And the teaming up continues! Alien Books and IDW are teaming up fr a strategic partnership. Meaning that you’ll seen be able to order your Valiant comics under the IDW part of the PRH catalog.
According to the announcement, Alien Books will receive distribution, marketing, sales analysis, and logistical support from IDW, while retaining creative control of editorial. Other than mentioning that IDW will essentially be the distributor for Alien via its existing relationships – PRH for both the DM and bookstores – details are scant. However it does make sense for Alien, which publishes a wide-ranging line of European and South American imports, manga, and perhaps most important to the US market, the relaunch of the Valiant Comics superhero universe. One recent release – the classic SF tale Black Star by Barriero and Giménes – is an example of the high quality material Alien produces that will benefit from being in PRH’s catalog. And of course the Valiant Beyond will play well there as well.
“We are thrilled to be partnering with IDW Publishing to distribute our comics, graphic novels, and manga to the direct market and book stores,” said Matias Timarchi, Alien Books Director and Editor-in-Chief. “The team at IDW has been incredibly welcoming and this partnership allows us to continue to produce the best comics possible while enabling access to IDW’s terrific sales and operation teams to better position the work of our creators. Alien has big things planned for the rest of 2025, including our upcoming ‘Valiant Beyond’ relaunch with our partners at Valiant Entertainment, as well as some new licensed properties that we’ll be announcing soon. This deal is a huge win for Alien Books, IDW, Valiant, comic shops, and all of our readers and fans.”
“We are excited to be working with Alien,” stated Davidi Jonas, CEO of IDW Media Holdings. “Their team led by Matias have been supremely collaborative and smart — fun, friendly, and quick. Alien has great creative and dynamic publishing plans. The IDW team has demonstrated that we are an excellent partner, and through aligned interests, entrepreneurial sensibility, and shared services we expect to massively grow Alien’s reach, revenue, and profitability… and to get their awesome books to the many readers we know they will delight.”
Of all the new and unusual partnerships that are being announced in the wake of the Diamond Comics break-up, this is one of the more intriguing – and suggests the direction that more small but notable publishers might go in, if they can find a larger partner. Massive Indies was the quickest out of the gate, but more are sure to come.
