Insomnia Publications Ltd was a British

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

publishing company.

History

Insomnia was an independent comics publisher founded by Managing Director Crawford Coutts in 2006 to publish his own work. It was based in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, with various partners in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

and

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

. Insomnia began publishing ''Layer Zero'' in 2007, an

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

title as showcase for new creators. 2009 saw the release of ''Cancertown'' and ''Cages'', the first Insomnia

Graphic Novels A graphic novel is a self-contained, book-length form of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comics scholars and ...

by which the company would make its name as an independent publisher, focused on "instant trades" or "albums" in the European model, along with art portfolio books. It was also one of the first independent companies to partner with

Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...

to bring digital comics to the PSP. Insomnia books are aimed at teen/mature readers and most have an 18+ age rating. The focus is on stories which are unusual, literate, challenging and thought-provoking. In 2009 Insomnia launched the Vigil imprint for "Bio-Graphic Novels", starting with ''

Burke and Hare The Burke and Hare murders were a series of sixteen murders committed over a period of about ten months in 1828 in Edinburgh, Scotland. They were undertaken by William Burke and William Hare, who sold the corpses to Robert Knox for dissection ...

''. Following internal problems in early 2010, Insomnia Publications filed final accounts with Companies House on 30 June 2010. On the 20 August 2010, Crawford Coutts issued a statement released creators from their contracts with the company.

Management team

* Crawford Coutts (Managing Director and Publisher, Co-founder)

Titles

*''Layer Zero Anthologies'' by various creators

Graphic novels

*''Cages'' by Xander Bennet and Melanie Cook. Foreword by

Ben Templesmith Ben Templesmith (born 7 March 1984) is an Australian comic book artist best known for his work in the American comic book industry, most notably the Image Comics series ''Fell (comics), Fell'', with writer Warren Ellis, and IDW Publishing, IDW's ...

(January 2009, ) *''Cancertown'' by Cy Dethan, Stephen Downey, Melanie Cook and Nic Wilkinson. Foreword by

Bryan Talbot Bryan Talbot (born 24 February 1952) is a British comics artist and writer, best known as the creator of '' The Adventures of Luther Arkwright'' and its sequels '' Heart of Empire'' and '' The Legend of Luther Arkwright'', as well as the ''Gra ...

(May 2009, ) *''Buskers'' by Jeyems Samuel,

Sean Michael Wilson Sean Michael Wilson is a Scottish comic book writer from Edinburgh. He has written more than 40 books with a variety of US, UK and Japanese publishers and has been nominated for both the Eisner and Harvey book awards, and won a medal in the Jap ...

and Michiru Morikawa (Oct 2009)

Vigil

Titles in the Virgil "Bio-Graphic Novels" imprint include: *''

'' by

Martin Conaghan Martin may refer to: Places Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Europe * Martin, Croatia, a village * Martin, Slovakia, a city * Martín del Río, Aragón, Spain * Mart� ...

and Will Pickering. Foreword by Alan Grant (Oct 2009, )

Art books

Art book Artists' books (or book arts or book objects) are works of art that engage with and transform the form of a book. Some are mass-produced with multiple editions, some are published in small editions, while others are produced as one-of-a-kind ob ...

s include: *''MILK'' by Stref (Sept 2009 )

Notes

References

*
''Insomnia breaks out Cages at Bristol Comic Expo''
Press Release, Insomnia Productions, April 14, 2008

External links

*{{Official website, http://www.insomniapublications.com
The Red Eye Weekly News BlogCancertown Website
Comic book publishing companies of the United Kingdom 2006 establishments in Scotland 2010 disestablishments in Scotland Publishing companies established in 2006 Publishing companies disestablished in 2010 Defunct companies of the United Kingdom British companies disestablished in 2010 British companies established in 2006