Carlos Morales
The agreement reached with Zorro Productions, Inc. (ZPI) will add the legendary swordsman to Alien’s catalog of licensed properties including the Valiant Comics characters, overseas manga, and translated editions of Juan Gimenez’s classic graphic novels.
Alien Books, the cutting edge publisher that is the current home to the Valiant Comics characters and recently signed a sub-distribution agreement with IDW Publishing, continues its resurgence with the addition of the legendary ‘Zorro’ comic book license. The dedicated team at Alien Books will give the iconic swordsman the spotlight he deserves across a variety of crowdfunding, retail projects, direct market releases, and book store titles.
Originally created in 1919 by author Johnston McCulley, the masked avenger Zorro is one of the most iconic and enduring fictional characters of all time with dozens of multi-generational books, tv series, films and comic books released worldwide. Zorro’s rich comic book history includes stints with publishers Dell Comics, Gold Key, Marvel and Dynamite, among others. Over the years, talents to have provided their own unique takes on Zorro include Alex Toth, Warren Tufts, Don MacGregor, Matt Wagner, Jesse Marsh, Mel Keefer, Ruben Procopio, Paul S. Newman, Frank Miller, Russ Manning, Thomas Yeates, Dan Spiegle, Alex Ross, Francesco Francavilla, Howard Chaykin, Sean Gordon Murphy, Quentin Tarantino and many more.
“We’re overjoyed to be working with Zorro Productions, Inc. to bring back classic Zorro stories in deluxe remastered editions and spearhead new and exciting adventures with some of today’s most talented comics creators,” said Alien Books Director and Editor-in-Chief Matias Timarchi.
John Gertz, President of Zorro Productions, Inc. stated, “For decades we have utilized a fresh, innovative approach with top talent to enhance the Zorro’s universe of characters, the Zorro brand and franchise. Our relationship with Alien Books is yet another example of our commitment to our fans and Zorro!”
One of the first projects to be released from Alien Books under this new licensing agreement will be a Kickstarter campaign for a deluxe hardcover edition of Alex Toth’s ‘Zorro’ series from 1958 featuring remastered colors and lettering along with a story by Howard Chaykin and Eduardo Risso, premiering for the first time in English.
Additional ‘Zorro’ projects will be announced in the months to come and will be available to order for comic shops and bookstores through IDW Publishing’s solicitations.
The crowdfunding campaign will offer deluxe add-ons including limited edition Zorro busts, trading cards and prints. The project will launch on April 23rd and interested backers can sign up now to get notified when it goes live.
