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[LOLtron]

Former DC Comics creator Chris Roberson's Monkeybrain launches today, the culmination of a months-long plan for revenge on Big Comics.

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Acclaimed creator Chris Roberson was once a happy cog in the corporate machine, churning out Big Two superhero comics for megacorporation DC Comics, cleaning up after fat cats like J. Michael Straczynski, and helping to sustain the status quo of Big Comics domination of American comics culture. That all changed two months ago when Roberson decided to take a stand against Before Watchmen, the latest DC ploy in a long-running campaign to destroy the dignity of respected creative genius and certifiable lunatic Alan Moore.

In retaliation for Roberson's rebellious Twitter comments on the subject, DC Comics head honcho Dan Didio was all like "you're fired," and then Roberson was like "you can't fire me because I quit," to which Didio responded, "nuh-uh, you can't quit because you're fired." But Roberson is firing back at the corrupt, bloated behemoths of the comics industry with Monkeybrain Comics, a new digital comics company that launches today.

Roberson will be joined in his revolution by creators such as Grace Allison, Nick Brokenshire, J. Bone, Chad Bowers, Wook-Jin Clark, Colleen Coover, Kevin Church, W. Axl Rose, Dennis Culver, Matt Digges, Ming Doyle, Fred Flintstone, Curt O. Franklin, Ken Garing, Chris Haley, Batman, David Hahn, Phil Hester, Joe Keatinge, J.D. Salinger, D.J. Kirkbride, Adam Knave, Axel Medellin, RuPaul, Jennifer L. Meyer, Michael Montenat, Kony, Ananth Panagariya, Thomas Perkins, George W. Bush, Adam Rosenlund, Chris Schweitzer, Brandon Seifert, Chris Sims, Matthew Dow Smith, Doogie Houser M.D., Paul Tobin, J. Torres, Josh Williamson and Bill Willingham. Or most of those guys, at least.

While Monkeybrain is unopposed to eventually releasing print comics, there may be nowhere left to sell them by the time this war against Big Comics is over. You see, Roberson plans to release digital comics at the shocking price points of $.99 and $1.99. It has long been known that offering digital comics at the time of release for less than the price of print comics will destroy the print industry and put every comic shop ever out of business. However, since local comic shops are the traditional venue of the aging, socially-inept spandex junkies who keep Big Comics afloat with their insatiable appetite for rehashed storylines and cheap gimmicks, Roberson couldn't be more pleased with this inevitable result.

We reached out to DC warlord Dan Didio for a response to this initiative, but he was too busy snorting cocaine off of the breasts of a stripper in a Guy Fawkes mask sprawled across an elaborate throne constructed entirely of Watchmen Toasters to reply. Allegedly.

Monkebrain is live right now at www.monkeybraincomics.com.

If this reporter can be serious for a moment, a digital comics initiative that offers quality new comics for a reasonable price is something that this industry sorely needs, so I hope everyone who bitches on the internets about comics prices and the stagnation of the medium goes out and buys every issue available on the site right now. This is a great thing for comics, and it deserves all of our support.

Here's a press release:

MONKEYBRAIN AND COMIXOLOGY ANNOUNCE EXCLUSIVE DISTRIBUTION AGGREEMENT FOR MONKEYBRAIN'S NEW LINE OF INDEPENDENT CREATOR-OWNED COMICS CELEBRATE INDEPENDENTS DAY!

New York Times Bestselling Author Chris Roberson to Head Up New Comic Book Publishing Imprint with Co-Publisher Allison Baker

New York Times bestselling comic book creator Chris Roberson is celebrating "Independents Day" a little differently than others this year as he and co-publisher Allison Baker launch MonkeyBrain Comics, with a slate of creator-owned titles from some of the top names in the field. MonkeyBrain Comics will debut digitally first on comiXology — the revolutionary digital comics platform with over 75 million comic and graphic novel downloads to date —through a exclusive distribution agreement between the two companies.

Joining New York Times bestselling author Chris Roberson (iZombie, Memorial, Cinderella) under the Monkeybrain Comics umbrella with their own independent titles will be a who's who line up of creators, including; Grace Allison, Nick Brokenshire, J. Bone, Chad Bowers, Wook-Jin Clark, Colleen Coover, Kevin Church, Dennis Culver, Matt Digges, Ming Doyle, Curt O. Franklin, Ken Garing, Chris Haley, David Hahn, Phil Hester, Joe Keatinge, D.J. Kirkbride, Adam Knave, Axel Medellin, Jennifer L. Meyer, Michael Montenat, Ananth Panagariya, Thomas Perkins, Adam Rosenlund, Chris Schweitzer, Brandon Seifert, Chris Sims, Matthew Dow Smith, Paul Tobin, J. Torres, Josh Williamson and Bill Willingham, among others.

More creative teams with new titles will be announced next week at Comic-Con International during the Monkeybrain Comics panel on Friday, July 13th at 7PM.

"MonkeyBrain Comics was born out of a desire to directly explore what opportunities there were in the newly expanding digital marketplace for creator owned material," said Chris Roberson, co-publisher of Monkeybrain Comics. "We knew from the get go that we'd want to work exclusively with comiXology, who have become the undisputed leader in the digital comics field with their platforms' unparalleled reading and shopping experience. And we're pleased to have so many of our close creator friends along for the ride. I can't wait to see what fans around the world think about our first batch of releases!"

"We're excited to be the exclusive digital home of MonkeyBrain Comics," says co-founder and CEO David Steinberger. "ComiXology's mission is to get comics into the hands of people everywhere and we look forward to doing just that with Chris and Allison's stellar line of creator owned comics!"

Available exclusively worldwide via comiXology's digital platform across the iPhone, iPad, Android, Kindle Fire and the Web starting July 4th, the initial Monkey Brain Launch titles are:

- Aesop's Ark by J. Torres and Jennifer L. Meyer
- Amelia Cole and the Unknown World by Adam P. Knave, DJ Kirkbride and Nick Brokenshire
- Bandette by Paul Tobin and Colleen Coover
- Edison Rex by Chris Roberson and Dennis Culver
- October Girl by Matthew Dow Smith

MonkeyBrain Comics is a new comics imprint of Roberson and Baker's long-running publishing company MonkeyBrain Books. Over the past decade, MonkeyBrain Books has published a line of prose novels by authors such as Phillip Jose Farmer, Michael Moorcock, Rudy Rucker, Paul Cornell and genre collections edited by such notables as Joe R. Lansdale, Lou Anders and others.

Launching their first titles on July 4th with the slogan "Independents Day" exclusively on the comiXology digital platform, Monkeybrain Comics are currently exploring following up their digital releases with trade paperback collections.

Source: Monkeybrain
Written or Contributed by: Jude Terror


http://www.theouthousers.com/index.php/news/comics-news/20178-chris-roberson-teams-up-with-star-creators-to-destroy-direct-market-with-monkeybrain.html/

[GLX]

Bandette will likely get my dough, if it's a regular sized comic. If so, then count me in to Team Monkeybrain.

(I at least need to nab an iTunes gift card before I can go wild, though)

[mrorangesoda]

Bandette and October Girl both look really cool.

[mrorangesoda]

They've put the launch titles up early- http://www.comixology.com/MonkeyBrain-ComiXology-Exclusive/comics-collection/468?app=1&utm_source=socialmedia&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=monkeybrianlaunch

[GLX]

They've put the launch titles up early- http://www.comixology.com/MonkeyBrain-ComiXology-Exclusive/comics-collection/468?app=1&utm_source=socialmedia&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=monkeybrianlaunch

Not sold on those 13 page comics. I'm likely going to get Bandette. What about curious about is if each issue will have its own cover.

[alaska1125]

Just got Amelia Cole and the Unknown World. 31 pages for $1.99, and I even like the concept. Comments on it to come soon...

[S.F. Jude Terror]

Got Bandette and Edison Rex. Both were decent reads. 16 pages is a little bit less than a standard print comic, but the read was not noticeably shorter. 99 cents is a great deal for these. Both were very new reader friendly, and there was an old school feel to the exposition in both. Edison Rex has some similarities to Megamind. Bandette is a cute comic that will probably be pretty fun.

Unlike a lot of 99 cent digital comical that want to hook you with one issue and then charge 3 or 4 bucks for future issues, or else force you to spend 30 bucks getting a bunch in a sale, there is no pressure here. Grab one, read it, if you like it, get the next one when it comes ot for 99 cents. It makes checking out and then following a new comic a regret-free experience.

Everyone should check out the titles and give one or two a try.

[GLX]

Got Bandette and Edison Rex. Both were decent reads. 16 pages is a little bit less than a standard print comic, but the read was not noticeably shorter. 99 cents is a great deal for these. Both were very new reader friendly, and there was an old school feel to the exposition in both. Edison Rex has some similarities to Megamind. Bandette is a cute comic that will probably be pretty fun.

Unlike a lot of 99 cent digital comical that want to hook you with one issue and then charge 3 or 4 bucks for future issues, or else force you to spend 30 bucks getting a bunch in a sale, there is no pressure here. Grab one, read it, if you like it, get the next one when it comes ot for 99 cents. It makes checking out and then following a new comic a regret-free experience.

Everyone should check out the titles and give one or two a try.

Without counting the cover and credit pages, Bandette was about 13 pages of content. I was kinda hoping for a little more, especially since I enjoyed what was there. I'm curious as to whether if these titles are set ups for future graphic novels or if they'll be comics that'll work mainly as a digital monthly first or if it'll be a way to get readers to pay what will eventually be the full price of the collected edition ala DC's digital first material.

[Victorian Squid]

Best of luck to Chris Roberson in this new endeavor, but the digital comics format combined with short content isn't something I would read.