MonkeyBrain Books (MonkeyBrain, Inc.) is an independent American publishing house based in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

, specialising in books comprising both new content and reprinting online, international, or out-of-print content, which show "an academic interest," but which "reach a popular audience as well."Chris Roberson, interviewed at Emerald City
Accessed on 21 January 2008

History

Founded by science-fiction author Chris Roberson with his business partner and spouse Allison Baker, MonkeyBrain Books specializes in "genre fiction and nonfiction genre studies" after two years focusing solely on non-fiction. After dabbling in self-publication and

Print On Demand Print on demand (POD) is a printing technology and business process in which book copies (or other documents, packaging or materials) are not printed until the company receives an order, allowing prints of single or small quantities. While oth ...

, Roberson said he wanted to ensure that his books were distributed widely.

''The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen''

The first project MonkeyBrain Books published was a collection of companion notes to

Alan Moore Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including '' Watchmen'', ''V for Vendetta'', '' The Ballad of Halo Jones'', ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman:'' ''The Killing Joke'', and '' From He ...

and Kevin O'Neill's 1999 comic book series '' The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume I'' compiled by Texas-native

Jess Nevins Jess Nevins (born 1966) is an American author. Nevins is the author of the ''Encyclopedia of Fantastic Victoriana'' and other works on Victoriana and pulp fiction. He is employed as a reference librarian at Lone Star College-Tomball. Comic boo ...

.Michael Colbert interviews Chris Roberson for Infinity Plus
Accessed 21 January 2008 ''Heroes & Monsters: The Unofficial Companion to the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen'' sold well, and continues to be one of MonkeyBrains best-selling titles several years after its first publication. It was nominated for an International Horror Guild Award and favorably reviewed in both ''Locus'' and ''The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction'', among other publications. The companion to ''

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume II ''The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume II'' is a comic book limited series written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Kevin O'Neill, published under the America's Best Comics imprint of DC Comics in the United States and under Vertigo in t ...

'' followed in 2004, and in 2006,

Titan Books Titan Publishing Group is the publishing division of Titan Entertainment Group, which was established in 1981. The books division has two main areas of publishing: film and television tie-ins and cinema reference books; and graphic novels and c ...

published the UK versions of both titles. In 2008, the guide to '' The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier'' was released.

Other titles

Continuing its self-imposed remit to publish works of non-fiction genre studies, MonkeyBrain's debut titles (in December, 2003) also included a collection of short essays by Matthew Rossi, comprising a wide-ranging guide to numerous weird, odd, imaginary, and mythical places and things: ''Things That Never Were: Fantasies, Lunacies & Entertaining Lies'', and a collection of articles/essays by Rick Klaw (many of which had appeared on his "Geeks with Books" column at SF Site) ruminating on everything from book-selling & signings, comics & science fiction and censorship: ''Geek Confidential: Echoes from the 21st Century''. In 2004, MonkeyBrain's output included a substantially updated (around 25% new material) printing of

Michael Moorcock Michael John Moorcock (born 18 December 1939) is an English writer, best-known for science fiction and fantasy, who has published a number of well-received literary novels as well as comic thrillers, graphic novels and non-fiction. He has worke ...

's guide to Epic Fantasy, and '' The Discontinuity Guide'', author and writer

Paul Cornell Paul Douglas Cornell (born 18 July 1967) is a British writer best known for his work in television drama as well as ''Doctor Who'' fiction, and as the creator of one of the Doctor's spin-off companions, Bernice Summerfield. As well as ''Docto ...

(with Martin Day &

Keith Topping Keith Andrew Topping (born 26 October 1963 in Walker, Tyneside) is an author, journalist and broadcaster. He is most well known for his work relating to the BBC Television series ''Doctor Who'' and for writing numerous official and unofficial g ...

)'s attempt to form a coherent narrative from decades of '' Doctor Who'' continuity. In 2005, alongside

Philip Jose Farmer Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularize ...

commentator Win Scott Eckert's guide to the

Wold Newton Universe The Wold Newton family is a literary concept derived from a form of Fictional crossovers, crossover fiction developed by the American science fiction writer Philip José Farmer. Origins In real life a meteorite, called the Wold Cottage meteorit ...

, th
Locus award
nominated ''Myths for the Modern Age'' (whose contributors include Philip Jose Farmer and Jess Nevins, among others), Chris Roberson edited the first volume in a projected annual series of ''Adventure'' anthologies, comprising "original fiction in the spirit of early twentieth-century pulp fiction magazines" across the genres, featuring contributions from (among others) Lou Anders, Paul Di Filippo,

Mark Finn Mark Finn (born October 1969) is the pseudonym of Mark Farr-Nash, an American science fiction and fantasy writer, essayist, and playwright. In 2007 he was nominated for World Fantasy Special Award: Professional. Biography Finn's earliest publis ...

and

Kim Newman Kim James Newman (born 31 July 1959) is an English journalist, film critic and fiction writer. Recurring interests visible in his work include film history and horror fiction—both of which he attributes to seeing Tod Browning's ''Dracula'' at ...

. In 2005 MonkeyBrain also published Jess Nevins'

World Fantasy Award The World Fantasy Awards are a set of awards given each year for the best fantasy fiction published during the previous calendar year. Organized and overseen by the World Fantasy Convention, the awards are given each year at the eponymous ann ...

-nominated ''Encyclopedia of Fantastic Victoriana'', the first comprehensive reference encyclopedia to the fantastic literature of the nineteenth century, while 2006 debuted MonkeyBrain's first art book, covering the work of John Picacio, MonkeyBrain's primary cover artist. Cementing MonkeyBrain's leap from non-fiction and reference genre works to include fiction, 2006 also saw publication of a collection of science fiction author

Richard Jeperson Richard Jeperson is a fictional character created by British horror / fantasy author Kim Newman. He appears in many of Newman's short stories as both a central and background character, primarily within the Diogenes Club series; however, an altern ...

stories (a distillation of British spy-fi television) in ''The Man from the Diogenes Club'', with a follow-up published the following year alongside

's imaginative science fiction novel ''British Summertime''. Robert E. Howard scholar Mark Finn's 2006 biography, '' Blood & Thunder: The Life & Art of Robert E. Howard'', met with considerable critical praise, and not only won the 2007 Cimmerian Award, ''The Atlantean'', but was also nominated for Locus and

s. In 2012, MonkeyBrain launched a new publishing arm for creator-owned comics that would focus solely on

digital distribution Digital distribution, also referred to as content delivery, online distribution, or electronic software distribution, among others, is the delivery or distribution of digital media content such as audio, video, e-books, video games, and other s ...

through

Comixology Iconology Inc., d/b/a ComiXology (styled comiXology), is a cloud-based digital distribution platform for comics owned by Amazon, with over 200 million comic downloads . It offers a selection of more than 100,000 comic books, graphic novels, and ...

Published works

* ''Things That Never Were: Fantasies, Lunacies & Entertaining Lies'' by Matthew Rossi (introduction by Paul Di Filippo) (25 Dec 2003) * ''Heroes & Monsters: The Unofficial Companion to the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen'' by Jess Nevins (Introduction by

) (25 Dec 2003) * ''Geek Confidential: Echoes from the 21st Century'' by Rick Klaw (introduction by Michael Moorcock) (25 Dec 2003) * '' Wizardry and Wild Romance: A Study of Epic Fantasy'' by Michael Moorcock (Introduction by

China Miéville China Tom Miéville ( ; born 6 September 1972) is a British speculative fiction writer and literary critic. He often describes his work as '' weird fiction'' and is allied to the loosely associated movement of writers called '' New Weird''. M ...

; Afterword by Jeff VanderMeer) (25 Oct 2004) * ''Why Should I Cut Your Throat?'' by Jeff VanderMeer (25 Oct 2004) * '' The DisContinuity Guide: The Unofficial Doctor Who Companion'' by Paul Cornell, Martin Day & Keith Topping (Foreword by

Terrance Dicks Terrance William Dicks (14 April 1935 – 29 August 2019) was an English author and television screenwriter, script editor and producer. In television, he had a long association with the BBC science-fiction series ''Doctor Who'', working a ...

) (25 Oct 2004) * ''A Blazing World: The Unofficial Companion to the Second League of Extraordinary Gentlemen'' by Jess Nevins (Introduction by Alan Moore) (25 Oct 2004) * ''Projections: Science Fiction in Literature and Film'' by Lou Anders (25 Dec 2004) * ''Myths for the Modern Age: Philip Jose Farmer's

'' by Win Scott Eckert (25 Nov 2005) * ''Adventure'' by Chris Roberson (ed.) (25 Nov 2005) * ''The Encyclopedia of Fantastic Victoriana'' by Jess Nevins (Introduction by Michael Moorcock) (25 Dec 2005) - MonkeyBrain's first hardback * ''Cross Plains Universe - Texans Celebrate Robert E. Howard'' by Scott A. Cupp & Joe R. Lansdale (ed.s) (2006) * ''Cover Story: The Art of John Picacio'' by John Picacio (Introduction by Michael Moorcock) (25 May 2006) * ''The Man from the Diogenes Club'' by Kim Newman (25 Jun 2006) * '' Superhero: The Secret Origin of a Genre'' by Peter Coogan (Introduction by

Denny O'Neil Dennis Joseph O'Neil (May 3, 1939 – June 11, 2020) was an American comic book writer and editor, principally for Marvel Comics and DC Comics from the 1960s through the 1990s, and Group Editor for the Batman family of titles until his retir ...

) (25 Jul 2006) * ''The Hollow Earth'' by Rudy Rucker (25 Dec 2006) * ''The Secret Files of the Diogenes Club'' by Kim Newman (25 Nov 2007) * '' Blood & Thunder: The Life & Art of Robert E. Howard'' by

(Introduction by Joe R. Lansdale) (25 Dec 2006) * ''British Summertime'' by Paul Cornell (Paperback - 25 Jul 2007) - ''UK Hardback published by Gollancz, 2002'' * ''Cenotaxis'' by Sean Williams (25 Dec 2007) * ''Impossible Territories: An Unofficial Companion to The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen'' by Jess Nevins * '' Escape From Hell!'' by

Hal Duncan Hal Duncan (born 21 October 1971, real name Alasdair) is a Scottish science fiction and fantasy writer. His works have been listed in the New Weird genre, but he prefers not to ascribe his writings to any genre. Life Hal Duncan was born in Ki ...

(Nov 2008) * '' Two Hawks from Earth'' by

Philip José Farmer Philip José Farmer (January 26, 1918 – February 25, 2009) was an American author known for his science fiction and fantasy novels and short stories. Obituary. Farmer is best known for his sequences of novels, especially the ''World of Tiers ...

(May 2009) * ''Death of a Starship'' by Jay Lake (Dec 2009) * ''Mysteries of the Diogenes Club'' by Kim Newman (2010)

MonkeyBrain Comics

*'' Edison Rex'' #1–18 (written by Chris Roberson, drawn by Dennis Culver, 2012–2016) *'' Aesop's Ark'' #1–3 (written by J. Torres, drawn by Jennifer L. Meyer, 2012) *'' The October Girl'' #1–4 (written and drawn by Matthew Dow Smith, 2012–2015) *'' Amelia Cole'' (co-written by Adam P. Knave and D.J. Kirkbride, drawn by Nick Brokenshire): **''Amelia Cole and the Unknown World'' #1–6 (2012–2013) **''Amelia Cole and the Hidden War'' #1–6 (2013) **''Amelia Cole and the Enemy Unleashed'' #1–6 (2014) **''Amelia Cole and the Impossible Fate'' #1–6 (2014–2015) **''Amelia Cole Versus the End of Everything'' #1–6 (2015–2016) *'' Bandette'' #1–ongoing (written by Paul Tobin, drawn by

Colleen Coover Colleen Coover (born July 14, 1969) is a comic book artist and author based in Portland, Oregon and is known for creating the lesbian-themed erotic comic book ''Small Favors'' from Eros Comix, illustrator of the comic book limited series ''Ba ...

, 2012–...) *'' Wander'' #1–4 (written by Kevin Church, drawn by Grace Allison, 2012–2014) *'' Masks and Mobsters'' #1–10 (written by Joshua Williamson, drawn by

Mike Henderson Mike Henderson (born in Independence, Missouri) is an American singer-songwriter. Career Early career Henderson was an original member of blues group the Bel Airs when they formed in Missouri in 1981. They released an album, ''Need Me a Car'' ...

, Jason Copland (#4), Justin Greenwood (#6), Ryan Cody (#8) and Seth Damoose (#10), 2012–2013) *'' Thoughts on a Winter Morning'' (written by

Kurt Busiek Kurt Busiek ( ) (born September 16, 1960) is an American comic book writer. His work includes the '' Marvels'' limited series, his own series titled ''Astro City'', a four-year run on '' The Avengers, Thunderbolts'' and '' Superman.'' Early lif ...

, drawn by

Steve Lieber Steve Lieber (born May 19, 1967) is an American comic book illustrator known for his work on books such as ''Detective Comics'' and ''Hawkman'', and the critically acclaimed miniseries '' Whiteout'', which was adapted into a 2009 feature film sta ...

, one-shot, 2012) *'' The Stars Below'' (written by

Zack Smith Zachary Smith (born April 5, 1988) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played for the Ottawa Senators, who drafted him 79th overall in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, and the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL). ...

, drawn by Rich Ellis, one-shot, 2012) *'' Spirit of the Law'' #1–2 (written by Brandon Seifert, drawn by Michael Montenat, 2012) *'' Action Cats'' (co-written by Adam P. Knave and Lauren Vogelbaum, drawn by Eamon Dougherty, one-shot, 2012) *'' Red Light Properties'' #1–13 (written and drawn by Dan Goldman, 2012–2014) *'' Unfair'' (written by Vance Sumner, drawn by Sandy Jarrell, one-shot, 2013) *''

Denali Denali (; also known as Mount McKinley, its former official name) is the highest mountain peak in North America, with a summit elevation of above sea level. With a topographic prominence of and a topographic isolation of , Denali is the th ...

'' #1–2 (written by

Jay Faerber Jay Faerber (born 1972) is an American comic book and television writer. Faerber is known for his work on ''Generation X'' and ''New Warriors'' for Marvel Comics, and '' The Titans'' and '' Connor: Spotlight'' for DC Comics. He later wrote his ow ...

, drawn by John Broglia, 2013) *'' High Crimes'' #1–12 (written by Christopher Sebela, drawn by Ibrahim Moustafa, 2013–2015) *'' Phabula'' #1 (written and drawn by Dalton Rose, 2013) *'' The Red Panda'' (written by Gregg Taylor, drawn by Dean Kotz): **''Mask of the Red Panda'' #1–3 (2013) **''The Red Panda'' #1–10 (2014–2016) *'' Frost'' #0–1 (co-written by Brandon Jerwa and Eric Trautmann, drawn by Giovanni Timpano, 2013) *'' Artful Daggers'' #1–17 (co-written by Adam P. Knave and Sean E. Williams, drawn by Andrew Losq, 2013–2015) *'' Skybreaker'' #1–5 (written by Michael Moreci, drawn by Drew Zucker, 2013–2014) *'' Knuckleheads'' #1–8 (written by Brian Winkeler, drawn by Robert Wilson IV, 2013–2014) *''

Theremin The theremin (; originally known as the ætherphone/etherphone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox) is an electronic musical instrument controlled without physical contact by the performer (who is known as a thereminist). It is named afte ...

'' #1–4 (written by Curt Pires, drawn by Dalton Rose, 2013–2014) *'' Kinski'' #1–6 (written and drawn by Gabriel Hardman, 2013–2014) *'' Subatomic Party Girls'' #1–3 (co-written by Chris Sims and Chad Bowers, drawn by Erica Henderson, 2013–2014) *'' Captain Ultimate'' #1–6 (co-written by Benjamin Bailey and Joey Esposito, drawn by Boykoesh, 2013–2014) *'' Avery Fatbottom: Renaissance Fair Detective'' #1 (written and drawn by Jen Vaughn, 2013) *'' Anti-Hero'' #1–10 (written by Jay Faerber, drawn by Nate Stockman, 2013–2014) *'' Detectobot'' #0–1 (written by Peter Timony, drawn by Bobby Timony, 2013) *'' Dropout'' #1 (written by Phil Hester, drawn by Tyler Walpole, 2013) *'' Heartbreakers'' #1–8 (written by Anina Bennett, drawn by

Paul Guinan Paul Guinan is an American writer and comic book artist. Some of his most famous works are the Boilerplate robot or DC's Chronos. He is a founding member of Helioscope studio. Paul Guinan is part of the husband-and-wife team with Anina Bennett wh ...

, 2013–2015) ** Stories originally published in ''Dark Horse Presents'' #35–37, ''Fifth Anniversary Special'', 50–52 and 100-1 (anthology, 1989–1995) *''Inkshot'' (anthology one-shot edited by Hector Lima, 2013) *''Real West'' #1–3 (anthology edited by Chris Schweizer, 2013) *''BOO! Halloween Stories'' (anthology edited by Jon Morris (comics), Jon Morris): **''BOO! Halloween Stories'' #1–4, 2014, 2015, 2016 (2013–2016) **''BOO! 2014 Holiday Special'' (2014) *''Strange Nation'' #1–8 (written by Paul Allor, drawn by Juan Romera, 2013–2014) *''Code Monkey Save World'' #1–4 (written by Greg Pak, drawn by Takeshi Miyazawa, 2013–2014) *''The Army of Dr. Moreau (comics), The Army of Dr. Moreau'' #1–6 (written by David F. Walker, drawn by Carl Sciacchitano, 2013–2015) *''Old Red 203X'' #1 (written and drawn by Rory Morris, 2013) *''Amazing Forest'' #1–10 (co-written by Ulises Farinas and Erick Freitas, drawn by various artists, 2013–2015) *''The Double Life of Miranda Turner'' #1–9 (written by Jamie S. Rich, drawn by George Kambadais, 2013–2016) *''Prime-8s'' #1–2 (co-written by Michael Moreci and Steve Seeley, drawn by Kyle Latino, 2013–2014) *''D4VE'' #1–5 (written by Ryan Ferrier, drawn by Valentin Ramon, 2013–2014) *''Panels for Primates'' (anthology edited by Troy Wilson (comics), Troy Wilson): **''Panels for Primates'' (one-shot, 2013) **''Panels for Primates Junior'' (one-shot, 2013) *''Art Monster'' #1–3 (written by Jeremy Holt, drawn by Francesca Ciregia, 2013–2014) *''Copernicus Jones: Robot Detective'' #1–7 (written by Matt D. Wilson, drawn by Kevin Warren (comics), Kevin Warren, 2014–2015) *''The Remains (comics), The Remains'' #1–4 (written by Cullen Bunn, drawn by A. C. Zamudio, 2014) *''GoGetters'' #1 (written by Shawn Aldridge, drawn by Christopher Peterson (comics), Christopher Peterson, 2014) *''Headspace (comics), Headspace'' #1–8 (written by Ryan K. Lindsay, drawn by Eric Zawadzki, 2014–2015) *''The Fallen (MonkeyBrain), The Fallen'' #1–4 (of 8 planned) (written by Alex De-Gruchy, drawn by Michael Montenat, 2014) *''Skinned (comics), Skinned'' #1–6 (co-written by Jeremy Holt and Tim Daniel (comics), Tim Daniel, drawn by Joshua Gowdy, 2014–2016) * Travel sketchbooks by Natalie Nourigat: **''Amsterdam Sketchbook'' (one-shot, 2014) **''Tally Marks'' #1–7 (2014–2015) *''Henchmen, Inc.'' #1–2 (written by Tim Simmons, drawn by Jim McMunn, 2014–2015) *''Street Angel (comics), Street Angel'' #1–5 (co-written by Jim Rugg and Brian Maruca, drawn by Jim Rugg, 2014) ** Stories originally published in ''Street Angel'' #1–5 (Slave Labor Graphics, SLG Publishing, 2004–2005) *''Behemoth (comics), Behemoth'' #1–4 (written by Chris Kipiniak, drawn by J. K. Woodward, 2015) *''Kings and Canvas'' #0–5 (written by Neil Kleid, drawn by Jake Allen (comics), Jake Allen, 2015–2016)

References

External links

* {{official website, http://www.monkeybrainbooks.com Book publishing companies based in Texas Companies based in Austin, Texas