, which Devon had already done. Thankfully I could avoid getting drafted into this by hiding behind not owning a copy of Illustrator. Being cheap allowed me to avoid work!
CE: How is this relationship with Source Point Press set to bring Wretched Things to a wider audience? What excites you most about the future of your story?
DW: The fact that Wretched Things is coming to print I think will bring in more readers. There are still many people for whom comics is a print medium first and want to read a real, physical book, to hold the art in their hands. That’s when it becomes truly real. I’m one of those people. While I do read some digital content, I prefer the book as object, both in terms of comics and prose, because even though I look young, I’m really a shriveled old man inside. But comics I think in particular are best absorbed in real life. It’s remarkable even the number of friends who I told about the book when it launched on comiXology, and they’d tell me, “That’s great! Is it all right if I wait for it to come out in print?”
As for the story itself, this is the whole story of the protagonist, Bran the Devourer, so we’re just excited to see more people discover it for the first time and to hopefully gain something from the experience of reading it.
We are also thrilled by Source Point’s new deal with Diamond, which will mean that the book will be on shelves in actual comic book shops across North America, which will get the book in front of more people. With that said, we encourage anyone interested in the book to keep an eye on the previews and place orders with their local stores. And if you like it, please tell people about it! As we are relatively unknown creators, word of mouth will be important to the book’s success. We need your help! The vermin need your help! I mean… humanity needs your help?
KP: The team-up of CE & SPP looks to be a game-changer for independent creators looking to get their work distributed to a wide audience. SPP already has a proven business model in place with advertising and marketing along with a great presence at conventions. I think they are already slated to be at 60 cons in 2018. That’s 60 places where creators are having their books actively brought to potential customers. SPP has also expanded their reach and is now in Previews making their catalog available to local comic book stores. This type of reach is not available as an unknown creator who tries their luck on a Kickstarter campaign.
You can check out Wretched Things in print starting this April following the official launch of our Source Point Press partnership at C2E2!
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Posted by Meredith Nudo