Dynamite Announces New Publishing Partnership With Immortal Studios, To Bring The Shared Universe Of Fantasy And Martial Arts Comics To A Broader Market
Before Comic Con, dynamite has announced a new publishing partnership with Immortal Studiosto bring the shared universe of fantasy comics and wuxia martial artsfrom the Los Angeles-based publisher to the broader market.
Through the Kickstarter crowdfunding platform, Los Angeles-based publisher Immortal Studios has to date successfully funded three comic book series as part of a larger shared universe. Now, Dynamite is ready to bring these action-packed titles to direct market comic shops, digital providers and bookstores in multiple formats, with more releases and titles to come.
What is the Storyverse?
storyverse from Immortal Studios is spearheaded by company founder and CEO Peter Shiao, who is collaborating with a team of comic book storytellers to bring a modern sensibility to the Wuxia genre, martial arts that have influenced contemporary pop culture, including Shang Chi from Marvel, A.vatar: The Last Airbender, The Matrix or Star Wars for example, as well as countless animes and manga like Naruto. Wuxia, pronounced “woo-sha”is a Chinese-born genre depicting the adventures and trials of martial arts heroes, often, but not always, in historical settings and with elements of fantasy.
The storyverse by Immortal Studios is inspired by the storytelling of one of the foremost authors of the Wuxia genre, Peter Shiao’s father, Shiao Yi, whose novels have been adapted for film and television more than thirty times, including feature films. Shaw Brothers Y GoldenHarvest.
Peter Shiao said:
“I am very excited that with this new partnership with Dynamite, one of the largest comic book publishers, Immortal has dramatically increased our reach and visibility to the fandom.” Shiao said. “This is a very important step in our goal of building a multi-pronged distribution footprint to reach different market segments that are important to us. We look forward to sharing these Immortal stories that have already gained early momentum through our growing community to new audiences. now available to us through Dynamite’s various distribution channels.”
“At Dynamite, our mission is always to bring diverse and entertaining stories to all kinds of audiences through the art forms we love”said Nick Barrucci, CEO and publisher of Dynamite. “The relationship I’ve had with Immortal Studios’ head of publishing, Hank Kanalz, over the years has always been great, and when he introduced me to this opportunity with Immortal Studios and the ability to work with Peter and his team, I couldn’t believe it. I could be more excited. This partnership is a natural fit with the spirit of our companies and I can’t wait for readers to delve into these stories. Whether it’s kids and adults yearning for this kind of performance and storytelling, or someone unknown about to be sucked into something magical, we expect answers!”
Immortal Studios titles include:
The Adept
From writers Tasha Huo, Charlie Stickney, Alison Norrington, and Peter Shiao, artist Yishan Li, and letterer Deron Bennett. The Adept tells the deep and personal story of a young woman on a journey to master an ancient martial art thought to be long lost. Full of action, transformation and mystery, the key theme is about homecoming and redemption. Two action-packed chapters have been produced to date, featuring kidnapped pop stars, arcade brawls and more.
Chronicles of the Immortal Swordsman
From writer Peter Shiao, artists Pop Mhan and Jheremy Raapack, colorist Rex Lokus, and signer Deron Bennett. In this series, the protagonist Phil Du escapes from his struggles through parkour and online games. But when he suddenly finds himself embroiled in an ancient order of supernatural warriors in the midst of civil war and cataclysm, he will have to face his fate.
Fa Sheng: Origins
This story is created by Peter Shiao, written by Rylend Grant, illustrated by Dexter Wee, colored by Omi Remalante Jr. and lettered by Deron Bennett. The story tells of the humble beginnings of a great Shaolin master. The series is written by Rylend Grant, a Ringo Award-winning screenwriter, author, and comic book creator who is also an ordained Soto Zen Buddhist monk. The series is recommended for fans of movies based on the Ip Man story, including series and The great teacher.
Assassin G
From writer Jen Troy and artist He Tao, with colors by Hi-Fi Design and lettering by AndWorld Design. This summer, Immortal Studios will launch a campaign kickstarter for this new series, from the writer of the television series super girl The CW’s Jen Troy about the deadly saga of revenge between warring factions in the martial underworld in the early 1980s. The novel that inspired Assassin G by the master of Wuxia Shiao Yi, is known as one of the preeminent IPs in the Chinese-speaking world that has been adapted for television four times, and this new series will mark the first-ever comic and English-language adaptation. The Assassin G Kickstarter pre-launch page for the campaign It is now available.
“We plan to continue using Kickstarter to crowdfund new concepts and series, including our fourth series, ASSASSIN G.”said Hank Kanalz, head of publishing for Immortal Studios. “The Kickstarter platform allows us to engage with a very active reader base and take their feedback into account before releasing the official final version of any series. This publishing partnership with Dynamite allows us to expand into the direct market and bookstores. With their success with THE BOYS and so many top-tier licensed comics, Dynamite brings an experience that will help in our mission to expand the wuxia genre in comics to a broader audience. I am delighted to be working with Nick and the team again.”.
Immortal studios team
Immortal Studios features a range of variant covers from artists such as Gene Ha, Jim Cheung, Ming Doyle, Gian Gulang, Joyce Chin and more. Other behind-the-scenes talent and staff include former DC Comics publisher Brian Cunningham and team members with experience at Disney, Warner Bros., Sony, 20th Century Fox and other major audiovisual entertainment companies.
“The heroes of the wuxia genre are usually ordinary people who become extraordinary not because of machines or nuclear spills, but because of their own spirit and initiative”Shiao said. “Immortal continues the legacy of the wuxia genre and my father’s work, reintroducing and calibrating these timeless concepts for a modern, global audience that is eager to connect with stories that empower. It is always in times of uncertainty that Wuxia rises, and we are very honored to carry its flag.”