BOOM! STUDIOS
TO DISTRIBUTE
AVATAR PRESS
TO THE BOOK TRADE
VIA SIMON & SCHUSTER AND
HARPERCOLLINS CANADA


March 23rd, 2011 – Los Angeles, CA – BOOM! Studios announced today that it has entered into an agreement with Avatar Press to distribute their graphic novels to the book trade. This agreement will see BOOM! distributing Avatar in the United States via BOOM!’s existing relationship with Simon & Schuster and Canadian distribution through BOOM!’s existing relationship with HarperCollins Canada.

The new BOOM! Studios/Avatar mass market partnership sees two of the top ten Direct Market publishers teaming up for a unique relationship, extending both brands into the mass market.

“The Avatar library is an excellent compliment to the existing BOOM! list that doesn't cannibalize our Studios and KABOOM! offerings, but rounds out what we are already doing,” said Founder and CEO of BOOM! Studios Ross Richie. “Avatars’ CEO William Christensen is a brilliant businessman and has a proven track record of great Direct Market success. Avatar has great growth potential in the mass market book trade, and we look forward to being an excellent partner in their continued expansion!”

"Distributing via BOOM!, Simon & Schuster, and HarperCollins Canada enables Avatar to bring its world-renowned, best-selling catalog of the biggest creators in the business to a wider audience," said Avatar Press Publisher William Christensen. "Top talent like Alan Moore, Warren Ellis, and Garth Ennis continue to show sales growth and fan interest."

Simon & Schuster and HarperCollins Canada begin distribution of Avatar Press' eclectic line of independent graphic novels on March 21, 2011 and will also begin accepting returns as of that date. Diamond Book Distributors Inc. will continue to accept returns for all Avatar Press books up until March 20, 2011.

BOOM! Studios began distributing their original and licensed graphic novels through Simon & Schuster and HarperCollins Canada in July 2009.
Avatar Press is known for publishing such comic book luminaries as Alan Moore (NEONOMICON), Warren Ellis (FREAKANGELS, BLACK SUMMER), and Garth Ennis (CROSSED, CHRONICLES OF WORMWOOD), as well as New York Times bestselling author George R.R. Martin (FEVRE DREAM) and licensed comics based on George A. Romero's NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD.

Simon & Schuster, a part of CBS Corporation, is a global leader in the field of general interest publishing, dedicated to providing the best in fiction and nonfiction for consumers of all ages, across all printed, electronic, and audio formats. Its divisions include Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing, Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, Simon & Schuster Audio, Simon & Schuster Digital, and international companies in Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. For more information, please visit www.simonandschuster.com.

HarperCollins Canada publishes fiction, non-fiction, and books for children, as well as religious and reference books. HarperCollins imprints in Canada include HarperCollins, Harper Perennial, HarperTrophyCanada, Collins, and Phyllis Bruce Books. These imprints publish many of Canada’s finest writers, including Bonnie Burnard, Charlotte Gray, Lawrence Hill, Barbara Kingsolver and Kenneth Oppel as well as writers and leading authorities from Canada and around the world, such as Nick Cave, Tim Flannery, Theo Fleury, J.L. Granatstein, and General Rick Hillier. For more information, please visit http://www.harpercollins.ca.

About Avatar Press
Avatar Press is a leading independent company publishing a wide variety of comic books and graphic novels by the most talented and celebrated creators in the industry. Among their fine products are highly-regarded creator-owned titles such as George R.R. Martin’s FEVRE DREAM, Alan Moore’s NEONOMICON and WRITING FOR COMICS, Warren Ellis’ FREAKANGELS and BLACK SUMMER, and Garth Ennis’ CROSSED and CHRONICLES OF WORMWOOD, as well as licensed comic projects including George A. Romero’s NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD. For more information about Avatar Press and their publications, please visit www.avatarpress.com or contact info@avatarpress.net.

About BOOM! Studios
Award-winning "Best Publisher" BOOM! Studios (www.boom-studios.com) generates a constellation of bestselling comic books and graphic novels with the industry’s top talent, including Mark Waid series IRREDEEMABLE, Stan Lee's SOLDIER ZERO, THE TRAVELER, and STARBORN (the first new series in print from the industry icon in 20 years), new HELLRAISER comics written by Clive Barker as well as 20th Century Fox's PLANET OF THE APES, 28 DAYS LATER, and DIE HARD, Philip K. Dick's DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP?, and The Henson Company's FARSCAPE. BOOM!'s recently rebranded all-ages imprint, kaboom! will see publication of PEANUTS, SPACE WARPED, Roger Langridge's SNARKED!, Scholastic's WORD GIRL and DUCK TALES, as well as continuing to publish fan-favorite Disney Afternoon series DARKWING DUCK, CHIP 'N' DALE RESCUE RANGERS along with Disney standards MICKEY MOUSE, DONALD DUCK, UNCLE SCROOGE, and WALT DISNEY'S COMICS AND STORIES.