If you are a fan of all things Jim Henson and Gene Roddenberry, Archaia Comics has something for you.

Quickly becoming the go-to publisher for creator-driven comic books and graphic novels in the fantasy, science fiction and horror genres, they are poised to offer up some serious goods as a result of three extremely smart business moves. Already at the top of their game with popular titles such as Tumor, Awakening, Mouseguard, and The Killer, the new developments first announced at this years' San Diego Comic Con (involving projects stemming from partnerships with some of the biggest names in fantasy and sci-fi) are sure to increase their ever-growing renown.

By far the most exciting of the announcements would have to be Archaia's inspired dealings with Henson Company and Roddenberry Productions. They've got the ball rolling on developing titles based on Henson's most beloved stories from our childhoods such as Fraggle Rock, The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth. Also in the works, and already seeing the light of day with three published issues (to rave reviews) is the mini-series Days Missing, produced with Roddenberry Productions. A new issue of Days Missing is coming out Wednesday, in fact.

However, the most surprising and intriguing of the three newly forged partnerships Archaia has announced this year is with television and film star Zachary Quinto's (Heroes, Star Trek XI) production company Before The Door Pictures -- formed with partners Neal Dodson and Corey Moosa -- which has only produced three short films (Buddy n' Andy, Bordeaux, The Hostage: A Love Story) thus far. To the many fans and curious journalists present at the pair's special panel during San Diego Comic Con, it seemed such an unlikely coupling.

Along with Quinto and comic enthusiasts alike, ACED wanted to know where this partnership had come from and what the fruits of Archaia's business relationship with Before The Door would be. Mr. Murder Is Dead and Lucid are the two titles that were announced already in development.

We managed to catch up with the newly appointed Director of Development for Archaia Comics, Stephen Christy, to find out more. He graciously took some time out of his busy schedule of promoting and launching Archaia's fall titles to answer some questions about the company's three exciting new partnerships.

SC: When I came onto Archaia at the beginning of this year our main goal was to branch out our reach through partnerships with other companies. Partnering with Henson and Before the Door gave both of those companies an opportunity to expand their business in the comic book markets, and it gives Archaia the opportunity to align ourself with brands that each have a strong built-in fan base. Henson has been a creative powerhouse in the realm of children's entertainment and fantasy entertainment for the last 25 years, and thanks to Heroes and Star Trek, Zachary Quinto and his Before the Door production partners have a strong following of fans who are interested in quality science fiction and action. With Archaia bringing its own fan base and reputation for quality, I'm hoping that fans get excited for the books that we're going to be putting out with each company.

Can you highlight the differences between original projects like Mr. Murder and Lucid that you will be developing with BtD, vs. the original titles you will be developing with the Henson Company?

SC: Well, the main difference is the difference between the two brands. Before the Door is a new company, but if I had to define what those guys are about it's about exposing pop culture fans to new creative voices through exciting and groundbreaking projects. Henson, on the other hand, has a decades-long history of excellence in the fantasy, children's, and science-fiction genres. With the original properties that we're developing for both companies, the main development difference is that we're trying to be faithful and respectful to what people expect of both brands, while at the same time living up to Archaia's standard of quality.

Will Fraggle Rock be your first title with Henson?

SC: Yep, we're launching with Fraggle first in the spring of 2010, and from there we're branching out to a number of other titles including Labyrinth, The Dark Crystal, and new original Henson/Archaia titles. But don't expect us to be flooding the shelves with these books. We're taking our time and doing things slowly, and making sure that we're making these books something special instead of just pushing them out there. I'm a HUGE fan of The Dark Crystal, Fraggle Rock, and Labyrinth, and trust me when I say that we're taking the time to do these books right.

Why did you decide to go with the beloved children's show as your first title?

SC: Because the time felt right, honestly, and because in some ways it's the most accessible of the Henson properties that we have the rights to. As a fan, I personally have a stronger connection with movies like The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth, but the daunting thing about those titles is that ever since the movies came out almost 25 years ago, there's been no sequels, no tie-ins, and no continuations beyond the manga that Tokyopop have been doing.

Because of that, you have two movies that each have an incredibly strong fan base, and a fan base that hasn't had any new material set in that world besides the manga, and it's due to that that the fan bases for these two properties are so rabid for new material. Like I said before, there's a lot more pressure when it comes to Dark Crystal and Labyrinth, and I want to make sure we don't screw the books up!

Besides the opportunity to work on a series of comics based on popular classics like Fraggle Rock, what's the most exciting and beneficial aspect of the partnership with Henson?

SC: Henson defined so much of the childhood of all of us at Archaia growing up. David Petersen, creator of our flagship book Mouse Guard, jokes about growing up with just one dream ... to be able to work at the Jim Henson Creature Shop one day. I grew up with Dark Crystal and Labyrinth posters in my and my sister's bedroom, and Jim Henson himself was a creative idol of mine as well. So working with Henson is kind of a dream come true for all of us.

Not only that, but developing new and original properties in partnership with Henson gives us the opportunity to offer our creators the support not just of the Archaia publishing and development process, but also Henson's network of contacts throughout the entertainment industry. For creators it's basically like having an amazing producer attached that can help with films, TV shows, toys, and video games before the book even goes to press.

What's special and unique about the titles you're developing with BtD?

SC: The fact that these books are possibly the last thing you'd expect from a "Hollywood" production company who's partnered with a comic book company. I mean, the first book is about an over-the-hill private eye gone bad, and the second book is about a combat magician who's trying to stop a magical cold war between the magical superpowers of the world! The reason why these titles appealed so much to me? Because they can ONLY be done right in comic book format. When I first sat down with Corey, Neal, and Zach, they sold me because they weren't interested in making a comic book as a thinly-disguised movie pitch, they were interested in making great comic books, and using Zach's rise to fame in the geek community as a way to introduce readers to the writing talents of Victor Quinaz and Michael McMillian, two writers that Corey, Neal, and Zach are very passionate about working with.

So the fact that they were bringing new and interesting ideas to the table, breaking new writers into comics (something we love doing at Archaia), and the fact that they're all incredibly cool and down-to-earth guys who love comics, has made the development of these books a lot of fun. Hopefully that excitement will come through in the final product!

What's been the overall reaction to the announcements about these partnerships?

SC: So far it's exceeded all of our expectations. We had an Archaia/Henson panel and an Archaia/Before the Door panel at the San Diego Comic-Con, and both rooms were packed to the brink with fans who were there just to hear us talk about the books ... and keep in mind that we haven't even released anything yet! I knew we'd made the right decision about working with Before the Door when we were all at our panel and a girl came up to the microphone and said, "Zach, you got me into Heroes, you got me into Star Trek, and now you've got me into Archaia." That was powerful to hear because that's one of the biggest reasons we do partnerships like this, to get people into comics who might have never picked up a comic book otherwise. The same can be said for our Henson panel, when I saw how much the Henson fans (who might just be the most awesome, and most rabid fan base that I've ever seen) loved Archaia titles like Mouse Guard and Gunnerkrigg Court. Now I'm actually a little nervous because we need to make these books live up to the hype. No pressure, right?

Can you also talk a bit about your partnership with Roddenberry Productions on the mini-series Days Missing?

SC: I'm a huge fan of Star Trek, and when Roddenberry Productions approached us about partnering with them on Days Missing it was a no-brainer. Days Missing is a five-issue, sci-fi miniseries (which will be followed by a hardcover collector edition) that takes the Roddenberry tradition of thought-provoking sci-fi to a new level through the main character of the series, a mysterious being known only as The Steward. The Steward is a character much like Spock or Data, who, while he looks human, is anything but. He's been alive since the dawn of time, and throughout his existence his mission has been to safeguard and "steward" the destiny of the human race. What makes him special is that he has the ability to literally "fold" days out of time ... to remove altogether events from human history.

Remember the atomic bomb that the Nazi's dropped on New York during WWII? Remember the assassination of Queen Elizabeth? There's a reason why you don't ... because those are the "days missing" from when The Steward interfered with out collective history. It's a really high-concept idea, and we have a lot of fun playing with it over the course of five issues. I encourage people to go to www.daysmissing.com if they want to learn more about the book.

With these three partnerships underway, virtually at the same time, what are your hopes and predictions for the future of Archaia?

SC: My hope is that people continue to think of us as the "HBO of Comics". What I mean by that is, that we're a smaller company and we don't publish a lot of books, but when you read one of our books you're guaranteed that the story, art, production value, and just the general care put into each and every thing that we publish, is of higher quality than any other company out there. You might not like everything we publish, but I guarantee you're never going to walk away from one of our books complaining about the quality. At the end of the day, beyond all of our partnerships and books we publish, my biggest pride is that through books like Mouse Guard, The Killer and Days Missing, we've introduced a lot of people to the comic book medium who have never read a comic before, and that means a lot to me. If we can keep doing that, and keep partnering with cool people that share our passion for great comics, all the hard work we've been doing the last year will be worth it!

In addition to San Diego, Archaia made the rounds at Long Beach and Big Apple Comic Cons to spread the word about their new titles. Visit http://www.archaiasp.com for more info.

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Sunfell  - Archaia got me back into comics   |2009-11-18 15:23:12 I've had nodding acquaintences with comics and gra phic novels most of my adult life, but wasn't real ly into comics much at all. But I've started readi ng some of Archaia's line- particularly "Days Missing", and really have enjoyed it. Their ti tles appeal to geeky folks like me- the 'outlier' female who isn't into sap or shoot-em-up super her oes. And the stuff the Before the Door is coming out with looks to be right down my alley. It wo uld appear that both BtD and Archaia have quietly conspired to get folks like me back into comics sh ops- and that is quite a feat. Reply 1 0

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