"TKO Studios wants to revolutionize comics... and it just might do it"

[Yohei72]

Yeah, yeah, we've heard that kind of thing before. But this article/review by Oliver Sava does actually make it sound exciting.

https://aux.avclub.com/tko-studios-w...jus-1832213585

when TKO Studios debuted at the end of last year with some genuinely ambitious ideas for publishing and distribution, the industry took notice. TKO says it wants to be “the first modern comic book company,” meaning it wants to create a publishing and distribution model that is tailored to how contemporary audiences engage with media. In regards to publishing, TKO is experimenting with a binge-reading model, giving readers complete six-issue stories all at once in three different formats: digital copies, box sets of single issues, and paperback collections. The first issues of each series are all available to download on TKO’s website, making it easier to commit to the multi-issue model by giving readers and retailers a free sample...

TKO’s CEO and co-publisher, Salvatore Simeone, comes from the world of tech start-ups, and while the details of TKO’s seed money aren’t public, the company has enough funding that it can handle distribution itself and bring in big-name creators for its titles. The distribution angle is perhaps the most intriguing...

TKO is side-stepping Diamond entirely, putting a retailer portal on its website where comic-shops can order books. TKO offers retailers a 50 percent discount on all purchases with free shipping to U.S. stores. International vendors pay for shipping, which varies on a case-by-case basis depending on weight. Books shipped in the U.S. typically arrive within two to five business days instead of weeks or months—eight to 12 business days for international shipping—and TKO uses its Twitter feed to promote stores that stock its books. Even though the publisher sells directly to readers, it recognizes how important it is to have its titles in comic shops and the role they play in marketing to new customers.

And they've got some impressive creators on board... Garth Ennis, Jeff Lemire, and most exciting to my mind, Joshua Dysart. I'm a big evangelist for his Harbinger and Imperium runs at Valiant, but he doesn't actually publish that much, and I always sit up and take notice when he comes out with something new.

Sava gives their books high marks all around. Anyone else read any of these, and/or seen copies at their LCS?

[Paradox_Nihil]

The other co-publisher, Tze Chun, is a TV writer, and wrote several episodes of Once Upon a Time and Gotham, among other things. And he is actually a competent comics writer as well, proving that on two TKO-published titles: the pulpy adventure The Fearsome Doctor Fang, and western 7 Deadly Sins. Both Garth Ennis and Steve Epting have never been better than on Sara.

And no superheroes. TKO is not going to indulge in that genre, or so they've promised.

[LukasG]

Too bad, the shipping costs to Europe are massive

[Dark-Flux]

Too bad, the shipping costs to Europe are massive

Various stores in the UK are now stocking them if thats any cheaper for you?
I got mine from OKComics. I see FP are taking orders too.

[LukasG]

Really? Thanks! Gonna check it out
What TKO is trying to do with publishing --> binge reading (6 issues releasing immediately) coule be disruptive for the industry and I really hope they succeed

[adkal]

I hope they succeed, too.

Somewhat linked to this, it has long been suggested doing arcs as 'seasons' (much like what the All Star books originally seemed to be) but there is a lot of resistance in the industry to something like that.