Artists, Writers & Artisans or AWA Studios is an American independent comic book publisher founded in November 2018 by

Axel Alonso Axel Alonso () is an American comic book creator and former journalist, best known as the former editor in chief at Marvel Comics, a role which he held from January 2011 until November 2017.Marston, George (November 17, 2017)"AXEL ALONSO Out, CB C ...

Bill Jemas Bill Jemas is an American media entrepreneur, writer, and editor, known for his tenure as president of Fleer Entertainment Group during the 1990s, and for his work as vice president of Marvel Comics from 2000 to 2004. During his time at Marvel, Jem ...

and Jonathan F Miller.

History

AWA Studios was founded in November 2018 by

and

from

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

, with the addition of Jonathan F Miller from

Fandom A fandom is a subculture composed of fans characterized by a feeling of empathy and camaraderie with others who share a common interest. Fans typically are interested in even minor details of the objects of their fandom and spend a significant ...

. While Alonso and Jemas are Chief Creative Officers, Miller is a Senior Council member. The initials in the company's name stand for "Artists, Writers & Artisans". Initial funders included Lightspeed Venture Partners and James Murdoch's Lupa Systems. The SISTER media investment firm also contributed funding in March 2020. Over time, a Creative Council was joined by

J. Michael Straczynski Joseph Michael Straczynski (; born July 17, 1954) is an American filmmaker and comic book writer. He is the founder of Synthetic Worlds Ltd. and Studio JMS and is best known as the creator of the science fiction television series ''Babylon 5'' ( ...

Reginald Hudlin Reginald Alan Hudlin (born December 15, 1961) is an American film screenwriter, director, producer, and comic-book writer. Along with his older brother Warrington Hudlin, he is known as one of the Hudlin Brothers. From 2005 to 2008, Hudlin was P ...

Garth Ennis Garth Ennis (born January 16, 1970) is a Northern Irish–American comics writer, best known for the Vertigo series ''Preacher'' with artist Steve Dillon, his nine-year run on Marvel Comics' Punisher franchise, and '' The Boys'' with artist Dari ...

Gregg Hurwitz Gregg Andrew Hurwitz is an American novelist, screenwriter, and comic book writer. Most of his novels are in the thriller fiction genre. His script writing work includes a film adaptation of his book '' Orphan X'', a TV adaptation of Joby Warri ...

Margaret Stohl Margaret Stohl (; born 1967) is an American novelist. She is the author of 14 novels, as well as 5 volumes of comics and several videogames. She lives in Santa Monica, California. Early life and education Margaret Stohl was born in Pasadena, ...

and

Frank Cho Frank Cho, born Duk Hyun Cho, (born 1971) is a Korean-American comic strip and comic book writer and illustrator, known for his series ''Liberty Meadows'', as well as for books such as ''Shanna the She-Devil'', ''The Mighty Avengers, Mighty Avenge ...

. In September 2019, AWA announced a Retail Council to be assembled. ''American Ronin'' was presented as a potential book from AWA in June 2019. In August 2019, Straczynski announced a new

shared universe A shared universe or shared world is a fictional universe from a set of creative works where more than one writer (or other artist) independently contributes a work that can stand alone but fits into the joint development of the storyline, chara ...

for AWA, debuting in 2020 with '' The Resistance''. During

New York Comic Con The New York Comic Con is an annual New York City fan convention dedicated to Western comics, graphic novels, anime, manga, video games, cosplay, toys, movies, and television. It was first held in 2006. History The New York Comic Con is a f ...

2019, AWA released ''Upshot Now'' No. 0. AWA Studios premiered with four titles, released in March 2020 under its Upshot imprint. In June 2021, AWA announced the foundation of its own film/TV division, being helmed by Zach Studin as President. Since 2023, the Upshot Studios imprint was merged into AWA.

Key people

Leadership team

* Axel Alonso,

chief creative officer A chief creative officer (CCO) is the highest ranking position of the creative team within a company. Depending on the type of company, this position may be responsible for the overall look and feel of marketing, media, and branding associated with ...

(2018–present) *

, chief executive officer and publisher (2018–2022) * Jonathan F Miller, chairman of the board (2018–present)

Creative council

(2018–present) *

(2018–2022) *

(2018–present) *

(2018–2022) *

Laeta Kalogridis Laeta Kalogridis ( ) is an American screenwriter and television and film producer of Greek descent. She has written scripts for ''Alexander'' (2004), '' Night Watch'' (2004), ''Pathfinder'' (2007) and ''Shutter Island'' (2010). She also served ...

(2022–present) *

Joseph Kosinski Joseph Kosinski is an American film director best known for his computer graphics and computer-generated imagery (CGI) work, and for his work in action films. He made his big-screen directorial debut with the 2010 science fiction film '' Tron: ...

(2022–present) *

Al Madrigal Alessandro Liborio Madrigal (born July 4, 1971)"'W ...

(2022–present)