Eisner Award-winning publisher Magnetic Press is known for bringing some of the best European comics on the market to the US, and celebrated the feat for every indie, especially in the wake of an industry-wide shake-up that impacts distribution, promotion and sales. In March, Magnetic announced a new partnership with sister company Oni Press under Polarity Banner for additional marketing, sales and manufacturing support starting in fall 2025. This is big news referring to the longevity of both brands.
Beat caught up with Magnetic Press founder and publisher Mike Kennedy via email to talk about the company’s growth, plans for the future, and the obstacles it faced over the past decade.
Beat: Congratulations on 10 years of magnetic press! How have you grown as a creator since you founded the brand?
Mike Kennedy: Thank you! The last decade has been an adventure, to say the least. Those who knew this would lead to graduating from Fanboy to a writer published by Fanboy in the early 2000s might easily discount the process of publishing comics, but that certainly isn’t easy. Quality content may be subjective, but curating collections that resonate consistently with the discerning community of fans is difficult. To ensure that content is produced at equal quality production values, let alone manufacturing, marketing, and the meat and potato tasks of distributing those books to appreciated audiences.
How has the company survived many changes in the comics and publishing industry over the past decade?
Kennedy: It was a fun roller coaster. We started out quite early in the era of crowdfunding. This was a real game changer at the time. Our first title was kickstarted, as was the others of our earliest titles. The acquisition by Lion Forge in 2017 is called a 2.0 phase, but it gave them the opportunity to explore a variety of genres and formats, including a single problem comic. When Lion Forge’s parent company Polarity acquired Oni Press, they coincidentally chose to carve a magnetic press from the Lion Forge-Oni merger and take on their own as a publisher. We have used that opportunity to re-grow our own brand identity (we call it the 3.0 phase).
Unfortunately, that was just before the pandemic changed everything forever. Retail and trade distribution took the backseat for direct and online sales for consumers, dived into the movement with both feet. Since then, it has run more than 40 successful crowdfunding campaigns so far. We are fortunate to receive fan and polar support to keep us comfortable in the face of fairly radical industrial changes, and that support will be important in 2025.
How does magnetic press stand out in today’s industry?
Kennedy: We’ve done a pretty good job of crystallizing what makes magnetic books over the past five years. High-quality materials, mainly from fantastic talent from overseas, were presented to the American market as if brand new. Some people may think of magnetism as “its foreign translator,” but we try not to present ourselves that way. Our books are chosen by their merit and the appeal of “Americans.” This is a visual style or story that some people believe in the specific “foreign eccentricity” that they prescribe to European cartoons. We want to break that stigma and encourage readers to consider these as cool books, no matter where they come from.
How did you adapt to changing trends and readers’ requests/needs?
Kennedy: We definitely responded to the changes in the places where people buy comics. We love bookstores and comic shops. We will be doing more next year, but we also recognize the appeal and benefits of being directly involved with our homemade community through crowdfunding and exclusive offerings. It allows us to hear directly from our fans and measure what they like, dislike, want, want. When reviewing submissions or acquisition candidates, I am overwhelmed by the number of titles I personally love to publish, but knowing what fans are looking for helps with that curation filter.
Can you talk about the launch of the Magnetic Press Play and how the imprint has grown?
Kennedy: I started my career in the video game industry (30 years ago), and I have always been a gamer returning to First Edition Dungeon & Dragon. After 20 years of developing interactive storylines for companies such as EA, NAMCO, Activision and other companies and designing narrative systems, I slowly whipped back to magnetic, interactive storytelling and game design. Although we put toe on that pool with early tabletop hybrids like Hugo Broyler and The World of Cassyno, the pandemic finally offered a real opportunity to dive in.
We built our first role-playing game, Carbon Grey, in 2021, based on an updated variation of the Classic D6 system by West End Games. So we introduced Magnetic Press Play as a trace of the game. Its success led to new and larger developments, including the official Monkey game of the official role-playing game that was released this year and kickstarted last summer. That momentum has opened up several other opportunities to announce in the coming months. Games and interactive fiction will be a notable part of this year’s development slate. But alongside the graphic novel, it is at the heart of what we do.
San Diego Comic-Con 2024 revealed many new titles for 2025 as part of the 10th anniversary celebration. How did you decide on the slate for this banner year?
Kennedy: It’s been another year since I had a better candidate title than the available publishing slots. Magnetic is still a lean operation, so there is a limited number of titles that can be released comfortably per month/year. 2025 is filled fairly quickly and already built the 2026 slate.
One thing we are excited about recently announced is its initial appearance relationship with French production studio label 619. That relationship brings a large amount of excellent materials to the United States through magnetism. We also introduce some more cartoon-style titles, which I find very exciting. Last year’s Tezucomi manga is based on Kataki’s work and is an incredible success that I would like to follow up further, and the works on that line have three new series.
Could you please give me more details on what I’m looking for after 2025?
Kennedy: In addition to the Label 619 relationship and the comic title, we are excited to reveal details about the operational partnership we have been working on with sister company Oni Press. They are in the year of banners, and a series of incredibly successful projects have further enhanced their already resolveable profile. We have outlined various ways magnetism can benefit from operational synergies by sharing the blessings and encouragement of parent company Polarity. That’s why we are excited about the recent announcement of a new distribution partnership with ONI. We welcome production and editing support so that we can not only help to enhance our presence in retail, but also bring even more amazing products to the market.
What is the biggest obstacle that Magnetic Press has faced since its launch?
Kennedy: With the exception of the aforementioned market shift during the pandemic, the biggest challenge is to maintain high quality release growth with such lean teams. Magnetics began as a single (plus wife) surgery from our kitchen and in three years we grew more than we could handle on our own. Congratulations to Lion Forge for intervening. The years as an imprint have been nice, but there are unique challenges to maintaining brand identity. When magnets were set up independently again in 2020, much of that operational pressure came back to my plate. Polarity helped to greatly relieve the burden, but it was still a lot of rotating plates for one man to handle. Luckily we left almost a broken plate on the floor, surprisingly.
What was the greatest achievement of the first decade of magnetic presses?
Kennedy: Simply being around is a big thing! But we are proud of the mark our brand has created and the ever-growing fanbase behind us. We were fortunate to have been nominated for a whopping 31 Eisner Awards since we launched our eligibility each year. Last year, he won the first trophy of best publication designs for Dracula/Frankenstein, set by Georges Bess. Standing up at that stage and accepting the trophy from Mike Mignora will be a highlight I remember on my deathbed. It runs 44 crowdfunding campaigns, generating approximately $4.5 million in total revenue. We are respected by our licensing partners and our creative community. They are some great points of pride.
Have you learned to apply to go to the next 10 years?
Kennedy: Certainly there are plenty of small lessons left in the kitchen. But on a wider scale, knowing who you are, what you are doing well and staying true to it is the key to life expectancy. Our brand has tried many different things over the past five years. Its sophisticated identity will help you maintain a creative focus for the next decade. We hope that not only will we continue to have the best suited materials along the coast, but we will also open the imaginative rocks with our interactive narrative and gaming initiatives. Being a passive reader is great, but if we can inspire more creativity in this age where content is generated without the need for buttons, we can do something to maintain human interest in art.
How do you hope that your company will grow in your second year?
Kennedy: These years bring some familiar properties and licenses, attracting people to our shelves. Working with larger licensors such as Disney/20th Century Studios at Planet of the Apes, our profiles are growing in the industry, with several other exciting licenses already signed to be revealed later this year. That approved work will not divert us from other title developments, but all products will benefit if they can draw attention to the whole magnet. It’s a very exciting time and there are plenty of cool things on the nearest horizon. Can’t wait to unveil all these details in the coming months!
Is there anything else you would like to add?
Kennedy: It’s been a very fulfilling ride so far, and it’s been shedding tears from the support of the fans. We are not perfect, we are merely human, but we have a lot of passion for these books and do what we can to make our readers the most of our abilities. Life is too short for stress and conflict. And there is no rejuvenation as much as an active escape into a good book. And our mission continues to provide as much imaginative destinations as possible.
For more information about Magnetic Press, visit Magnetic-press.com.
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