It seems one of the bigger challenges of creating all ages comics is hitting on stuff that will interest kids without talking down to them. But one look at Action Lab Entertainment’s booth at SDCC (Table 2202 in the Independent Press Pavillion), and you can tell this is not a worry the small publisher will have.
Since its inception in 2010, Action Lab has already made major strides in the field of all-ages comics, not the least of which is the concession as official comic book publisher of the popular Nickelodeon cartoon, NFL Rush Zone: Guardians of the Core. Action Lab creative director Dave Dwonch told me that not only is the book popular with the kids, but also with many members of the NFLPA. When some of the players found out that they were being depicted in a comic book, they freaked out as life-long comics fans themselves. Dwonch hopes this will lead to future collaborations on the book with some of those self-same players.
This is a pretty major get for any publisher, teaming up with the NFL and Nickelodeon, but for a smaller publisher, it can be a godsend. Undoubtedly, this will raise Action Lab’s profile and allow them to keep publishing other quality books like the Eisner-nominated Princeless. This comic was created by Jeremy Whitley, who as a lover of comics, noticed a sheer lack of positive role models in the medium for his young daughter. So he went ahead and created Princess Adrienne, who might be a damsel but is far from distress, a heroine who need not wait around for a prince to come save her. Though sadly, the book did not win an Eisner last year for either of the categories for which it was nominated, it was up against some very, very stiff competition, i.e. Mark Waid’s Daredevil and Roger Langridge’s Snarked. To be even nominated in the same category as books like those speaks extremely highly of the other books themselves.
Also, exclusive to this year’s SDCC is the exclusive convention edition of Vamplets, based on the popular plush toys by Gayle Middleton. Middleton, an illustrator for many My Little Pony books, created this line of plush baby vampire dolls, and has worked very closely with Dwonch on the script for these comics. In a kind of reversal, the first two single issues is collected in this exclusive con edition, though the single issues themselves have yet to be published. Though the comic will reach comic shops through the traditional Diamond distribution, this method of publishing the trade collection first will make it easier to get into toy stores and book stores and thereby make it easier to get into the kids’ hands, who will then hopefully take those hands down to their local comic shop and grab more. Plus, they are simply fine looking books.
And that’s what you’ll definitely take away from Action Lab’s booth in San Diego: They produce high quality books for a young audience (not to mention their Danger Zone imprint, aimed at more mature readers). Long gone are the days when comic book publishing was largely a tax dodge used to sell midget radios. Still, it’s been a long road to the 21st century where we have more publishers wishing to reach more and varied audiences and to do so without just cranking out any old junk. So a publisher like Action Lab is a breath of fresh air. Keep your eyes on Action Lab, folks, they’ve got big things a-brewin’.