Jeff Lemire and Dean Ormston, creators of Black Hammer, the award-winning, best-selling comic series published by Dark Horse in 19 different languages worldwide, have appointed British agency Reemsborko Ltd as the worldwide licensing agent in all categories for this property.
A film and television development deal with Legendary Entertainment has also been confirmed.
Black Hammer is a metafictional and epic multi-book saga of interweaving superhero stories that looks nothing like mainstream superhero comics. It stands outside of and is also a commentary on the genre itself.
The licensing deal was brokered by Jeff and Dean’s agent, Charlie Olsen of Inkwell Management, and includes not just Black Hammer, but all its associated titles – effectively opening the door to create a cross-platform film and television shared universe.
“This property is just so exciting,” enthused Max Arguile of Reemsborko who are also global licensing agents for Natasha Alterici’s Heathen, published by Vault Comics, and handle licensing agreements for anime shows such as Cannon Busters worldwide and Dragon Ball in the UK and Eire.
“I enjoy superhero comics and films as much as anyone but audiences are ready for something a little different now.,” he feels. “Black Hammer is here to cure superhero fatigue. Clearly, Legendary also think so.
“Reemsborko is open for business on this right now, so licensees can get their ranges in store in advance of all the onscreen activity.”
“We are thrilled to be partnering with Reemsborko to create a full range of products for fans to show their love of the Black Hammer universe,” added Charlie Olsen of Inkwell.
New York Times bestselling and award-winning author Jeff Lemire is also creator of the acclaimed graphic novels Essex County – named as one of the five Essential Canadian Novels of the Decade in 2010 – and Sweet Tooth (also heading to Netflix with Robert Downey Jr), The Underwater Welder and Trillium. Other projects include the original graphic novel Roughneck from Simon and Schuster, as well as the sci-fi series Descender for Image Comics (with Dustin Nguyen).
Jeff has also written Green Arrow, Justice League and Animal Man for DC Comics and Hawkeye for Marvel Comics.
He won the Schuster Award for Best Canadian Cartoonist in 2008 and 2013, and has also received The Doug Wright Award for Best Emerging Talent and the American Library Association’s prestigious Alex Award, recognising books for adults with specific teen appeal. He has also been nominated for eight Eisner awards, seven Harvey Awards and eIght Schuster Awards. He currently lives and works in Toronto with his wife and son.
British comic creator Dean Ormston has been illustrating comics since 1990, breaking into the industry with work on Judge Dredd Megazine, followed by strips for 2000AD, before working at DC/Vertigo.
Outside of his current, stunning work for Black Hammer, he’s perhaps best known his work on Lucifer for Vertigo, with Mike Carey.
• For licensing opportunities, contact Max Arguile via max@reemsborko.com
• Check out Black Hammer at Dark Horse Digital
• Follow Dean Ormston on Twitter @dean_ormston
• Follow Jeff Lemire on Twitter @JeffLemire
• Buy Black Hammer collections from AmazonUK (Affiliate Link)
• Listen to some of the music that inspired artist Dean Ormston while working on Black Hammer. Dark Horse have shared his playlist on Spotify
The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.
He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: Creating Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Licensing, Other Worlds, US Comics