Joe Books is a Canadian comic book publishing company founded in 2013 by Jay Firestone and Jody Colero, who noticed that the market for turning film and TV brands into novels, comics and graphic novels was not satisfied yet. Looking to expand, they hired Adam Fortier as publisher, who had previously worked as Vice President of Boom! Studios some time between 2006 and 2013 and had been involved in that company's licensing of various Disney properties of the The Disney Afternoon lineup. Thanks to his familiarity with Disney, Joe Books managed to acquire numerous Disney licenses, greatly boosting their name recognition.[1]
The first Disney product published by Joe Books was a cinestory adaption of the 2013 movie Frozen on November 25, 2014. Their next Disney publication was "Darkwing Duck: The Definitively Dangerous Edition" on February 24, 2015 after a missed aim for a January release. "The Definitively Dangerous Edition" is an omnibus edition of the entire 2010-2011 Darkwing Duck run by Boom! Studios, minus the controversial final arc, "Dangerous Currency", and with improved art and rewritten dialogue. Also included is the info-comic "The Secrets of Darkwing Duck".[2]
Darkwing Duck[]
"The Definitively Dangerous Edition" was supposed to be the kickoff for a monthly ongoing Darkwing Duck comic series, but the series was put on hold for a time in consideration of other "duck projects".[3] This was generally assumed to be related to the in 2015 announced DuckTales reboot in combination with information that Darkwing Duck and Kim Possible are the big two candidates for follow-up reboots.[4]
Artist James Silvani announced on his Tumblr account in October 22, 2014 that a new ongoing Darkwing Duck would begin publication in 2015 and that "Aaron [Sparrow] and I have already begun and will give more details as soon as possible."[5] On October 21, 2015, writer Aaron Sparrow announced on his Twitter account that production had resumed.[6] The official announcement by Joe Books on their Twitter account on January 18, 2016 that the new series would commence in April 2016, celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the franchise, with the following message:[7]
We have something big to share today... Any guesses?
Ok, time to officially reveal @Aaron_Sparrow and @SilvaniArt's worst kept secret…
Let's get dangerous.
Better watch out you bad boys.
He is the terror that flaps in the night…
He is the batteries that are not included…
He is the wrong number that wakes you at 3am…
He is the fingernail that scrapes the blackboard of your soul…
He is the headache in the criminal mind…
He is the onion that stings in your eye…
He is the raspberry seed you can't floss out…
He is the winged scourge that pecks at your nightmares…
He is COMING BACK IN ALL NEW COMICS IN APRIL!
When there's trouble, you call D.W.!
He also confirmed that the new comic series would contain a few new crossovers with DuckTales.[8] Unfortunately, the series was cancelled in March 2017.
References[]
- ↑ Toronto publisher Joe Books finds success in film, TV tie-in deals at The Globe and Mail
- ↑ Joe Books to Repackage and Publish Comics for Disney at Rotoscopers
- ↑ DAF Radio.net: Jim Hill on the Future of Disney Infinity
- ↑ Jim Hill: 'Ducktales' Reboot is CG-Animated, 'Darkwing Duck' and 'Kim Possible' Reboots Could Follow at Rotoscopers
- ↑ "The Duck Knight Returns... again!" on James Silvani's Tumblr
- ↑ It's good to be back in St. Canard. on Aaron Sparrow's Twitter
- ↑ When there's trouble, you call D.W.! on Joe Books's Twitter
- ↑ Mentioned in this post on The Old Haunt Forum