American publishing house
MonkeyBrain Books (MonkeyBrain, Inc.) is an independent American
publishing house based in
Austin, Texas, specialising in books comprising both new content and reprinting online, international, or out-of-print content, which show "an academic interest," but which "reach a popular audience as well."
[1]
History
Founded by science-fiction author
Chris Roberson with his business partner and spouse Allison Baker, MonkeyBrain Books specializes in "genre fiction and nonfiction genre studies" after two years focusing solely on non-fiction.
[2]
After dabbling in self-publication and
Print On Demand, Roberson said he wanted to ensure that his books were distributed widely.
[3]
The first project MonkeyBrain Books published was a collection of companion notes to
Alan Moore and
Kevin O'Neill's 1999 comic book series
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume I: Heroes & Monsters: The Unofficial Companion to the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, compiled by Texas-native
Jess Nevins.
[4] It was nominated for an
International Horror Guild Award and favorably reviewed in both Locus and The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, among other publications.
[5] The companion to
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume II followed in 2004, and in 2006,
Titan Books published the UK versions of both titles. In 2008, the guide to
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier was released.
Other titles
Continuing its self-imposed remit to publish works of non-fiction genre studies, MonkeyBrain's debut titles (in December, 2003) also included a collection of short essays by Matthew Rossi, comprising a wide-ranging guide to numerous weird, odd, imaginary, and mythical places and things: Things That Never Were: Fantasies, Lunacies & Entertaining Lies, and a collection of articles/essays by
Rick Klaw (many of which had appeared on his "Geeks with Books" column at SF Site) ruminating on everything from book-selling & signings, comics & science fiction and censorship: Geek Confidential: Echoes from the 21st Century. In 2004, MonkeyBrain's output included a substantially updated (around 25% new material
[1]) printing of
Michael Moorcock's guide to Epic Fantasy, and
The Discontinuity Guide, author and writer
Paul Cornell (with
Martin Day &
Keith Topping)'s attempt to form a coherent narrative from decades of
Doctor Who continuity. In 2005, alongside
Philip Jose Farmer commentator
Win Scott Eckert's guide to the
Wold Newton Universe, the
Locus award-nominated Myths for the Modern Age (whose contributors include Philip Jose Farmer and Jess Nevins, among others), Chris Roberson edited the first volume in a projected annual series of Adventure anthologies, comprising "original fiction in the spirit of early twentieth-century pulp fiction magazines" across the genres, featuring contributions from (among others)
Lou Anders,
Paul Di Filippo,
Mark Finn,
Michael Moorcock and
Kim Newman.[
citation needed]
In 2005 MonkeyBrain also published Jess Nevins'
World Fantasy Award-nominated Encyclopedia of Fantastic Victoriana, the first comprehensive reference encyclopedia to the fantastic literature of the nineteenth century, while 2006 debuted MonkeyBrain's first art book, covering the work of John Picacio, MonkeyBrain's primary cover artist. Cementing MonkeyBrain's leap from non-fiction and reference genre works to include fiction, 2006 also saw publication of a collection of science fiction author
Kim Newman's
Richard Jeperson stories (a distillation of British spy-fi television) in The Man from the Diogenes Club, with a follow-up published the following year alongside
Paul Cornell's imaginative science fiction novel British Summertime.[
citation needed]
Robert E. Howard scholar Mark Finn's 2006 biography,
Blood & Thunder: The Life & Art of Robert E. Howard, met with considerable critical praise, and not only won the 2007 Cimmerian Award, The Atlantean, but was also nominated for Locus and
World Fantasy Awards.
[6]
[7]
[8]
In 2012, MonkeyBrain launched a
new publishing arm for creator-owned comics that would focus solely on
digital distribution through
Comixology.
[9]
[10]
Published works
MonkeyBrain Comics
-
Edison Rex #1–18 (written by
Chris Roberson, drawn by
Dennis Culver, 2012–2016)
-
Aesop's Ark #1–3 (written by
J. Torres, drawn by
Jennifer L. Meyer, 2012)
-
The October Girl #1–4 (written and drawn by
Matthew Dow Smith, 2012–2015)
-
Amelia Cole (co-written by
Adam P. Knave and
D.J. Kirkbride, drawn by
Nick Brokenshire):
- Amelia Cole and the Unknown World #1–6 (2012–2013)
- Amelia Cole and the Hidden War #1–6 (2013)
- Amelia Cole and the Enemy Unleashed #1–6 (2014)
- Amelia Cole and the Impossible Fate #1–6 (2014–2015)
- Amelia Cole Versus the End of Everything #1–6 (2015–2016)
-
Bandette #1–ongoing (written by
Paul Tobin, drawn by
Colleen Coover, 2012–...)
-
Wander #1–4 (written by
Kevin Church, drawn by
Grace Allison, 2012–2014)
-
Masks and Mobsters #1–10 (written by
Joshua Williamson, drawn by
Mike Henderson,
Jason Copland (#4),
Justin Greenwood (#6),
Ryan Cody (#8) and
Seth Damoose (#10), 2012–2013)
-
Thoughts on a Winter Morning (written by
Kurt Busiek, drawn by
Steve Lieber,
one-shot, 2012)
-
The Stars Below (written by
Zack Smith, drawn by
Rich Ellis, one-shot, 2012)
-
Spirit of the Law #1–2 (written by
Brandon Seifert, drawn by
Michael Montenat, 2012)
-
Action Cats (co-written by Adam P. Knave and
Lauren Vogelbaum, drawn by
Eamon Dougherty, one-shot, 2012)
-
Red Light Properties #1–13 (written and drawn by
Dan Goldman, 2012–2014)
-
Unfair (written by
Vance Sumner, drawn by
Sandy Jarrell, one-shot, 2013)
-
Denali #1–2 (written by
Jay Faerber, drawn by
John Broglia, 2013)
-
High Crimes #1–12 (written by
Christopher Sebela, drawn by
Ibrahim Moustafa, 2013–2015)
-
Phabula #1
[11] (written and drawn by
Dalton Rose, 2013)
-
The Red Panda (written by
Gregg Taylor, drawn by
Dean Kotz):
- Mask of the Red Panda #1–3 (2013)
- The Red Panda #1–10 (2014–2016)
-
Frost #0–1
[12] (co-written by
Brandon Jerwa and
Eric Trautmann, drawn by
Giovanni Timpano, 2013)
-
Artful Daggers #1–17 (co-written by Adam P. Knave and
Sean E. Williams, drawn by
Andrew Losq, 2013–2015)
-
Skybreaker #1–5 (written by
Michael Moreci, drawn by
Drew Zucker, 2013–2014)
-
Knuckleheads #1–8 (written by
Brian Winkeler, drawn by
Robert Wilson IV, 2013–2014)
-
Theremin #1–4 (written by
Curt Pires, drawn by Dalton Rose, 2013–2014)
-
Kinski #1–6 (written and drawn by
Gabriel Hardman, 2013–2014)
-
Subatomic Party Girls #1–3 (co-written by
Chris Sims and
Chad Bowers, drawn by
Erica Henderson, 2013–2014)
-
Captain Ultimate #1–6 (co-written by
Benjamin Bailey and
Joey Esposito, drawn by
Boykoesh, 2013–2014)
-
Avery Fatbottom: Renaissance Fair Detective #1
[13] (written and drawn by
Jen Vaughn, 2013)
-
Anti-Hero #1–10 (written by Jay Faerber, drawn by
Nate Stockman, 2013–2014)
-
Detectobot #0–1
[14] (written by
Peter Timony, drawn by
Bobby Timony, 2013)
-
Dropout #1
[15] (written by
Phil Hester, drawn by
Tyler Walpole, 2013)
-
Heartbreakers #1–8 (written by
Anina Bennett, drawn by
Paul Guinan, 2013–2015)
-
Inkshot (anthology one-shot edited by
Hector Lima, 2013)
-
Real West #1–3 (anthology edited by
Chris Schweizer, 2013)
-
BOO! Halloween Stories (anthology edited by
Jon Morris):
- BOO! Halloween Stories #1–4, 2014, 2015, 2016 (2013–2016)
- BOO! 2014 Holiday Special (2014)
-
Strange Nation #1–8 (written by
Paul Allor, drawn by
Juan Romera, 2013–2014)
-
Code Monkey Save World #1–4 (written by
Greg Pak, drawn by
Takeshi Miyazawa, 2013–2014)
-
The Army of Dr. Moreau #1–6 (written by
David F. Walker, drawn by
Carl Sciacchitano, 2013–2015)
-
Old Red 203X #1 (written and drawn by
Rory Morris, 2013)
-
Amazing Forest #1–10 (co-written by
Ulises Farinas and
Erick Freitas, drawn by various artists, 2013–2015)
-
The Double Life of Miranda Turner #1–9 (written by
Jamie S. Rich, drawn by
George Kambadais, 2013–2016)
-
Prime-8s #1–2 (co-written by Michael Moreci and
Steve Seeley, drawn by
Kyle Latino, 2013–2014)
-
D4VE #1–5 (written by
Ryan Ferrier, drawn by
Valentin Ramon, 2013–2014)
-
Panels for Primates (anthology edited by
Troy Wilson):
- Panels for Primates (one-shot, 2013)
- Panels for Primates Junior (one-shot, 2013)
-
Art Monster #1–3 (written by
Jeremy Holt, drawn by
Francesca Ciregia, 2013–2014)
-
Copernicus Jones: Robot Detective #1–7 (written by
Matt D. Wilson, drawn by
Kevin Warren, 2014–2015)
-
The Remains #1–4 (written by
Cullen Bunn, drawn by
A. C. Zamudio, 2014)
-
GoGetters #1
[16] (written by
Shawn Aldridge, drawn by
Christopher Peterson, 2014)
-
Headspace #1–8 (written by
Ryan K. Lindsay, drawn by
Eric Zawadzki, 2014–2015)
-
The Fallen #1–4 (of 8 planned) (written by
Alex De-Gruchy, drawn by
Michael Montenat, 2014)
-
Skinned #1–6 (co-written by Jeremy Holt and
Tim Daniel, drawn by
Joshua Gowdy, 2014–2016)
- Travel sketchbooks by
Natalie Nourigat:
- Amsterdam Sketchbook (one-shot, 2014)
- Tally Marks #1–7 (2014–2015)
-
Henchmen, Inc. #1–2 (written by
Tim Simmons, drawn by
Jim McMunn, 2014–2015)
-
Street Angel #1–5 (co-written by
Jim Rugg and
Brian Maruca, drawn by Jim Rugg, 2014)
- Stories originally published in Street Angel #1–5 (
SLG Publishing, 2004–2005)
-
Behemoth #1–4 (written by
Chris Kipiniak, drawn by
J. K. Woodward, 2015)
-
Kings and Canvas #0–5 (written by
Neil Kleid, drawn by
Jake Allen, 2015–2016)
References
External links