It’s tough for a new comic book publisher to stick out these days, but Ardden Entertainment has two things going for it: the Flash Gordon license and industry legend J.M. DeMatteis in the position of editor-in-chief.
Started by literary talent manager Brendan Deneen and comics veteran Richard Emms, Ardden will debut a special edition of Flash Gordon #1 at the New York Comic Con in April before officially launching the ongoing series in August. The artist is Paul Green, who's currently illustrating Starship Troopers for Markosia. Ardden plans to follow Gordon with other licensed properties and original creations from a variety of novelists and comic writers.
We spoke with Deneen—the writer of Flash Gordon and the 2006 Markosia mini-series Scatterbrain—about his plans for Gordon, how he landed DeMatteis, and why he and Emms have decided to go it alone.
PW Comics Week : In today’s market, what made you decide to take the jump into self-publishing?
Brendan Deneen : I’ve been collecting comics for as long as I’ve been able to read, and it had always been a dream of mine to write them. Once I fulfilled that dream, which came about with the release of Scatterbrain , I started thinking about the idea of writing other books with my editor Rich Emms. Rich has run two different successful U.K. comic companies, APComics and Markosia, and was chomping at the bit to get back into the comic publishing game. When I left my job at Harvey Weinstein’s company last year and became a literary agent, I started talking to a number of writers (including novelists and screenwriters) and was surprised at how many were interested in writing comic books. Since I now have eight years of publishing and feature film experience, I realized that giving away both publishing and multi-media rights to an established company didn’t make much sense. Rich knows how to publish comics, we both know tons of writers and artists, and my day job literally includes selling comic book properties to feature film and television production companies. It wasn’t a huge leap from there to decide to self-publish.
PWCW: Tell me about Flash Gordon. How close will it be to the original concept? Will this be pretty faithful or is it more of a re-imagining?
BD : My version of Flash Gordon is actually quite faithful to the original concept. For research, I read the 1930s Alex Raymond comic strips. I updated a number of elements and put together a treatment from there. I’ve retained everything that has made Flash Gordon stand the test of time. Flash and Dale still have a romantic relationship (though it’s more complex than in any previous iteration I’ve seen), they’re still rocketed off to Mongo with Hans Zarkov, and Ming is still a ruthless tyrant bent on controlling his planet. However, Dale is now a CIA agent, Flash is a former Olympic athlete and current Yale professor, and our three protagonists are separated pretty much immediately after landing on Mongo.
PWCW : How did you get the license?
BD : Rich had been talking to King Features, who own the character, and asked me if I was interested in pitching an idea. I jumped at the chance and put together my treatment. We went back and forth a couple of times, with each side tweaking the storyline, until we reached a plot that made everyone happy.
PWCW : Why’d you decide to go after the Flash Gordon license? What is it about the character that you think will resonate with audiences so many decades removed from the character’s peak?
BD : Flash Gordon has been around longer than Batman and Superman, and I think there’s a reason that people still get so excited about the character. Much like Batman, Flash Gordon has no super powers and, in fact, he doesn’t even choose to become a hero, like Batman. The adventures on Mongo are thrust upon him in the original comic strip and I’ve retained that concept. He’s a fairly ordinary man who finds himself in extraordinary circumstances. That seems to me to be a very American type of story, one where an unsuspecting person rises above adversity and becomes a hero, even if he wasn’t prepared to do so.
PWCW : How did J.M. DeMatteis end up as your editor-in-chief?
BD : I’ve known J.M. for years, stemming from my time at Miramax Films/The Weinstein Company. We met in my capacity as a development/production executive but we connected as fans of the genre pretty much immediately. We’ve kept in touch and when I mentioned to him the possibility of a new comic book company, he somewhat off-handedly mentioned that he’d be interested in helping out in a capacity beyond that of just a writer. Much to his surprise, perhaps, I came back and asked him if he was interested in becoming our editor-in-chief. I was, of course, thrilled when he accepted. He will continue his separate writing career but having him involved with Ardden is a huge honor.
PWCW : Who are some of the other creators you’ll be working with?
BD: We have bestselling comic writer Jim Krueger (Avengers/Invaders, Justice, etc.) lined up to do a spy thriller. We’ve got top screenwriter Stephen Susco (The Grudge) working on a sci-fi comic. We also have New York Times bestselling novelist Lisa Unger (Sliver of Truth) on board, and she’s got an amazing supernatural thriller in the works. Novelist and comic writer Tom Sniegoski (The Fallen) is bringing an epic sci-fi tale to the table for us. We also have Alan Grant (Batman, Judge Dredd, etc.) lined up to write a series for us. And, of course, J.M. DeMatteis is going to be writing a book for us as well.
PWCW: Who is financing Ardden Entertainment?
BD: Ardden Entertainment is privately funded. Rich and I are on a profit performance scheme. The business makes money, and so do we. The creators and art teams are paid for their work—be it a page rate or per script—which is covered by the initial investment. We believe that we’ll make money in the first fiscal year and therefore willing to dedicate our own time into building the business, our relationship with creative teams and third party licensees. However, that being said, we are currently talking (and open) to both investors and established comic book publishers (in terms of being an imprint of the latter).
PWCW: How many comics do you plan on publishing a month once you’re fully up and running?
BD: Once we’re past the initial launch of our flagship title, Flash Gordon , we’ve lined up a whole roster of exciting, cutting edge books. We’d like to be publishing three or four comics a month and looking at several graphic novels per year, with a mix of licenses and creator-owned books.
PWCW: Are comics just one part of Ardden’s business plan or are there other aspects?
BD: Due to my day job and previous work experience, I’ll also be handling film/television rights for a number of our creator-owned properties via Objective Entertainment, and Ardden will be attached to produce when appropriate. We’re also looking into the video game market, which has grown even larger than the feature film industry.
