Sumerian Comics is an American comic book publisher based in Los Angeles, California. The company was founded in 2020 by Nathan Yocum and Ryan Swanson as Behemoth Comics. The comic division sells over half a million (500,000+) comics yearly, reached 8th in total market share in 2021, and has worked on titles with Ubisoft, Netflix, among others. Their titles are currently distributed globally by Simon & Schuster &

Diamond Comic Distributors Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc. (often called Diamond Comics, DCD, or casually Diamond) is an American comic book distributor serving retailers in North America and worldwide. They transport comic books and graphic novels, as well as other po ...

. They've released works in other industries, like video games on

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, Xbox Series X/S, and other platforms. As of 2022, the company is owned by Sumerian Records and was subsequently renamed as Sumerian Comics in July 2022.

History

2020–2022: ''Behemoth''

Founded in 2020 after acquiring the Spain-based comic book publisher, Amigo Comics, Behemoth Comics debuted in the March Previews catalog for Diamond Comic Distributors. Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic and Diamond shutting down its distribution services for a brief period, Behemoth's first titles were not released until July 2020. On May 25, 2020

Bloody Disgusting Bloody Disgusting is an American multi-media company, which began as a horror genre-focused news site/website specializing in information services that covered various horror medias, including: film, television, video games, comics, and music. ...

announced that Behemoth would be releasing a spin-off of the popular video game series, Hotline Miami. The title, Hotline Miami: Wildlife is an 8-part series that was released monthly beginning in September 2020. In November 2020, Bleeding Cool announced that ''

A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night ''A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night'' ( fa, دختری در شب تنها به خانه می‌رود ) is a 2014 Persian-language American Western horror film written and directed by Ana Lily Amirpour. Promoted as "The first Iranian vampire West ...

'' #1, written by film Director, Ana Lily Amirpour had sold through at least 10,000 copies of its first printing and would receive a second printing before the first issues releases. Shortly after '' Publishers Weekly'' and ''

Graphic Policy Graphics () are visual perception, visual images or designs on some surface, such as a wall, canvas, screen, paper, or stone, to inform, illustration, illustrate, or entertain. In contemporary usage, it includes a pictorial representation of dat ...

'' revealed that Behemoth had signed a global distribution deal with Simon & Schuster and received managed publisher status with Amazon,

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, and ComiXology. The article also revealed that they acquired Film and TV representation for a portion of their books by the Hollywood-based Talent Agency, Grandview/Automatik founded by notable Film Producer,

Brian Kavanaugh-Jones Brian (sometimes spelled Bryan in English) is a male given name of Irish and Breton origin, as well as a surname of Occitan origin. It is common in the English-speaking world. It is possible that the name is derived from an Old Celtic word meani ...

('' Insidious'', ''

Sinister Sinister commonly refers to: * Evil * Ominous Sinister may also refer to: Left side * Sinister, Latin for the direction " left" * Sinister, in heraldry, is the bearer's true left side (viewers' right side) of an escutcheon or coat of arms; see ...

'', '' Upgrade''). The deal with Simon & Schuster would only cover trade paperbacks for the global market meanwhile Diamond Comic Distributors would still distribute their comic books and graphic novels to hobby stores around the globe. On February 22, 2021, as part of the Comic Industry's Annual Publisher and Retailer conference, ComicsPro, Behemoth announced that it would publish the comic

MFKZ is a 2017 French-Japanese adult animated science fiction film based on the comic series and the short film of the same name. The film was a French-Japanese co-production between Ankama Animations and Studio 4°C and is directed by Shōjirō Nis ...

, which was adapted and released as a film on Netflix. Shortly after the conference it was revealed that You Promised Me Darkness #1 had sold through 55,000 copies, marking the publisher's best selling first issue to date alongside

#1, which reached 40,000 copies sold. The company was revealed as a sponsor for the 2021 Fangoria Chainsaw Awards. Leading off a wave of new licensed titles,

, GamesRadar+, and others revealed that Behemoth would be adapting the 2015 cult film,

Turbo Kid ''Turbo Kid'' is a 2015 Canadian sci-fi splatter action comedy film written and directed by François Simard, Anouk Whissell, and Yoann-Karl Whissell. The film stars Munro Chambers, Laurence Leboeuf, Michael Ironside, Edwin Wright, Aaron Jeffery ...

into a prequel comic book series due to be released in September, 2021. This was followed by IGN revealing that Ubisoft and Behemoth had partnered for a comic book series based on Watch Dogs: Legion with the first issue being released November 3, 2021. At the end of 2021, Behemoth revealed that they had surpassed half a million (500,000+) comics and graphic novels sold during the year; their first full year of operation. At the end of 2021,

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and others revealed a comic by Behemoth called Kult Cable. Meant to be the lead in to a full series featuring more celebrities, the comic includes New Jersey hip-hop and punk group, Ho99o9 and the famous actor,

Jack Black Thomas Jacob Black (born August 28, 1969) is an American actor, comedian, and musician. He is known for his acting roles in the films '' High Fidelity'' (2000), ''Shallow Hal'' (2001), ''Orange County'' (2002), '' School of Rock'' (2003), ''E ...

. The comic is a tie-in to the bands variety show of the same name that features well-known guests each episode. On January 25, 2022, the entertainment website GamesRadar+ previewed a new licensed series from Behemoth based on the open-world RPG video game, Kingdom Come: Deliverance. Behemoth Interactive published Blank Frame, a psychological horror game on

to positive reviews. Both the standard and soundtrack editions of the game released on January 28, 2022. A second game, Meat Saw released the follow month and accrued 20,000 downloads within the first two weeks.

2022-present: ''Sumerian''

Deadline Hollywood reported on March 23, 2022, that the record label Sumerian Records and their film division, Sumerian Films acquired Behemoth. Deadline Hollywood reported the following week that Behemoth's original series, Paranormal Hitmen from creators Brett Murphy and Wilson Gandolpho is set to be adapted by

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and Hasbro into a TV series. In July 2022, Behemoth was renamed as Sumerian Comics. As part of the first titles announced under their new name,

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

revealed that one of the best-selling Latin musicians of all time would be partnering with Sumerian for an action-packed comic book. Ozuna stated, “I love collaborating to take my creativity to new, interesting places,” Ozuna said in a statement. “I’m very excited to partner with the talented team at Sumerian and make something fresh, captivating, and fun for my fans and my culture.”

Subsidiaries

Amigo Comics

Founded in Spain in 2012 by Juan "El" Torres, Amigo Comics is known for collecting Juan's series previously published by

Image Comics Image Comics is an American comic book publisher and is the third largest comic book and graphic novel publisher in the industry in both unit and market share. It was founded in 1992 by several high-profile illustrators as a venue for creator-ow ...

such as Nancy in Hell and Drums. Amigo also published other creator-owned and licensed titles that Juan was not involved in a creative capacity. In 2019 Amigo was nominated for an

Eisner Award The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books, sometimes referred to as the comics industry's equivalent of the Academy Awards. They are named in ...

in the Best Archival Collection/Project—Strips category for their title Sky Masters of the Space Force: The Complete Sunday Strips in Color. On February 24, 2020, it was announced that Amigo was acquired by Behemoth Comics and all future titles would be published in the US by Behemoth but would still carry the Amigo brand. This enabled Juan to focus solely on his titles.

Sumerian Comics publications

Best selling licensed titles

#1-6 ''(June 23, 2021 - November 24, 2021)'' 40,000+ sold * Hotline Miami: Wildlife #1-8 ''(September 23, 2020 - April 7, 2021)'' 20,000+ sold *

#1-2 ''(November 18, 2020 - December 16, 2020)'' 20,000+ sold

Other notable licensed titles

*Spare Parts #0 ''(July 14, 2021)'' *

#1-2 ''(September 29, 2021 - October 27, 2021)'' * Watch Dogs: Legion #1-4 ''(November 3, 2021 - February 2, 2022)'' *Kult Cable: ft. Ho99o9 &

''(May 07, 2022)'' * Kingdom Come: Deliverance #1-4 ''(June 22, 2022)''

Best selling original titles

*You Promised Me Darkness #1-5 ''(April 14, 2021 - August 15, 2021)'' 55,000+ sold *Until My Knuckles Bleed #1-3 ''(January, 2022 - March, 2022)'' 20,000+ sold

Other notable original titles

*Necromorfus #1-4 ''(October, 2020 - January, 2021)'' *Paranormal Hitmen #1-4 ''(February, 2021 - May, 2021)'' *Nancy in Hell Vol. 1: The Long Road ''(June, 2021)'' *Osaka Mime Vol. 1 ''(May, 2021)'' *Freak Snow #1-4 ''(May, 2021 - August, 2021)'' 10,000+ sold *Cinnamon #1-3 ''(July, 2021 - September, 2021)'' *Pop Star Assassin #1-12 ''(October, 2021 - TBA)'' *QUAD #1-16 ''(January, 2022 - TBA)'' *Follow Me Into the Darkness #1-4 ''(February, 2022 - May, 2022)'' *Heavy Metal Drummer #1-6 ''(February, 2022 - July, 2022)'' *Dark Beach #1-6 (April, 2022 - September, 2022)'' *Sara Lone #1-4 (October, 2022 - January, 2023)''

Sumerian Games

List of video games

References

External links

* * {{Authority control American companies established in 2020 Comic book publishing companies of the United States Companies based in Los Angeles Publishing companies established in 2020 Video game companies established in 2020 Video game companies of the United States Video game development companies