What is going on with Artesia "Book of Dooms" graphic novels?? It's been 2 years since Besieged part 2 . Is this series canceled?
01.24.08 Artesia Besieged returns April 2008! With the growth of Archaia Studios Press as a publishing house, the time for its author to devote to the Besieged series evaporated during much of 2007. But we are happy to announce that work has finally recommenced on the series, with previews of some of the first finished interior pages below. Artesia Besieged #3 is now expected to hit stores in April. Preview Artesia Besieged #3 Pages 1-3:
This is fabuluos news. I can't wait for the next issue. But is there any news about the time interval the next issues will be coming out??
From Mark Smylie on the ASP Board (Posted March 3, 2008) "...BESIEGED #3 was resolicited for February but will probably be out in late April or early May; I'm going to delay soliciting for BESIEGED #4 until I can be sure that everything is going smoothly at the company and with my work schedule, but I very much hope to have BESIEGED finished up by December of this year. Thanks very much for your patience; I hope that you will not have much longer to wait for the new issues to be in the pipeline."
Hm, that means issues will be coming out at 2 - 2 1/2 month intervals. While I'm happy to actualy get the continuation of this series, the wait is going to be a really dull affair. Like waiting for the next SOIAF book.
No way! I thought I was, like, the ONLY person who followed Artesia. I had almost forgotten that it was in the middle of a story arc, it's been so long now. Weird that I should stumble upon this good news on a Transformers forum, of all places! zmog
I don't know if it is still going on but the last time I talked with Mark he was working on a movie as well so that could lead to some delays.
I stumbled upon this series of graphic novels by pure chance last year, and I was blown away after reading the first one. I was somewhat dumbfounded at the beginning, because I was expecting your regular comic schtick, not a story with a tolkienesqe history and a late medieval setting. I also fell prey to the usual things first time readers do, like having a dificulty following who's who of the characters, couldn't remember all the names of the characters and gods, etc. That's why I couldn't make a judgement imediately. But after reading it again, which I did promptly, I realised how awesome the first graphic novel was. The graphic style was also a refreshing thing to me at the time. I like the way Smylie portraits men and women, armoured and armed, and otherwise (you know what I mean). There are no your usual comic body proportions, with muscles dear Governator would kill for, or chest "protrusions" as big as Dolly Parton. The arms and harnesses are based on your real life counterparts, the depictions of the siege warfare, pike warfare, etc. are great. You can clearly see that Smylie did some pretty big research on the medieval culture and warfare, so he could make his world seem as real as posible. There were talks of the Artesia prequel movie since last summer. This news is new, pardon the pun. And I like that they will be doing a prequel. It would be a shame to wait years for the movie about Artesia herself, as it would be a long wait for the comic series to come to an end. And considering the richness of the world Mark Smylie created, we can have several movies about the Known World, parallel to the Artesia series. Just think on it, we can have a movie concerning the Hunt for the Worm Kings, mainly one about Githwaine, or how about the Usurper and his war against the Lokhites.
Yeah... I LOVE this series. I confess that sometimes the style Smylie uses for drawing faces gets a bit forced. I mean, clearly the guy can draw, but he's still drawing faces like blocks of wood. On the one hand, I like the stylization (it works for manga after all), but on the other, I find a lot of the characters look too much alike. Also, I can say that I like the series almost EXCLUSIVELY based on the artwork and depth of development in the authentic-feeling fantasy world... because frankly the actual character of Artesia is, like, the HUGEST Mary-Sue fanwank character in the history of Mary-Sues. I say that with all due respect, but it's sadly true. But enough with the negativity. It's good stuff. I adore the raw, sketchy, handmade drawing and watercolours... a quality that sets it aside in a field full of almost excessive refinement in the euro-fantasy comic genre. I find the approach to magic fascinating and resonant... it "works". I also admire the way that he's managed to present a very gender-equal medieval world without it seeming too forced, fanciful, or unlikely. That's quite a feat! Glad to hear the series is still trucking... slowly... along. I have to admit that I'm skeptical of the path to an Artesia related movie. I'm far too cynical of such things, and more than likely we'll get some direct-to-video low-budget exploitation fantasy film with Kristanna Loken headlining a cast of nobodies in plastic armour. I can't see the scope of Artesia's world being translated well on a tight budget. But I'm happy to be proven wrong! zmog
I apologize for raising this thread from the dead, though I suppose our local zombiecon ZMOG won't mind. It has been almost a year since the people in charge announced that Artesia Besieged will hit store in April '08, and still nothing. The ASP forums are off limits to me (403 error) so I have no idea what is going on with this series. I am really disappointed in the way Smylie is treating the whole affair with Artesia. He's doing almost the exact thing G.R.R. Martin is doing with "A Dance with Dragons", except G.R.R.M still has some balls to write to the fans about his new book and the way it's (not) progressing. I will not be calling quits on this series, because IT IS THAT GOOD, but I don't hold hopes high about it any more.
Thanks for the update man... I really like this series, but with the pace that it progresses, I can't really get too focused on it. The gaps between miniseries are just too long. I didn't know exactly when Besieged was due out... I assumed it was "coming" though a YEAR behind is pretty extreme. Hm. Well, hopefully the project will continue to lurch ahead... and GRR Martin's too... I only caught up to Feast for Crows a little over a year ago, so this is the first time I've actually had to WAIT for the new book to come out. I'm starting to feel like it's better to get involved with these things once they're finished, and that way I can just read it all at my own pace. zmog
10.19.08 – ASP Rumor Control: Restructuring Update Yes, rumors are swirling in the public comic trade forum about the future of ASP and its many award-winning and highly-praised comics and graphic novels. Are we being acquired? Are creators happy? What about Artesia? Mark Smylie answers your questions and addresses the rumors. We’ve heard ASP’s being acquired. What’s the story? While Archaia is not ready to put out an official press release, for the moment (and for attribution), I can let you know that we’re in the process of being acquired by Kunoichi, Inc., a creative services company based in Chicago that was co-founded and co-run by Josh Blaylock until he exited the company to focus solely on Devil’s Due. While we had some initial conversations with DDP directly, it will actually be Kunoichi that is acquiring us. Further cause for confusion may stem from the fact that we are still in separate talks with DDP about working together on a few opportunities once the Kunoichi acquisition is completed, including a potential publishing partnership of which we are one of several players in the fold. There’ll be more on all of that soon, I hope. What’s the word from ASP’s creators? In regards to contracts, we are indeed shifting from a more traditional publishing contract to something that can be better described as a media rights contract; this is in part a reflection both of the overall direction of the comics industry, for better or for worse—every company or individual investor that had talked to us about an acquisition expressed the same sentiment, that our IP approach would have to change to match our competitors—and Archaia’s interest in working with its creators on broader and more long-term IP development. Despite the changes, we have tried to put in place as many guarantees of creator control and protection as we can. The creators retain creative control of their books, are consulted during any negotiations for media rights, and have final approval over them. At root, we’re still all about trying to find creators who have a specific vision they want to pursue and letting them do that in a way that hopefully profits both them and the company. We strongly believe that the new contract is competitive with industry standards and has a high degree of creator control that can these days only be beat by self-publishing. Will the entire ASP lineup be published under the new entity? We’re still in the process of finalizing a few individual creator contracts, but it’s looking like most of our previously published titles will be moving forward as part of Archaia’s new publishing schedule. When can we expect new releases? There are a number of titles at the printer ready to go and are expected to come out within the next month or so. Some of these include: Mouse Guard #4, Gunnerkrigg Court, Mouse Guard Role-playing Game and more. What about your book, Artesia? I’m signing Artesia to the company under the same contract as everyone else and am remaining on board as the managing editor [of ASP].
Also I was going over my preview bookmarks yesterday... I recall seeing an ASP title (Cursed Pirate Girl) now being published by another company (Olympian Publishing). Did a quick scan of the interview posted February 29, 2009 and found this. NRAMA: Now, the book was delayed a bit from its original release -- though the preview pages made quite an impression on our Newsarama readers. Tell us a little about that, if it's okay with you. JB: Well, I'm not sure what is appropriate to relay on this subject. It was delayed due to financial difficulties at Archaia Studios Press, at which time Mark Smiley agreed to let anyone who wanted to find other publishing arrangements. EDIT: More from CBR back in October.
Hmmm... so in other words, Smylie and ASP are broke, some of the creators have flown the coop, and supposedly Kunoichi is buying up what's left? Not sure what to think of that... Thanks for the information Primal! zmog
Posted today over at CBR, Archaia Studios Press is set to resume a full schedule of titles beginning in June.
Another article over at Newsarama talks briefly about Artesia (the CBR one didn't). Issue #3 will be out in July, then bi-monthly afterwards
