Speakeasy Comics was a Canadian publishing company of

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 ...

s and

graphic novel 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 Anthology, anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comics sc ...

s which operated from 2004–2006. Based in

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Speakeasy published monthly comics, creator-owned independent series, original graphic novels, and collected out-of-print

creator-owned In the United States, creator ownership in comics is an arrangement in which the comic book creator retains full ownership of the material, regardless of whether the work is self-publishing, self-published or published by a corporate publisher. I ...

comics series that had originated with other companies. Its best-known titles were '' Atomika'', ''

Beowulf ''Beowulf'' (; ) is an Old English poetry, Old English poem, an Epic poetry, epic in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 Alliterative verse, alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and List of translat ...

'', '' The Grimoire'', and ''

Rocketo ''Rocketo'' was a comic book series by Frank Espinosa. Initially published by Speakeasy Comics, in 2006 ''Rocketo'' moved to Image Comics. Espinosa handled nearly every aspect of ''Rocketos production (writing, art, color, lettering), with Marie T ...

''. Although Speakeasy made a big public relation splash and announced a large lineup of monthly titles, it had trouble almost from the beginning in following through with its plans.

Warren Ellis Warren Girard Ellis (born 16 February 1968) is an English comic book writer, novelist, and screenwriter. He is best known as the co-creator of several original comics series, including ''Transmetropolitan'' (1997–2002), ''Global Frequency'' ...

characterized the short-lived company as "one publisher getting it wrong from start to finish: releasing too many books, without a support structure, releasing comics without a dedicated marketing plan."

History

Beginnings

Adam Fortier founded Speakeasy Comics in August 2004. Previously, Fortier had worked for comics publishers

Dreamwave Productions Dreamwave Productions was a Canadian art design studio and comic book publisher founded in 1996. Best known for its comic book adaptations of ''Transformers (toy line), Transformers'', the company shut down on January 4, 2005. History Brothers ...

(where he revived the

Transformers ''Transformers'' is a media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Tomy, Takara Tomy. It primarily follows the heroic Autobots and the villainous Decepticons, two Extraterrestrials in fiction, alien robot fac ...

licence in comics),

Devil's Due Publishing Devil's Due Publishing (often abbreviated as DDP) is an independent comic book publisher in the United States. Based in Chicago, Illinois, DDP is best known for its wide selection of genres, including licensed and original creator-owned proper ...

UDON Udon ( or ) is a thick noodle made from wheat flour, used in Japanese cuisine. There are a variety of ways it is prepared and served. Its simplest form is in a soup as with a mild broth called made from dashi, soy sauce, and mirin. It is usual ...

, and

IDW Publishing IDW Publishing is an American publisher of comic books, graphic novels, art books, and comic strip collections. It was founded in 1999 as the publishing division of Idea and Design Works, LLC (IDW) and is recognized as the fifth-largest comic ...

. In March 2005, the company published its first titles, the debut issues of ''Atomika'' and '' The Grimoire''. In a sign of trouble to come, however, that same month,

Yoshitaka Amano is a Japanese visual artist, character designer, illustrator, a scenic designer for theatre and film, and a costume designer. He began his career in 1967 at Tatsunoko Production working on anime such as '' Speed Racer'' and later became the c ...

's ''

Hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or Physical strength, strength. The original hero type of classical epics did such thin ...

'', a highly anticipated

, was cancelled and postponed one year. It was resolicited in February 2006 for tentative publication in April 2006, but cancelled again in May 2006, and was eventually published by

Boom! Studios Boom! Studios (stylized as BOOM! Studios), is an American comic book and graphic novel publisher. They are headquartered in Los Angeles, California, United States. The company is a subsidiary of Random House division of Penguin Random House sin ...

in November 2006. In October 2005, creator

Frank Espinosa Frank Espinosa is an American animator and cartoonist. He has worked extensively for Disney and Warner Bros., having redesigned the Looney Tunes characters in 1992, fashioned a series of Looney Tunes U.S. postage stamps, and designed the Baby L ...

announced the moving of his ''

'' series to

Image Comics Image Comics is an independent American American comic book, comic book publisher and is the third largest direct market comic book and graphic novel publisher in the industry by market share. Its best-known publications include ''Spawn (comics) ...

. In November 2005, Speakeasy announced it had concluded a financing deal with Los Angeles-based Ardustry Entertainment: Speakeasy would now also develop comics based on licenses brought by Ardustry, while Ardustry would represent Speakeasy's comics properties in the entertainment industry (movies, videogames, etc.)

Troubles

Also in November 2005, Speakeasy-owned titles ''

'', '' The Grimoire'', and '' Spellgame'' went through several creative team changes. In that same period, only a few months after signing with the publisher, ''Atomika'' creator Sal Abbinanti split from Speakeasy to self-publish future issues ''Atomika''. under his own Mercury Comics label. In December 2005, Speakeasy canceled orders on two months' of previously ordered comics. Creator allegations of non-payment and mismanagement of projects started circulating. Speakeasy published no titles in January 2006. That month, creator Sal Cipriano announced he had cancelled his ''Bio Boy'' series, but was keeping ''The Hill'' there. Creator Matt Maxwell announced he had amicably parted with Speakeasy for his '' Strangeways'' series. Four issues had been solicited but never published. Also in January, Chimaera Studios announced they were moving their eight series — ''Mutation'', ''Of Bitter Souls'', ''Super Crazy TNT Blast'' (renamed ''Twilight Men''), ''Smoke & Mirror'', ''Lonebow'', ''Wargod'', ''Project Eon'', and ''Silent Ghost'' — from Speakeasy to the British publisher Markosia. Creators Jose Torres and Chris Dibari announced they were also moving their series ''The Hunger'' to Markosia. In addition, Jonathan Martin's Speakeasy Comics Archive (a blog dedicated to Speakeasy-related news) was shut down, presumably under "trademark infringement" litigation. In February 2006, creators of the series ''O.C.T. - the Occult Crimes Taskforce'' announced their move to Image Comics.

Closure

On February 27, 2006, Vito Delsante, Speakeasy's "unofficial" public relations director, announced via email the immediate closure of Speakeasy, with all March-solicited books still shipping, April and May's being tentative, and June's being cancelled. The company, however, didn't file for bankruptcy, officially in order to try to pay its outstanding bills. Comics reporter

Tom Spurgeon Thomas Martin Spurgeon (December 16, 1968 – November 13, 2019) was an American writer, historian, critic, and editor in the field of comics, notable for his five-year run as editor of ''The Comics Journal'' and his blog ''The Comics Reporter'' ...

characterized the company's demise this way: "... right now you have to have sustainable capital, publishing skill, marketing ability, something some people want, and enough perspective to let those factors and not personal ambition define the enterprise. I didn't see any of that with Speakeasy...." It was later revealed (according to Ardustry Entertainment's business affairs manager, Wayne Williams) that the November 2005 deal between Speakeasy and Ardustry had only been an option to buy Speakeasy, which expired without materialization. Cash-flow problems led to Speakeasy's demise before they could materialize various potentially lucrative licensing deals, such as with HBO (''

The Sopranos ''The Sopranos'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime drama television series created by David Chase. The series follows Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey American Mafia, Mafia boss who suffers from panic attacks. He reluct ...

'' and '' Deadwood''). Speakeasy intended to collect some series in trade paperbacks (such as ''Atomika'', ''Grimoire'', and ''Beowulf''), but all solicited TPBs were eventually cancelled. In March 2006, only ''

#7'' was published. In May 2006,

Diamond Comic Distributors Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc. (often called Diamond Comics, DCD, or casually Diamond) is an American comic book distributor serving retailers in North America and worldwide. It transports comic books and graphic novels, as well as other popu ...

's monthly list of cancelled comics listed all the remaining unpublished Speakeasy comics, with the terminal cancel code 10 ("Supplier Out of Business").

Publications

Monthly titles

* ''Athena Voltaire: Flight of the Falcon'' #1 (2006) — moved to APE Entertainment * '' Atomika'' #1-4 (2005) — moved to Mercury Comics * ''Beowulf'' #1–7 (2005–2006) * ''The Adventures of Bio Boy'' #1–2 (2005) *
Butternutsquash
' #1 (Nov. 2005) — webcomic planned for quarterly publication * ''Death Valley'' (2005) by Scott O. Brown and * '' Elk's Run'' #4 — creator-owned series * '' The Gatesville Company'' #1-2 (2005) * '' The Grimoire'' #1-7 * ''

Helios In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Helios (; ; Homeric Greek: ) is the god who personification, personifies the Sun. His name is also Latinized as Helius, and he is often given the epithets Hyperion ("the one above") an ...

: In With the New'' #1-2 * ''Hero@Large'' #1-2 (2005) * ''The Hunger'' #1–5 (2005) — moved to Markosia * ''Lonebow'' #1 (2005) — moved to Markosia * ''Mutation'' #1–3 (2005) — moved to Markosia * ''Of Bitter Souls'' #1–3 (2005) — moved to Markosia * ''

'' #1–6 (2005–2006) — moved to Image Comics * ''Seasons of the Reaper'' #1 (2005) * ''Shotgun Wedding'' #1 (2005) * ''Smoke & Mirror'' #1–2 (2005) — moved to Markosia * ''Spellgame'' #1-3 * ''Super Crazy TNT Blast'' #1 (2005) — moved to Markosia as ''Twilight Men'' * ''Wargod'' #1 (2005) — moved to Markosia

Cancelled/debuted with other publishers

* ''Hero'' by

— TPB published by Boom Studios in 2006 * ''The Hill'' by Sal Cipriano and Jok — TPB published by Markosia in 2006 * '' O.C.T.: Occult Crimes Taskforce'' – #1–4 published by 12 Gauge Comics and Image in 2006 * '' Phantom Jack: The Nowhere Man Agenda'' — TPB published by IDW in 2010 * ''Project Eon'' — #1–3 published by Markosia in 2006 * ''Silent Ghost'' — #1–2 published by Markosia in 2006 * ''Superunknown'' * '' Strangeways'' — TPB published by Highway 62 Press in 2008

Graphic novels/graphic novellas

* '' The Flying Friar'' (2005) by

Rich Johnston Richard "Rich" Johnston is a British comics creator, columnist, and founder of the comics news site ''Bleeding Cool''. '' The Comics Journal'' described Johnston as having claimed to be "the oldest extant comics news reporter on the Internet. ...

* ''The Living And The Dead'' (2005) by Todd Livingston and Robert Tinnell * ''Parting Ways: the Near Life Experiences of Peter Orbach'' (2005) by Andrew Foley * ''Ravenous'' (2005) by Dawn Brown

Collections

* '' 2020 Visions'' — collects #1–12 previously serialized at DC/Vertigo * '' Elk's Run Bumper Edition'' — collects #1–3 previously self-published * '' Phantom Jack - The Collected Edition'' — collects #1–5 previously serialized at Image Comics

Circulation

Based on pre-order sales through

reported by industry resource site ICv2, Speakeasy's top-selling monthly comics during its period of operation were: * (2005.03) 7,756 copies (rank 190) for ''Atomika #1'' * (2005.04) 6,116 copies (rank 187) for ''Atomika #2'' * (2005.05) 3,305 copies (rank 213) for ''Grimoire #3'' * (2005.06) 5,726 copies (rank 231) for ''Atomika #3'' * (2005.07) 3,717 copies (rank 208) for ''Beowulf #3'' * (2005.08) 6,381 copies (rank 203) for ''Atomika #4'' * (2005.09) 2,019 copies (rank 251) for ''Smoke & Mirror #1'' * (2005.10) 2,946 copies (rank 250) for ''The Grimoire #6'' * (2005.11) 3,130 copies (rank 248) for ''Beowulf #5'' * (2005.12) 2,463 copies (rank 273) for ''The Grimoire #7'' * (2006.01) -- no comics published this month * (2006.02) 2,718 copies (rank 246) for ''Beowulf #6'' * (2006.03) -- one issue published but not ranked in Top 300 (i.e. less than 2,632 copies) * (2006.04) -- no comics published this month * (2006.05) -- no comics published this monthICv2 News - Top 300 Comics Actual-May 2006
/ref>

References

Sources consulted

* Ellis, Jonathan

''PopImage'' (Jan. 2005). * Lander, Randy
"Spotlight on Speakeasy Comics"
''The Fourth Rail'' (Dec. 5, 2005) — overview of Speakeasy's output at the end of 2005 * Gonzalez, Guy LeCharles
"Speakeasy Shakes Things Up,"
''Buzzscope'' (Dec. 2005). * MacDonald, Heidi

''Publishers Weekly'' (Jan. 2006) — look at Alias' and Speakeasy's problems * Weiland, Jonah
"Speakeasy Comics Shuts Its Doors, Fortier Speaks"
''Comic Book Resources'' (Feb. 27, 2006). * Doane, Alan David

''Comics Book Galaxy'' (Feb. 28, 2006)
"Speakeasy Closes Its Doors"
February–March 2006 discussion between comics pros (at

' forum The Engine) * MacDonald, Heidi
"Speakeasy Comics Shuts Down,"
''Publishers Weekly'' (Mar. 7, 2006)

Footnotes

External links

Speakeasy Comics.com
(cached, from April 2005) * {{gcdb publisher, id=2556, title=Speakeasy Comics Defunct comics and manga publishing companies Comic book publishing companies of Canada Canadian companies established in 2004 Companies based in Toronto