Chad Burdette
Humanoids, the iconic European comics publisher, announced that industry veteran Mark Waid has been named the company’s new publisher.
Waid, who has been involved with Humanoids since 2018 as the Director of Creative Development, will now, as the publisher, oversee creative, editorial, marketing, and sales as well as finding new ways to push into the U.S. market. Waid is probably best known for his work on popular Marvel and DC Comics titles such as Daredevil, Captain America, The Flash, and Kingdom Come, but also served as the editor-in-chief and chief creative officer of Boom! Studios, which published his digital comics company Thrillbent, was an editor for DC Comics, and a lead writer for Archie Comics throughout his comics career.
In a statement from the publisher the Hollywood Reporter, Waid talked about taking the position of publisher:
“Fabrice Giger founded Humanoids in Los Angeles in 1998 with the goal of introducing American readers to the European masterworks by creators like Jodorowsky, Mœbius, Gimenez, and Manara and these classics remain the foundation of Humanoids. As we look to the future, Humanoids’ publishing slate will honor the legacy of those iconic books, while continuing to innovate and experiment with new publishing initiatives like Life Drawn, BIG, and H1.”
In the same statement, Giger, the Humanoids publishing CEO, added,
“With his passion for publishing, respect for the medium’s past, attention to today’s political and cultural landscapes, and keen eye for spotting talent, Mark Waid is perfectly suited to lead the Humanoids publishing team as the new Publisher of Humanoids English-language efforts. We are thrilled with the work that Mark has done and it was time to expand his responsibilities. It’s a significant passing of the baton.”
Waid will be coming into Humanoids as the 40th-anniversary celebration of The Incal kicks off with the re-release of such comics as The Incal, the critically acclaimed collaboration between Alejandro Jodorowsky and Moebius with a new introduction from Brian Michael Bendis. The Incal will be available in both a mass-market edition and a limited edition comic store edition.
Humanoids will also release an oversized hardcover career retrospective from Vincent Bernière & Nicolas Tellop; The Seven Lives of Alejandro Jodorowsky, a new edition of Jean-Claude Forest’s Barbarella comics with translation by Bitch Planet’s Kelly Sue DeConnick, Metal Hurtlant: Selected Works, collecting classic “best-of” stories from the forerunner of Heavy Metal magazine.
The publisher is also set to offer two new original graphic novels Nicnevin and the Bloody Queen and MPLS Sound.
In the same statement, Waid also said,
“We’ve got some brilliant nonfiction on the slate. We’ve got a wide array of books in progress for young readers and the YA audience that we’ll be announcing soon. That range of storytelling and ambition illustrates where our focus is in 2020 — and where Humanoids goes from here.”
As part of this year’s Free Comic Book Day offerings, the company will release We Are Humanoids Featuring the Incal, an all-new Incal story by Waid and artist Stéphane Roux.
