This week we took a look at what’s going on with Les Humanoïdes Associés and Humanoids, the French publishing house that launched Heavy Metal Magazine. And as we progress through the story, more is revealed, so consider this the end of the trilogy… unless there’s more to reveal, which is always a possibility.
Les Humanoïdes Associés has a storied history. Founded in 1974 by creators Möbius, Jean-Pierre Dione and Philippe Druillet and businessman Bernard Farkas, it published the original Metal Hurland magazine. This quirky, spirit-expanding mix of science fiction and gorgeous art is one of the most influential comics anthologies of all time, later spun off into the American version of Heavy Metal, and inspired generations of comics artists. Their catalog includes creators such as Möbius, Alexandro Jodorowsky, Enki Bilal, Milo Manara, and Juan Jiménez, who have given the world legitimate masterpieces.
Unfortunately, creator-run publishers don’t always have the best business plans, and the original Humanoides struggled until it was acquired by Swiss publisher and producer Fabrice Giger in 1988. Giger continued with the French edition, and in 1998 he founded the American branch of Humanoid, which published English editions of French classics and, over the next 25 years, also published new works by major creators in English. Both publishers worked hard to adapt their major works into media, and although Humanoid was not one of the most prominent comics publishers in the United States, it remained a stable company.
That all changed earlier this year when both Les Humanoïdes Associés and Humanoids filed for bankruptcy in their respective countries. U.S. Humanoid even filed for Chapter 7, or irredeemable bankruptcy and complete liquidation, which sounds downright dire. This week, French journalist Antoine Houry published a two-part investigation (Parts 1 and 2) into the causes of ActuaLitté’s setbacks. This week I’ve summarized these stories and added some reporting of my own.
Now, here’s the problem. Every time I write an article, my email fills up with people providing details about that article. In my first report, I summarized Oury’s report and considered what Humanoids US’s Chapter 7 filing means. On paper, things looked bleak, with $17 million in debt and $0 in assets.
However, in my second article, I reported that Humanoids is actually…still doing business as usual and has just reorganized as Humanoids Studios. Humanoids Studios is a new company under a new parent company that appears to own all publishing assets with no debt.
And now here’s the new part. Several creators contacted me and sent me the letter that Humanoids Studios sent them at the end of October, after the Chapter 7 filing was all over the place.
To say the least, this is one of the boldest communications I’ve ever read. It’s so bold that I’ll reprint it in its entirety, including the format. Because that’s part of the wonder. The letter was sent on October 30th. Chapter 7 bankruptcy was filed on October 16th.
Dear humanoid creators,
I hope this will help you grow (both artistically and as a person).
We at Humanoid have been at the forefront (and steepest) of the publishing world since 1975, but we’re happy to announce that we’ve undergone further physical changes to adapt to the ever-evolving (and sometimes hostile) world of comics.
Therefore, all our publishing operations will be handled by a new organization, HUMANOIDS STUDIOS (new body, same neuron).
As you may have heard over the past few weeks, we are pleased to confirm and reassure you that we are here to stay. The same goes for your project.
Other than a company change (the Humanoids brand remained the same) and a Chapter 7 filing for the old entity (which remained heartbreaking for the team), this had limited impact outside of internal logistics.
We never thought this would be newsworthy enough to become a public topic, much less that it would be distorted the way it has been. Still, it’s quite possible that you came across this information without proper context. I sincerely apologize for that. We should have predicted the situation better and taken more care to contact each of you in advance.
That being said, we are here now. We want to reassure you with a positive, fact-based update about our status as a publisher and creative force.
Thank you for your patience, understanding, support and faith.
In the current socio-political climate, publishing independent, cutting-edge sequential art (even in analog format) is no easy feat. But the reason we’re still here is because we take risks and aren’t afraid of change. We do this work because we have a passion for storytelling, art, and your individual work and vision.
I look forward to seeing what the future holds for all of us.
—Humanoid Team
FAQ:
All existing contracts will remain in place and unchanged. If you have an active project with us, it will continue as planned based on communication with our production and editorial teams. All payments are made by Humanoids Studios. If your project is already published, royalties will be paid by Humanoids Studios and available inventory will continue to be distributed through standard channels. You can still order books through our standard process with a 50% creator discount + shipping. Along with many other publishers, we continue to navigate the unfortunate Diamond situation of freezing a very significant portion of our inventory. We have direct market sales through Simon & Schuster (where Book & DM retailers can order), but are currently considering alternative distributors. We are also actively working on direct channels where we can further develop the Humanoids x Retailer relationship. If you need more solutions or information, our retailer friends and curious people can contact us at store@humanoids.com.
In the final section, the letter goes on to promote upcoming issues of the relaunch of Métal Hurlant and offer digital subscriptions to creators.
The overall tone of this letter is cheerful. “Oh yeah, I guess I should have mentioned Chapter 7. It’s crazy that people took that as a negative. I’ll give you a digital subscription for your troubles.”
Also, how can a contract signed with one company be maintained if it is managed by a new company?I haven’t seen the contract at all, but given the intensity of this shell company game, perhaps there was some clause allowing for such a transfer. But in theory, the contract has to be assigned through some sort of acquisition, which is just like, “Oh yeah, we moved.”
I think this turn of events is really interesting, but it also makes sense for a small manga publisher whose business plan is based on media outlets. And to be brutally honest, I haven’t talked to any creators in recent years who think their careers depend on humanoid projects. It seems that it was a place to pay money on time and present work in a professional manner, but in a sense it was a place for creators to get off on the way. I don’t mean to disrespect the honest work the people did there, or the honest work the editorial team did for their projects, but all of this would have come to light sooner if more people were wary of their treatment of whatever version of the humanoids they were dealing with.
Finally, the Humanoids catalog (both French classics and English originals) seems to continue to thrive under Humanoids du Jour. Is it a happy ending? It’s not an ending, so it’s not like that. Give everyone involved a chance.
Something like this:
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