A promotional image for the third season of the CBBC drama Wolfblood. Image: BBC
Autumn Publishing, a mass market publisher that’s part of the Bonnier Publishing group and focuses on young readers, has signed a deal to publish series novelisations, box sets, graphic novels, journals, complete guides, poster books and annuals based on the hit CBBC show Wolfblood.
A range of Wolfblood products are on the cards, both print and electronic, from the company which in addition to its own brands, publishes licensed Barbie and Hello Kitty titles.
Created by Debbie Moon, the BAFTA-nominated supernatural series, a co-production between CBBC and ZDF/ZDFE, originally focused on teenage wolfbloods Maddy Smith (played by Aimee Kelly) and Rhydian Morris (played by Bobby Lockwood) as they struggled living their double lives as wolfbloods and keeping their secret concealed from the outside world. Three seasons of the show have been made so far, the second seeing Maddy on the run with her family in the finale.
Season Three – again starring Bobby Lockwood as Rhydian and Leona Vaughan as Jana (Vilkas), Kedar Williams-Stirling as Tom Okanawe and Louisa Connolly-Burnham as Shannon Kelly – aired on CBBC last autumn.
A fourth season of 12 episodes in the works, with episodes from Debbie and Wolfblood veterans Sophie Petzal and Neil Jones, joined by new arrivals Furquan Akhtar and Matt Sinclair. Debbie has announced on her official site that while an air date has yet to be announced, she will be writing four episodes on her official site, with the other writers writing two each.
Bonnier Publishing, which also owns Igloo Books and Piccadilly Press, is one of the fastest growing and unique publishing groups in the UK, with companies in Australia, France and the United States. The company is in turn part of Bonnier, one of the biggest media groups in Europe with world-wide sales of over £2.5 billion pounds.
Totally… Wolfblood was released by Titan last year.
The agreement with Bonnier adds to an existing licensing programme run by Bulldog Licensing that includes Danilo for greetings cards and stationery, GB Eye for posters, Fashion UK for nightwear and underwear, Titan Magazines (who published a one-off Totally... Wolfblood special last year), Smith & Brooks for apparel and VMC (accessories).
“Wolfblood has a massive following on TV so these books are sure to fly off the shelves,” said Vicky Hill, licensing manager at Bulldog. “This deals adds to a wide ranging licensing programme, which underlines the strength of what is a rapidly growing brand.”
In addition to Wolfblood, Debbie Moon has written scripts for short films, episodes for CBBC’s The Sparticle Mystery, an episode of Hinterland (Y Gwyll), says she has “the usual clutch of film and television projects in development.
“As a child, my primary interest was science fiction: later I moved onto superheroes and action movies. Most of my work falls somewhere in the area of crime, thriller, action, SF, or psychological horror. Mostly I write about ordinary people being tested to the limit by extraordinary situations, with a bit of humour and some nerdy in-jokes.”
She’s also written about 50 published short stories, co-written a radio play with Ruth Jones, and wrote a novel, Falling, which was long-listed for Welsh Book Of The Year 2004, which you can still buy as an e-book.
• Autumn Publishing: http://autumnchildrensbooks.co.uk
• You can still order copies of Titan’s Totally… Wolfblood, for delivery to the UK or overseas, from http://titan.subscribeonline.co.uk/Products/totally
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: Books, British Comics, British Comics - Graphic Novels, downthetubes Comics News, Television