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Small Press Publisher Spotlight: Aspen

By | February 18th, 2015
Posted in Columns | 3 Comments
Banner courtesy of Mark Tweedale

Aspen is a small but stable publisher who has been around for over a decade. The company delivers a consistent quality in its books and has developed a committed following, but serves a niche in the market that has somewhat limited its growth potential. Because of its longevity and regularity, it has become a part of the landscape of the comic industry. Most readers are aware of Aspen, it’s expected at conventions, and it can sometimes be used as a signpost for new readers looking for new books. Like most steady figures, it can be easy to take for granted. Since everyone knows Aspen’s output is steady in quality and quantity, it doesn’t seem to warrant as much attention as the unknown measure of whatever new and/or controversial event is occurring elsewhere. This edition of Small Press Spotlight will do its part to reverse that trend and hopefully remind readers that well told and well drawn comics are always worth a mention.

Michael Turner

Like most of these stories, the seed that grew into Aspen was planted long before it sprouted. Michael L. Turner had a job waiting tables in Tennessee when he showed a five page sample of his work to Marc Silvestri at SDCC ’93. He was offered a job filling in backgrounds at Top Cow Productions, which prompted him to move to California in 1994. By October 1995, Turner’s skills had earned him the chance to do full art duties for the launch of “Witchblade”. The plot was strong, but it was the book’s art style that brought much of the attention that made it a hit. Riding that wave of popularity, Turner turned around and launched his own book, “Fathom.” It’s debut became the best selling issue 1998.

A few months later, Turner was diagnosed with a type of bone cancer in 2000, chondrosarcoma. He was treated with surgery and nine months of radiation, and the cancer went into remission.

The best selling single issue of 1998

In the fall of 2002, Turner decided to produce “Fathom” through his own imprint. He founded Aspen MLT with two friends, Frank Mastromauro and Peter Steigerwald. The goal of the company was to showcase their talents and control the presentation of their properties. The company hit an immediate delay when Top Cow filed suit over the rights to “Fathom” and other properties Turner had created for (or while he was employed by) Top Cow. The case was settle out of court in 2003, and “Fathom” was relaunched by Aspen in 2004. Titles like “Soulfire”, “Ekos”, and “Executive Assistant: Iris” were soon hitting shelves and selling well. Their books were especially well received by “Wizard” magazine, which often featured covers by Turner and positive reviews of Aspen books. Turner also maintained mainstream exposure by providing covers for high-profile event books for Marvel and DC.

After his cancer returned and went back into remission several times, Turner passed away June 27, 2008.

Without Turner’s leadership, co-owners Mastromauro and Steigerwald have done their best to continue Aspen by sticking to the founding principals. They still seek out skilled new talents who aren’t afraid to experiment with a different kind of story, and they keep telling the stories they want to tell to the best of their abilities. Under their direction, established properties like “Fathom” and “Soulfire” have remained in production and new comics like Greg Pak and Tony Parker’s “Dead Man’s Run” and Mark Roslan and Micah Kaneshiro’s “Broken Pieces” have had the chance to find an audience.

Aspen doesn’t seek that audience passively. They communicate with retailers and social media users as frequently as they can. They’re a silver sponsor of Free Comic Book Day, and they consider a presence at conventions to be vital to their survival. According to Steigerwald, conventions are the best time to get feedback from fans and to introduce themselves to potential readers. As an added draw, they also have exclusives at every event. Being available on Comixology has also helped bring new readers to Aspen. Digital sales from the Aspen catalog have been growing every month, and have been connected to a growth in their print sales.

Continued below

In October 2014, Aspen announced their acquisition of fellow small publisher Big Dog Ink. The two companies shared similar fanbases, and by joining forces they hope for both lines to grow. The most immediate effect was BDI’s backlist being made available through Aspen’s store and their new releases advertised as in imprint in Aspen’s section of “Previews.” Long term, they’ll mix their creative pools to generate newer, fresher material that may not have happened otherwise. They’ll also be able to share in the fixed costs of publishing, which will free up some capital give riskier concepts a shot or to give underperforming titles a longer chance to find readers.

In the coming year, Aspen has several new titles coming. Some, like “Fathom: Blue” (Vince Hernandez and Claudio Avella) and “Eternal Soulfire” (J.T. Krul and Anthony Spay) are spinoffs of established books. Both of these are premiering in the 2015 FCBD offering. There are also plans for new titles which have not yet been announced, so be sure to check the monthly solicitations for news and updates.


//TAGS | Small Press Spotlight

Drew Bradley

Drew Bradley is a long time comic reader whose past contributions to Multiversity include annotations for "MIND MGMT", the Small Press Spotlight, Lettering Week, and Variant Coverage. He currently writes about the history of comic comic industry. Feel free to email him about these things, or any other comic related topic.

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