Brenda Bowen by J. P. Coovert

Last spring Brenda Bowen, former Disney v-p, editor-in-chief and associate publisher of Global Books, moved from Hyperion to HarperCollins to head her own children’s book imprint, Bowen Press. A longtime supporter of graphic novels and comics, while at Hyperion Bowen established an innovative copublishing venture with the Vermont cartooning school, the Center for Cartoon Studies, to publish a series of comics-format biographies for young adults that were produced by CCS faculty and students. Bowen’s passion for the comics category will be much in evidence on her initial list at the press. Bowen has plans for a graphic novel based on one of the most famous Civil War battles (Jan. 2009), a kids’ picture book by cartoonist Lynn Johnston (summer 2009) and a new graphic novel based on the work of New York Times bestselling author Melissa Marr. Bowen recently spoke with PW Comics Week about her plans at Bowen Press, her love of both the New York and San Diego Comic-Cons and her admiration for the readers and creators of graphic novels.

PW Comics Week: What are your plans for comics and graphic novels at Bowen Press?

Brenda Bowen: On my first list is Gettysburg: The Graphic Novel by C.M. Butzer. I’ve also just signed a novel in comics called Herbert’s Wormhole, written by Peter Nelson and illustrated by Ro Rao. It’s a funny book for children eight to 11 years old, about a kid who creates what Einstein only imagines—a wormhole that bores down to the future. It’s very funny. There is a television option with Curious Pictures, an animation studio here is New York, and it is in early development.

PWCW: What are some other developments?

BB: There is a new executive editor at the Bowen Press, Anne Hoppe. She has been at HarperCollins for a long, long time. She is just switching over to the Bowen Press because her sensibility really matches up with what we are trying to do here. Anne is bringing some very exciting comics-based books to the party. We are going to publish the first Emily the Strange novel, called Emily the Strange: The Lost Days, in summer ’09. It is going to be a gorgeous, sumptuous book, designed by Cosmic Debris and written by [Emily the Strange creator] Rob Reger. Black and red and white throughout and heavily illustrated, it is the first time that Emily will have a sustained narrative. There will be four Emily novels.

In summer ’09, we also have a book by cartoonist Lynn Johnston, who is the author and artist of the long running comic strip For Better, for Worse. It is a full-color picture book for children from four to seven years old. It is about a dog who loves to eat and doesn’t care about what he is eating, and he gets lost following one delicious scent after another, and then after a day of being lost he comes home. You will see that the family in For Better, for Worse is in the pictures. Although they won’t be identified as that, but it will be appealing to the readers of the strip.

PWCW: Given HarperCollins relationship with Tokyopop [HarperCollins distributes Tokyopop titles and the two houses copublish titles as well], will you have anything to do with that company as you develop your comic properties?

BB: Tokyopop is creating a graphic novel based on the world of the New York Times bestselling novel Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr. This is also one of Anne’s projects.

PWCW: Does Bowen Press have any relationship with another HarperCollins comics unit, Fox Atomic Comics, which produces graphic novels based on Fox movie projects?

BB: We do not have anything with them based on our books right now, but we are hoping [the connection] might branch into something down the road.

PWCW: Did you attend the recent New York Comic-Con?

BB: I did. I love going there. It’s not the wave of the future, it’s the wave of the present. If we’re not on that wave, we are going to feel left out. I see more people reading at Comic-Con than at any other convention. I see people in corners reading, absorbed—it’s great to see. I was really thrilled to run into a young librarian named Randall Enos from Ramapo, N.J., at the convention. He told me he came down with two vanloads of librarians. Librarians really want to stock what young people will read. It is a credit to that library system that they sent the staff down.

PWCW: Will you be attending MoCCA Art Festival in June or the San Diego Comic-Con in late July?

BB: I have plans to go to San Diego, and I would like to go to MoCCA. I have a room at San Diego, which is the biggest hurdle.

PWCW: When you go to these conventions, are you exhibiting or looking for new creators?

BB: I’m looking for new properties, I’m seeing what’s out there, I’m seeing what the competition is doing, I’m seeing who’s looking at what, and I’m just there for the fun of it. I do want to convey that every trip to Comic-Con seems to result in some new project that ends up on my desk. They are not all comics books, but it all stems from the Con.

PWCW: What do you think were some of the problems with Abadazad, the much touted 2006 hybrid comics and prose series you put together with writer J.M. Dematteis and artist Mike Ploog?What did you learn from it? [the series suffered from poor sales]

BB: [laughing] I can’t get away from this. Here’s the answer. I loved the book and love the author. I’m in talks to do something else with him. I look forward to crafting another book with him. I think we should just leave it at that.

PWCW: On a more positive note, will you do anything like the collaboration you had at Hyperion with the Center for Cartoon Studies?

BB: I certainly would love to work with the center again. I have the utmost respect for them. I was just up there, in White River Junction, Vt., where it’s located. I have no doubt I will work with the center or artists from the center again.

PWCW: Was it hard to leave that project?

BB: I left it in good hands, but, yes, it was hard to leave it behind.

PWCW: You began your career as a traditional publisher of children’s books. What is it about the comics category that has captured your imagination to the degree that you now include comics in all of your new publishing projects?

BB: I am thrilled by the blurring of the lines between the traditional book artists and comic artists and traditional book formats and highly illustrated book formats. I am grateful that the San Diego Comic-Con started all those years ago and accepts all these latecomers to the party. They worked so hard all those years, in less glamorous locations with less support, and it’s wonderful they are getting the attention now.