™


HUMANOIDS PUBLISHING
COMPANY BIOGRAPHY

The books, comics and trade paperbacks from Humanoids Publishing feature groundbreaking comic art from the world’s finest creators, presented in remarkable high quality publications. Purchased in 1988 by entrepreneur Fabrice Giger, the company was already famous for METAL HURLANT, which inspired the creation of the American magazine Heavy Metal. Imaginative and sophisticated, Humanoids’ science-fiction and heroic fantasy stories are designed to be read and enjoyed by an audience older than that of a typical American comic book. North American audiences are only beginning to discover the outrageous thrills and thought-provoking fun contained in these products.



A while back, Matt Brady at Newsarama conducted an interview with our Marketing Manager, Ian Sattler. The following is a transcript of that interview. We think that it not only describes our agenda as a publisher, but also answers many of our most frequently asked questions. Our thanks go out to Matt and Newsarama.


Give me the Humanoids history - when did they start in Europe, what is their mission, and when did they move operations to the US?

Ian: We have been in the US for about two years. In Europe, Humanoids has been in existence since 1988 when company president, Fabrice Giger, acquired Les Humanoides Associes, a company that was created in 1974 by artists including Moebius. The company was already famous for publishing Metal Hurlant, which inspired the American magazine Heavy Metal. Humanoids Publishing is the backbone of its parent company, The Humanoids Group, a multimedia organization with several associated companies.

A philosophical question - why expand? Why bring this material to the American market?

Ian: Besides the natural behavior of any healthy expanding business, Humanoids wanted to enter the American market because they saw great possibilities for product down the road. Humanoids feels that it has the resources to combine great American artists and writers with their European counterparts. These hybrid books will be able to appeal to readers in several different markets, basically meaning more fun for everybody. One of the first examples of these collaborations will be Travis Charest doing the art for a story written by Alexandro Jodorowsky.

Now, bring me up to speed here - is Humanoids an actual content-developing publisher, or a place where creators bring their work?


Ian: Actually, a little bit of both. We have content stuff like Metabarons, and we also have stories that our creators bring to us like Gimenez’s The 4th Power. There are times when collaboration on one type of project will yield several different projects. It all has a very specific Humanoids style to it though. No matter how different the genre, you can tell when something is a Humanoids book.

How would you describe a book that Humanoids publishes in general terms?

Ian: We have a wide range of themes from Sci-fi to love stories and suspense. Design is also a key component. We go for a very high-end feel in terms of colors, paper stock, our graphic album format, and things like that. So what you get is a beautiful book in a genre that can be understood by a mature multinational audience. If you do suspense or space opera well, it comes across in any language.


What are the general and thematic differences between American and European comics? Theme? Voice? Story? Characters?

Ian: Some of the difference has to do with the audience in Europe vs. the American audience. There is a broader range in terms of age between the European reader, as well as a larger percentage of women readers. This allows us to do a wider range of stories in Europe because the audience is there. If you look at a place like Japan, who has a ridiculously broad pool of readers, you see stories about everything imaginable. European books also tend to be paced different than American books. There is more explanation before and after action. This kind of layered story telling helps bring in the broader audience because the story hits on more themes as it goes through the explanation process. With all of this said, I think that is important to note that there is room for the European style in the US. If presented correctly, it will be easy for American readers to see the appeal in the way we tell stories.

American comics have Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, Jim Steranko, Will Eisner, Carmine Infantino, Neal Adams….who laid the groundwork for European comics?

Ian: It’s funny you ask that because I didn’t really know the answer to that question until I started to work at Humanoids. I knew about Bilal, Moebius, Hugo Pratt, and guys like that, but I was clueless to the effect that the creators from the pre-WWII era had. Herge did Tintin and Goscinny did Asterix and both of those books had a worldwide sphere of influence. Franquin’s work on Spirou and Jacobs Blake and Mortimer were also part of this equivalent to what we would call the Golden Age in the US. The guys I mentioned first were a lot like Europe’s Silver Age. When you look at their work, you can see how elements of it are present in what’s going on today. The history and tradition is just staggering.

Why are comics more accepted as art in the European market, rather than seen as kids stuff here?

Ian: It comes from very vocal support from people who are in the public eye. In the 70’s you had many intellectuals openly supporting comics in France and other part of Europe. It would have been like Andy Warhol, Woody Allen, and other musicians and writers talking in interviews about what a viable art form the Kirby Fantastic Four was. Then in the 80’s French President Mitterand went to the huge convention in Angouleme and declared the fact that comics were an art form that was good for the culture. Those are pretty strong endorsements. Could you imagine the impact events like this would have had in the US? We could still have it today, but a lot of respected famous people who are comics fans are unfortunately tight lipped.

Similarly, why have European comics never ventured too much into superheroes?

Ian: A lack of competition really placed the focus in America on superheroes. US companies owned their heroes and they wanted every new character or story to help expand that property. Without competition from other publishers doing non-hero stuff, the situation just kind of built on itself. That, and they were very popular so nobody was too pressed to put a halt to it for the sake of long-term accessibility. In Europe there was a lot of competition and a broader readership, in turn the audience took to diversity as opposed to one specific thing. With creators allowed to stick to one property and put it out at a slower pace, you just didn’t see everybody herded into doing superheroes. Think about it this way: Herge’s Tintin is a phenomenal success, but there are only like twenty volumes. In comparison there are nowhere near as many Tintin stories as there are for Spider-Man. Personally, I love Spidey and heroes in general but I grew up with that so it’s what I know. It started out different in Europe and stayed that way.

Do you feel that American comics are (finally?) moving towards a sensibility that, while being uniquely American, maybe has more in common with their European counterparts?

Ian: Yes, there are more trade paperbacks now and they are like our counterpart to the European graphic album. We are seeing more and more diversity and mainstream acceptance of the medium. On the other hand, American books come out on the monthly schedule and the publishers here act in a different manner. I think American books are getting more sensible in their own way, in terms that work for them.

Is it important for Humanoids to maintain a European/non-US voice in its publishing material? Why?

Ian: Sure, it is our identity here and it helps us to stand out. I wouldn’t call it as much a “European” voice as much as a “Universal” voice. There are many things that Humanoids respects and wants to incorporate from the American market. For example, the Metabarons Trade Paperback that comes out in March will be the same size as a DC Comics TP. We think that works for this book in this market. We also love the energy of American comics, which is a lot of why we want to go on and create a hybrid of styles in our books. We will always have very European elements to the way we do things, but we are in no way closed off to learning from other styles.

How would you describe a Humanoids book to someone who's been raised on a steady diet of American superhero comics?

Ian: I would describe it as having big action and layered plots. Since our books have endings set when the story starts, you won’t get much in the way of dangling plot threads like you are used to with US superhero stuff. At times we have drama and action that resembles superhero stuff, and we also publish books that are nothing like it.

Your format is very European, (slim hardback volumes) - why maintain this in the states? Is it just the ease of printing all the volumes at once?

Ian: Again, keeping the graphic album format has a lot to do with maintaining our identity as Humanoids in the states. The format is uncommon, but we think it is a great way to showcase our art as well as giving the reader something different. Although we don’t always print volumes in both countries at once, it is easier for us to keep the art and story in the same format as when it was printed in Europe. Keep in mind that we have other formats, such as the American size Metabarons comic and the upcoming Metabarons TP. We will continue to explore different formats, but we will always present the graphic album.

If it is the latter, what goes into a decision on whether or not a Humanoids book should have a US release? I can think of a few quality American books that probably wouldn't light anyone's fire in Europe, so I'm sure there are some that go the opposite direction…

Ian: You’re right; culture differences definitely come into play when deciding what will do well in other countries. For example, we have a good sized catalogue of humor books that even if translated would not make sense to an American market because of inherent cultural issues. Things like references to other areas of a country’s pop culture and sort of “in jokes” need too much explanation to work in a comic. Ultimately, most of our books fit under our plan to be “universal” in what and to whom we present our books to.

Who are your superstars? For the totally illiterate, could you give a short, short sketch of each?

Ian: Moebius is the template many of our artists look to for career longevity and cross-media appeal, he has drawn everything from westerns to sci-fi. His work on The Incal with Jodorowsky did nothing less than inspire an entire generation of artists. Enki Bilal shows an evolution of styles; if you read Black Order Brigade or Hunting Party you see pen and ink crosshatched rendering. Dormant Beast is a mix of acrylic paint, pastels and computer manipulation, while The Nikopol Trilogy is a bridge between the two styles. Alexandro Jodorowsky has been redefining modern storytelling for decades and not just in comics; his novels, poetry, plays and films (as writer and director) have had major world impact. His teaming with Moebius on The Incal in the early eighties, to his varied genre work with White Lama, TechnoPriests, The Metabarons, Anibal Cinq and others. We have an all-star team level of talent that goes on and on. Gimenez, Yslaire, Beltran, and Bess are just a few more names.

Many of the Humanoids creators have already seen their work reprinted in the US - is Humanoids looking to represent their other material, or will there be reprints of reprints?

Ian: You will continue to see us reprint books that have already been out in Europe, but as time goes on we will publish material that is new to everybody. We are fortunate to have a real wealth of material that we can bring over to the US, stuff like The Metabarons and The Incal really need to see the light of day over here. In terms of The Incal, it will be presented in the US completely differently than it was in Europe. Here it will be all three stories (Before The Incal, The Incal, and After The Incal) presented in chronological story order in monthly comics.

Obviously, right now, Metabarons is the runaway hit. Is this being published simultaneously in English, so the European and US versions match, or has the story already come out in Europe, and the English versions are catching up?

Ian: It is pretty far ahead in Europe, but not finished yet. The story is the same, but we had to make tiny changes here and there to cover up some nudity. It’s funny that the violence is no problem in the states; while small amounts of nudity are something we really have to look out for. Gimenez did a fantastic job with the cover-ups though; I bet you could never tell where the changes are.

What do you feel is responsible for the success of The Metabarons?

Ian: Word of mouth has been a huge help. Before we started really having a chance to push the book, its core group of fans were singing its praises everywhere they could. Warren Ellis was also very kind to us during his online travels; he helped bring in a lot of readers. We are really grateful for all of the help we got with Metabarons because it is truly a brilliant read and deserves to be in the hands of as many people as possible. We also have a Metabarons RPG coming out soon that will be played on the D6 System, which was used in the classic Stars Wars game.

Travis Charest is doing a Metabarons project in the coming year. How much can be said about it? How did you get hooked up with him?

Ian: Basically, the powers that be at Humanoids were big fans of his art and approached him about doing work for us. It turned out that he knew who we were and was excited to come aboard. The slower pace we publish at works very well for Travis, and gives us the opportunity to release the book, Dreamshifters, at the same time in Europe and the US. Dreamshifters takes place in the same world as The Incal, and includes the Metabaron as a major character.

What are your challenges in expanding into the superhero heavy American comics market?

Ian: Explaining to people that it does not matter that we don’t publish traditional American comics. A good story is a good story, and we stand behind our work. I don’t see any reason why everything can’t exist in the same market. We will do our thing and companies like DC will do theirs, I think that more diversity will help create more readers. We also have to help people understand that we are not some new company who will be gone in a few months. Humanoids has been successful for a long time at publishing comics, and we will be able to do so in the US.

You've located your offices in Hollywood - I'm thinking it's not an accident. Are you/is Humanoids actively looking for attention from Hollywood for it's properties and books?

Ian: No, not an accident. Humanoids Publishing is part of a group of companies that include animation, computer animation software, role-playing games, ect. We actually won an Emmy for Rolie Polie Olie for Disney. So our location in LA had to do with our other interests as well as wanting to attract attention to our comics.