MonkeyBrain Books
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MonkeyBrain Books (MonkeyBrain, Inc.) is an independent American publishing house based in Austin, Texas, 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."[1]
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[edit] A brief history of MonkeyBrain
Founded by science-fiction author Chris Roberson with his business partner and spouse Allison Baker, MonkeyBrain Books specialises in "genre fiction and nonfiction genre studies," after two years focusing solely on non-fiction.[2]
After dabbling in self-publication and Print On Demand (See: Clockwork Storybook), Roberson made sure that MonkeyBrain would be distributed widely, by the National Book Network, as well as to comicshops through wholesale organisation Diamond Comic Distributors, as well as Baker & Taylor, and Ingram.[3]
Roberson's self-imposed remit is to publish books that:
- "I would want to have on my shelf. That, were I to see them in a bookstore, I would buy on the spot at full price. If the book is something that I might glance at, pick up, put down, walk around and think about buying, I don't do it. It has to be something that I, as a reader and a fan, would be passionate about reading."[4]
[edit] The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
The first project which met his criteria were the companion notes to Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill's 1999 comicbook series The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen compiled by Texas-native Jess Nevins.[5] Written by Alan Moore, and illustrated by Kevin O'Neill, the first six-issue miniseries was published by DC Comics under Moore's own America's Best Comics imprint, and met with instant acclaim and interest - not least from comics-fan, Librarian and Victoriana scholar Nevins, who set about producing annotations highlighting the many overt and covert references contained within the pages of the comic. From obscure 17th Century novels to modern BBC soap opera Eastenders; Jules Verne to Susan Coolidge, Nevins and his many contributors documented and interpreted the references, which can still be found online at Nevins' website.[1]
Baffled that Nevins' work was only available online, and not in print (Nevins writes in the Foreword to Heroes & Monsters that he had never thought about publication prior to Roberson's approach[6]) Roberson lined him up to revise his annotations and observations for print, as one of MonkeyBrain's three debut titles. Nevins added three essays (Archetypes on the particular qualities of LoEG's central characters; On Crossovers tracing the routes of the literary crossover from Greek Myth to the present day and Yellow Perils both in general and fiction (particularly the influence of Sax Rohmer's Fu Manchu) and an Interview with legendary LoEG co-creator and author Alan Moore. Rounded out by an Introduction (also by Moore, Nevins' page-by-page, panel-by-panel annotations detail (with help from "divers hands") the references and sources that The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen features in its densely-packed pages (with some additional commentary by LoEG co-creator and artist Kevin O'Neill).
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 it's 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.[7] The companion to the second volume of LoEG followed in 2004, and in 2006, Titan Books published the UK versions of both titles.
[edit] Other titles
Continuing his 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[8]) printing of Michael Moorcock's guide to Epic Fantasy, and esteemed Doctor Who author and writer Paul Cornell (with Martin Day & Keith Topping)'s attempt to form a coherent narrative from decades of Doctor Who continuity.
In 2005, alongside Philip Jose Farmer commentator Win Scott Eckert's guide to the Wold Newton Universe, the Locus award-nominated Myths for the Modern Age (whose contributors include Philip Jose Farmer & 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, Michael Moorcock and Kim Newman. (Many of which featured authors would become MonkeyBrain stalwarts.)
2005 also saw MonkeyBrain publish Jess Nevins' well-received and World Fantasy Award-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 - particularly cover artwork - of John Picacio, MonkeyBrain's primary cover artist. Cementing MonkeyBrain's leap from 'just' non-fiction and reference genre works to include fiction, 2006 also saw publication of a collection of esteemed popular culture & science fiction author and commentator Kim Newman's Richard Jeperson stories (a distillation of British Spy-fi television) in The Man from the Diogenes Club, with a follow-up published the following year alongside Paul Cornell's imaginative science fiction novel British Summertime.
Roberson's former Clockwork Storybook colleague, and award-winning Robert E. Howard scholar, Mark Finn's 2006 biography - The Life and Art of Robert E. Howard, published on the centenary of Howard's birth has met with considerable critical praise, and not only won the 2007 Cimmerian Award, The Atlantean, but was also nominated for Locus and World Fantasy Awards, too.[9]
[edit] Highlights
MonkeyBrain's best-selling works to date include both of Jess Nevins' two companion volumes to The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Heroes & Monsters and A Blazing World and The Secret Files of the Diogenes Club by Kim Newman.
For five years, all bar two of MonkeyBrain's books have so-far had cover art created for them by John Picacio, covered in 2006's Cover Story: The Art of John Picacio.[10]
[edit] Published works
- Things That Never Were: Fantasies, Lunacies & Entertaining Lies by Matthew Rossi (Introduction by Paul Di Filippo) (Dec 25, 2003)
- Heroes & Monsters: The Unofficial Companion to the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen by Jess Nevins (Introduction by Alan Moore) (Dec 25, 2003)
- Geek Confidential: Echoes from the 21st Century by Rick Klaw (Introduction by Michael Moorcock) (Dec 25, 2003)
- Wizardry and Wild Romance: A Study of Epic Fantasy by Michael Moorcock (Introduction by China Miéville; Afterword by Jeff VanderMeer) (Oct 25, 2004)
- Why Should I Cut Your Throat? by Jeff VanderMeer (Oct 25, 2004)
- The DisContinuity Guide: The Unofficial Doctor Who Companion by Paul Cornell, Martin Day & Keith Topping (Foreword by Terrance Dicks) (Oct 25, 2004)
- A Blazing World: The Unofficial Companion to the Second League of Extraordinary Gentlemen by Jess Nevins (Introduction by Alan Moore) (Oct 25, 2004)
- Projections: Science Fiction in Literature and Film by Lou Anders (Dec 25, 2004)
Art by John Picacio. - Myths for the Modern Age: Philip Jose Farmer's Wold Newton Universe by Win Scott Eckert (Nov 25, 2005)
-
- (Original title: "Creative Mythography: An Expansion of Philip Jose Farmer’s Wold Newton Universe")[11]
- Adventure by Chris Roberson (ed.) (Nov 25, 2005)
- The Encyclopedia of Fantastic Victoriana by Jess Nevins (Introduction by Michael Moorcock) (Dec 25, 2005) - MonkeyBrains 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) (May 25, 2006)
- The Man from the Diogenes Club by Kim Newman (Jun 25, 2006)
- The Secret Files of the Diogenes Club by Kim Newman (Nov 25, 2007)
- Superhero: The Secret Origin of a Genre by Peter Coogan (Introduction by Denny O'Neil) (Jul 25, 2006)
- The Hollow Earth by Rudy Rucker (Dec 25, 2006)
- Blood and Thunder: The Life and Art of Robert E. Howard by Mark Finn (Introduction by Joe R. Lansdale) (Dec 25, 2006)
- British Summertime by Paul Cornell (Paperback - Jul 25, 2007) - UK Hardback published by Gollancz, 2002
- Cenotaxis by Sean Williams (Dec 25, 2007)
- Impossible Territories: An Unofficial Companion to The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen by Jess Nevins (forthcoming - Jul 25, 2008)
- Escape From Hell! by Hal Duncan (forthcoming - Jul 25, 2008)
- Crossovers: A Secret Chronology of the World by Win Scott Eckert (forthcoming - 2009)
[edit] References
- ^ Chris Roberson, interviewed at Emerald City. Accessed on the 21st January, 2008
- ^ Chris Roberson's homepage. Accessed 21st January, 2008
- ^ MonkeyBrain Distribution Information. Accessed 21st January, 2008
- ^ Michael Colbert interviews Chris Roberson for Infinity Plus. Accessed 21st January, 2008
- ^ Michael Colbert interviews Chris Roberson for Infinity Plus. Accessed 21st January, 2008
- ^ Nevins, Jess. "Heroes & Monsters: The Unofficial Companion to the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen", MonkeyBrain, Inc., 2003, p. 15. (English)
- ^ Jess Nevins' Annotations homepage. Accessed on the 21st January, 2008
- ^ Chris Roberson, interviewed at Emerald City. Accessed on the 21st January, 2008
- ^ The Robert E. Howard United Press Association. Accessed on the 21st of January, 2008
- ^ "A Baker's Dozen With Chris Roberson", interview by Rick Klaw. August, 2005, page 2. Accessed on the 21st of January, 2008
- ^ Chris Roberson, interviewed at Emerald City. Accessed on the 21st January, 2008
