‘Scott Pilgrim vs. the World’ Producer Teams with Publishing Veterans to Launch New Comic Book Company (Exclusive)

Producer Eric Gitter has spent many years bringing comic books and graphic novels to the screen, working on movies such as Extraction, Atomic Blonde and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. Now he’s diving deeper into the genre as the co-founder of a new comic book and graphic novel publisher, teaming up with several independent publishing veterans in the process.

Joining Gitter in the new venture are former Boom! Studios topper Filip Sablik as publisher, former IDW head Jamie S. Rich as editor-in-chief, and comics creator Jeremy Haun as creative director.

The untitled company will eschew superheroes and lean toward horror, science fiction, crime and fantasy. The company did not disclose funding nor did it unveil a slate, although it hopes to lock up creators by the end of the year or early next. Its goal is to begin putting out books sometime in 2025.

Working off of Gitter’s background in Hollywood, the company will have one eye on screen adaptations. Gitter previously headed up the screen division of Oni Press and earned producer credits on adaptations such as Edgar Wright’s Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and the Chris Hemsworth Extraction action movies, the latter which were based on the publisher’s Cuidad graphic novel. Gitter has been running his own production outfit in recent years and the shingle will be folded into the new company.

The launch comes amid a disruption in the comic book publishing landscape. Sales suffered a significant downturn last year, with one of the few bright spots being licensed fare such as Transformers and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Independent publisher Boom! Studios was acquired by Random House Publishing in the spring, while indie outfit AfterShock filed for bankruptcy in December 2022 and IDW suffered layoffs this year.   

Still, the partners believe that by the time their books come to market, readers and retailers will be ready for a change.

“The entire media landscape, including comics, has been reshaped the last few years and all of us are excited to build a comic book publisher designed to meet the needs of today’s audiences, creators, and the marketplace at large in mind as opposed to those from decades past,” said Sablik. “Heading into 2025, we believe audiences and retailers are going to be hungry for fresh stories that seed the next generation of original franchises and we can’t wait to meet them there!”

Sablik is a publishing industry executive with nearly 25 years experience in distribution, editorial, marketing, sales, business development, and operations. With prior stints at Diamond Comic Distributors and Top Cow, Sablik was most recently Boom!’s president of publishing and marketing, a position he held for 12 years. Sablik was a key member of the leadership team that grew the indie into a prominent publisher leading up to its acquisition by Random House. Boom! tripled its market share during his tenure. The exec is credited with using Kickstarter to launch comics, notably Brzrkr, the Keanu Reeves-created title about an immortal warrior. The book became one of the biggest indie hits of the decade.   

Rich is an award-winning editor, author, and comic publishing executive with 30 years experience. Part of that includes acting as group editor of Batman and Justice League comics for DC and the head of its Vertigo/DC’s Young Animal imprint. He also held roles at Dark Horse Comics, Oni Press and Tapas Media, holding the editor-in-chief position at the last two. Most recently, he served as editor-in-chief at IDW, leading the editorial team through a critical restructuring period. He departed on the heels of revitalizing the TMNT line of books and was instrumental in launching Patrick Horvath’s original comic Beneath The Trees Where Nobody Sees, a critical and commercial hit.

Haun is a prolific, fan favorite comic book writer and artist who has worked with numerous publishers in a career spanning 20-plus years. He is best known for creator-owned properties such as The Beauty and The Realm, published by Image Comics, and Red Mother and The Approach, both from Boom! He has worked on comics involving characters ranging from Batman to Captain America to Spawn.

The new company will be repped by WME and attorneys Fred Goodman and Rich Marin of Marin Goodman.