Dabel Brothers Productions

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Dabel Brothers Productions (also known as DB Pro, DBPro, and sometimes Dabel Brothers Production) is a U.S. publishing company of comic books and graphic novels. It was founded in 2001 and is based in Atlanta, Georgia. It is best known for its high quality comic book and graphic novel adaptations of fantasy novels by major authors like Orson Scott Card, Raymond E. Feist, Laurell K. Hamilton, Robert Jordan, George R. R. Martin, R.A. Salvatore, Robert Silverberg, and Tad Williams.

During the September 2006 Diamond Retailer Summit in Baltimore, MD, Marvel Comics announced that they will partner with Dabel Brothers Productions.

With their fan base extended well beyond comics and into the publishing realm as well: now the Dabels have signed an agreement with Marvel Comics that will see DBPro solicited, published, and distributed by Marvel Comics. The Dabels will retain full control of their company, which will serve as a sophisticated superhero-alternative imprint for Marvel in much the same way that Vertigo fills that niche for DC

1 History
2 Publications
- 2.1 Licensed properties
- 2.2 Original properties
3 External links

[edit] History

Dabel Brothers Productions was originally founded in 2001 by four brothers: Ernst, Les, Pascal, and David. At the time, Ernst and Les Dabel were both aspiring comic book creators with a special interest in the genre of fantasy. The brothers soon changed the name of the comic book wing of their fledling business to "Roaring Studios" with an animated, snarling lion greeting guests who ventured into their website.

During their first year, the brothers produced several small, forgettable original comic books and learned many lessons about the business of the comic book industry. After thier first two original titles "The Rift" and "Waterdogs" did lackluster in the comics market, they put their remaining resources into a licensed book called The Hedge Knight, based off a novella by bestselling author George R. R. Martin that appeared in Robert Silverberg's Legends anthology.

The Dabels applied their remaining funds to go all out with the six-issue series, hiring veteran Marvel and DC artist Mike S. Miller to provide the pencils and commissioning special covers from legendary sci-fi/fantasy artists like Michael Kaluta, the Brothers Hildebrandt, Boris Vallejo and Tom Mandrake.

When the first issue of The Hedge Knight arrived on shelves in August of 2003, it sold out quickly, earning many positive reviews and praise from fans and retailers alike. When the sixth issue hit shelves in the Spring of 2004, copies of the first issue had become highly sought after by fans of George R. R. Martin, and some were spotted selling for hundreds of dollars on Ebay as word of mouth about the book spread. During that six issue run however, the studio went through a public break with the original publisher of the series, Image Comics and the series switched to Devil's Due for the remainder of its run. It was also hit with several delays on issues 4-6. While claims have been made as to reason, none have been substantiated.

Realizing that they had hit upon a new market, the Dabel Brothers began acquiring more literary fantasy licenses, contacting each of the authors featured in the Legends anthology and offering to adapt their work. Three of these authors -- Robert Silverberg, Raymond E. Feist, and Tad Williams -- immediately consented, and the Dabel Brothers began production on Silverberg's The Seventh Shrine, Feist's The Wood Boy, and Williams's The Burning Man. All of which were originally scheduled to come from Devil's Due, but were announced by the publisher as canceled due to contract dispute between both Devil's due and Roaring Studios. Later, the studio made a public break with Devil's Due which caused a stir in the comics media. Only one issue of Wood Boy was published as promised, and eventually the rest of the material created was finally published in a trade paperback. Also around this same time, DBPro due to issues between them and Hasbro lost the rights to the Dragonlance: Legend of Huma series after only 5 issues were published. The series was promoted as a 6-issue mini-series, but the entire adaptation was intended for several mini-series runs. Devil's Due later acquired a more comprehensive license from Hasbro which included all their Dragonlance properties and novels. They then packaged the final issue of the Huma mini-series, but the remainder of the book remains unadapted.

The Dabels also chose this time to shed the name "Roaring Studios" in favor of their original company title, "Dabel Brothers Productions". Staff soon began calling the company "DB Pro".

But while DB Pro was known by fans for its quality books, many in the industry were unaware of the company's efforts because of the restrictions placed upon the Dabels by publishers regarding marketing and branding according to the studio. However, after their departure from Devil's Due they aligned with Alias Enterprises where they seemed quite free to establish their brand. They later also went through a public break with Alias. This launched a mutual smear campaign on many of the media forums between the two. It should also be noted that Alias' head creative director is Mike S. Miller, who had been partnered with DBPro prior to Alias' existence, dating back to their first major series, The Hedge Knight.

In addition during this same time, Dabel Brothers had worked in conjunction with Red Eagle Entertainment to produce issues of Robert Jordan's New Spring. However, once again, due to a very public contract dispute, the Dabels are alledging Red Eagle failed to make payments for production. However, Red Eagle alleges the Dabels were unable to complete the series in a timely fashion. The issue is in arbitration in court. DBPro owns the right to the comic of New Spring through the end of 2006, though any contractual involvement with Red Eagle remains in question if the series is in arbitration. It should also be noted that this contract dispute seems to have arisen shortly after Mike Miller was released from the art on the series. Also it should be noted that Red Eagle, has now partnered with Alias Entertainment, where Miller is VP and Creative director. DBPro claims it will be continuing the series, despite this court arbitration. Red Eagle has not made mention specifically of intention to continue New Spring, but has mentioned in press releases to continue the Wheel of Time comics line in the future, which they do indeed own the license rights to. DBPro has only ever owned the comic rights to New Spring from Jordan, not the entire series.

In the spring of 2006 DBPro announced that they were planning to release several new series based on popular fantasy novels.

As of 2006, Dabel Brothers Productions began the effort publish seven separate monthly titles and has plans for and added line up in the coming future. However, after only 4 months of publication DBPro suddenly suspended publication. Apparently this suspended publication was during the negotiation with Marvel resulting in the new partnership with Marvel publishing. In fact it was later learned from Dan Buckley, Publisher of Marvel Comics that, “We chose to work with each other because we saw that we had mutually beneficial goals, and that we could both improve our businesses by working together.” And David Gabriel, Vice President of Sales for Marvel Comics, explained the direction Marvel aims to go with Dabel Bros. “We hope to bring new readers into stores by leveraging these best-selling authors, and reaching a wider-audience than we already are with Marvel’s best-selling super-hero comic books...” said Gabriel.

Even while this deal with Marvel was being finalized, the Dabels have continued to negotiate with other authors to bring their works to comics.

Current plans call for some DBPro books that were released earlier this year to be resolicited and reissued under the new DBPro/Marvel agreement.

DB Pro will gradually ramp up its production to a four to six books per month level as well as trade paperback and hardcover collections of their adaptations. The imprint will continue to focus on licensed adaptations of works by high-profile fantasy and SF authors, with the Dabel Brothers handling the editorial side of DBPro while Marvel handles the marketing and publishing side.

[edit] Publications

[edit] Licensed properties

George R. R. Martin's The Hedge Knight

First released: August, 2003
Publisher: Image Comics (1-3), Devil's Due Publishing (4-6, 1st and 2nd edition of Graphic novel)
Format: Six issues, reprinted in single graphic novel
Creative team: George R. R. Martin (writer), Ben Avery (script), Mike S. Miller (pencils), Mike Crowell (inks), Lynx Studios (colors), Bill Tortolini of Lithium Pro (letters and production)

Dragonlance: The Legend of Huma

Publisher: Devil's Due Publishing
First released: February, 2004
Format: Five issues only completed. License moved to Devil's Due.
Creative team: Richard A. Knaak (writer), Brian Augustyn (1), Sean J. Jordan (1-5) & Trampas Whiteman (3-5) (scripts), Mike S. Miller (1-5), Rael Lyra (1-5), Mike Crowell, Joe Prado (artwork), Lynx Studios, Rod Reis, & Ricardo Riamonde (colors) Bill Tortolini of Lithium Pro (letters and production)

Robert Silverberg's The Seventh Shrine

Publisher: Image Comics (1), Dabel Brothers Productions (Graphic Novel)
First released: March, 2005
Format: Two issues
Creative team: Robert Silverberg (w), Sean J. Jordan (editor), Bill Tortolini of Lithium Pro (design and production)

Raymond E. Feist's The Wood Boy

Publisher: Image Comics (1), Dabel Brothers Productions (Graphic Novel)
First released: May, 2005
Format: Two issues, the second of which was never published, reprinted in The Wood Boy / The Burning Man graphic novel
Creative team: Raymond E. Feist (writer), Sean J. Jordan (script), Mat Broome (1), Abdul Rashid (2) (artwork), Stephen Broome (1), David Lanphear (2) (colors), Bill Tortolini of Lithium Pro (letters and production)

Tad Williams's The Burning Man

Publisher: Dabel Brothers Productions (Graphic Novel)
First released: March, 2005
Format: Printed in The Wood Boy / The Burning Man graphic novel (The 3 issues solicited were cancelled in favor of the Trade format)
Creative team: Tad Williams (writer), Sean J. Jordan & Roynne Gillespie (script), Brett Booth (art), Bobby Souza, Manny Clark, Arif Priyanto and Sakti (colors), Bill Tortolini of Lithium Pro (letters and production)

Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time: New Spring

Publisher: Red Eagle Entertainment (1-5) future releases are being currently arbitrated in court
First released: March, 2005
Format: Eight issues
Creative Team: Robert Jordan (writer), Chuck Dixon (script), Mike S. Miller, Carlos Paul (art), Bill Tortolini of Lithium Pro (letters and production)

Orson Scott Card's Tales of Alvin Maker: Red Prophet

Publisher: Marvel / Dabel Brothers Productions
First released: March, 2006
Second release: October, 2006 (Starting with a collected edition of issues 1-2)
Format: Ongoing
Creative team: Orson Scott Card (writer), Roland Bernard Brown (script), Renato Arlem (art), David Curiel of Inshield (colors), Bill Tortolini of Lithium Pro (letters and production)

Raymond E. Feist's Magician

Publisher: Marvel / Dabel Brothers Productions
First released: March, 2006
Second release: October, 2006 (Starting with a collected edition of issues 1-2)
Format: Ongoing
Creative team: Raymond E. Feist (writer), Michael Avon Oeming & Bryan J.L. Glass (script), Brett Booth (art), Jess Booth, Ivan Nunes, Vinicius (colors), Bill Tortolini of Lithium Pro (letters and production)

Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter in Guilty Pleasures

Publisher: Marvel / Dabel Brothers Productions
First released: October 2006
Format: Ongoing
Creative team: Laurell K. Hamilton (writer), Stacie M. Ritchie (script), Brett Booth (art), Jess Booth (colors), Bill Tortolini of Lithium Pro (letters and production)

Monte Cook's Ptolus: City By the Spire

Publisher: Marvel / Dabel Brothers Productions
First released: June, 2006
Second release: November, 2006
Format: Six issues
Creative team: Monte Cook (writer), Canaan White, Carlos Paul (art), Inshield (colors), Simon Bowland of Lithium Pro (letters and production)

This article contains information about a scheduled or expected future product.
It may contain preliminary or speculative information, and may not reflect the final version of the product.

Orson Scott Card's Wyrms

Publisher: Marvel / Dabel Brothers Productions
First released: March, 2006
Second release: April, 2006
Format: Six Issues
Creative team: Orson Scott Card (writer), Jake Black (script), Adriano Batista (art), Frank Martin, Jr. (colors), Simon Bowland of Lithium Pro (letters and production)

XIII

Publisher: Marvel / Dabel Brothers Productions
First released: June, 2006 (issues 1-5 through Alias, Issue 6 PDF release DBPro)
Second release: January 2006
Format: Six 144-page TP volumes Un-edited (each 6 U.S. issues, or 3 original albums)
Creative team: Jean Van Hamme (writer), William Vance (art), Ben Avery (translation), Simon Bowland and Bill Tortolini of Lithium Pro (letters and production)

Michael Lent's Prey: Origin of the Species

Publisher: Marvel / Dabel Brothers Productions
First released: February, 2006
Format: Trade Paperback
Creative team: Michael Lent (writer), Mike Raicht (script), Alex Sanchez, Bong Dazo (art), Alisson Ricardo (colors), Simon Bowland of Lithium Pro (letters and production)

R.A. Salvatore's The Highwayman

Publisher: Dabel Brothers Productions
First released: Fall, 2007
Format: Twelve issues
Creative team: Matthew Hansen (script), Lithium Pro (letters and production)

[edit] Original properties

Legacy: Shards of a Broken Kingdom

Publisher: Image Comics (1-4), Alias Enterprises (Manga Digest)
First released: May, 2003
Format: Four issues
Created by: Les & Ernst Dabel
Creative team: Carmen Treffileti (1-3), Sean J. Jordan (4) (script), Edu Francisco (art), Lynx Studios (colors), Bill Tortolini of Lithium Pro (letters and production)

Marshal

Publisher: Marvel / Dabel Brothers Productions
First released: Spring 2007
Format: Four issues
Created by: Bill Tortolini
Creative team: Bill Tortolini and Andrew Lovuolo (script), Abdul Rashid (art), Edmund of Imaginary Friends Studios (colors), Bill Tortolini of Lithium Pro (letters and production)

Half Dead

Publisher: Marvel / Dabel Brothers Productions
First released: March 2007
Format: Graphic Novel
Created by: Park Cooper, Barb Lien-Cooper and Jimmy Bott
Creative team: Park Cooper & Barb Lien-Cooper (script), Jimmy Bott (art), Wes Wong and Dean Welsh (colors), Simon Bowland of Lithium Pro (letters and production)

This article contains information about a scheduled or expected future product.
It may contain preliminary or speculative information, and may not reflect the final version of the product.

Minus World

Publisher: Marvel Dabel Brothers Productions
First released: Fall, 2007
Format: Four monthly issues
Created by: Sean J. Jordan
Creative team: Sean J. Jordan (script), Jesse Elliot (art), Lithium Pro (letters and production)

Age of Darkness

Publisher: Marvel / Dabel Brothers Productions
First released: Spring 2008
Format: Four monthly issues
Created by: Ernst Dabel
Creative team: Ernst Dabel (script), Edu Francisco (art), Lithium Pro (letters and production)