November
15 Mouse House picks up CrossGen

It's like those old commercials: "Disney Publishing Worldwide, you've just acquired the assets of CrossGen Entertainment! What are you going to do now?"

"We're going to Abadazad!"

Disney made the acquisition official today in a press release that also spelled out plans for four new "Abadazad" books to be published by Hyperion Books for Children, an imprint of Disney Publishing Worldwide. Fans of "Abadazad," which debuted to rave reviews earlier this year from the now-bankrupt CrossGen, will be happy to hear that the books creators, writer J.M. DeMatteis and artist Mike Ploog, will continue to work on the property.

"Abadazad" is a tale in the mold of classic children's tales such as "Alice in Wonderland" about a young girl's search for her brother in a magical fantasy world. The concept is a obvious fit for Disney, for which getting the rights to "Abadazad" was essential to the acquisition deal.

While "Abadazad" is going full-steam ahead, Disney is currently going through the CrossGen catalog looking for other properties to develop.

CrossGen began with a shared universe concept with books such as "The First," "Meridian" and "Mystic." It later developed more diverse titles such as the Victorian detective title "Ruse," samurai drama "Way of the Rat," teen-horror book "Route 666" and spy spoof "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang."

CrossGen was founded and run by Mark Alessi, who developed in the 1990s a tech company that he sold to H. Ross Perot. He took the profits from the sale and started CrossGen in 1998 with the idea of changing the way the comics biz operated. At a time when late-shipping comics were common, CrossGen guaranteed its books would come out on time and be affordable, high-quality comics. The company put its creators on staff and had them work out of the company's luxurious offices near Tampa, Fla. It based its original titles on careful examination of the market and the history of comics. It also had plans for educational programs and high-tech delivery of comics stories. But the direct market never warmed up to CrossGen and the larger world failed to take notice. While CrossGen books developed loyal followings, the audience was never large enough for the company to challenge DC, Marvel, Dark Horse or Image. CrossGen filed for bankrutpcy in June.

DPW made a big splash with "W.I.T.C.H.," a comics magazine for 'tween girls that launched in Italy in 2001 and now has 33 international editions generating over 1 million copies a month. The company is the world's largest children's publisher with books and magazines in 55 languages and 75 countries, reaching more than 100 million readers a month. The company also came to Comic-Con Intl. in San Diego for the first time this year, putting up a huge booth to promote its product.

Disney has a proud comics history, with Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck comics datign back to the 1930s. In recent years, the company has licensed its classic comics characters to the likes of Gemstone publishing, which keeps the work of Carl Barks and new material along those lines in print.

While CrossGen made a solid attempt to succeed in the comics specialty market, Disney Publishing Worldwide has the power to get its material in front of a huge audience and hook a whole new generation of readers on the format. The idea any mainstream business would bet on comics like this was practically unthinkable a few short years ago, and bodes well for the improving health of the comics biz.