AWA Studios

AWA Studios

Status	Active
Founded	November 2018 (2018-11)
Founder	Axel Alonso Bill Jemas Jonathan F Miller
Country of origin	United States
Headquarters location	New York City
Distribution	Simon & Schuster (books) [1]
Key people	Axel Alonso (CCO) Jonathan F Miller (chair)
Publication types	Comics
Fiction genres	Action Adventure Horror Thriller
Imprints	Lesser Evils Upshot
Owner(s)	Lightspeed Venture Partners Lupa Systems SISTER Fremantle [2]
Official website	Official website

Artists, Writers & Artisans or AWA Studios is an American independent comic book publisher founded in November 2018 by Axel Alonso, Bill Jemas and Jonathan F Miller. ^[3]

History

AWA Studios was founded in November 2018 by Axel Alonso and Bill Jemas from Marvel Comics, with the addition of Jonathan F Miller from Fandom. While Alonso and Jemas are Chief Creative Officers, Miller is a Senior Council member. The initials in the company's name stand for "Artists, Writers & Artisans". ^[3] Initial funders included Lightspeed Venture Partners and James Murdoch's Lupa Systems. The SISTER media investment firm also contributed funding in March 2020. ^[4] Over time, a Creative Council was joined by J. Michael Straczynski, Reginald Hudlin, Garth Ennis, Gregg Hurwitz, Margaret Stohl and Frank Cho. ^[5] In September 2019, AWA announced a Retail Council to be assembled. ^[6]

American Ronin was presented as a potential book from AWA in June 2019. ^[7] In August 2019, Straczynski announced a new shared universe for AWA, debuting in 2020 with The Resistance . ^[8] During New York Comic Con 2019, AWA released Upshot Now No. 0. ^[9] AWA Studios premiered with four titles, released in March 2020 under its Upshot imprint. ^[10]

In June 2021, AWA announced the foundation of its own film/TV division, being helmed by Zach Studin as President. ^{[11] [12]}

Since 2023, the Upshot Studios imprint was merged into AWA.^{[ citation needed ]}

In June 2024, AWA announced an alliance with Vertigo Entertainment to create New Horror Storytelling Pipeline. ^[13]

Key people

Leadership team

• Axel Alonso, chief creative officer (2018–present) ^[3]
• Bill Jemas, chief executive officer and publisher (2018–2022) ^[3]
• Jonathan F Miller, chairman of the board (2018–present) ^[3]

Creative council

• J. Michael Straczynski (2018–present) ^{[5] [14]}
• Reginald Hudlin (2018–present) ^{[5] [14]}
• Garth Ennis (2018–2022) ^[5]
• Gregg Hurwitz (2018–present) ^{[5] [14]}
• Margaret Stohl (2018–2022) ^[5]
• Frank Cho (2018–2022) ^[5]
• Laeta Kalogridis (2022–present) ^[14]
• Joseph Kosinski (2022–present) ^[14]
• Al Madrigal (2022–present) ^[14]

Imprints

Upshot imprint logo

Current

• AWA

Former

• iPOP ^[15]
• Lesser Evils ^[16]
• Upshot Studios (merged into AWA)^{[ citation needed ]}

List of works

Series

Overview of AWA Studios series

Title	Issues	Writer(s)	Artist	Colorist	Start date	Conclusion date	Note(s)
The Resistance [8]	#1–6	J. Michael Straczynski	Mike Deodato	Frank Martin	March 18, 2020	September 30, 2020	Part of The Resistance universe.
Archangel 8 [17]	#1–5	Michael Moreci	C. P. Smith	Snakebite Cortez		September 23, 2020	Standalone series.
Hotell [18]	#1–4	John Lees	Dalibor Talijic	Lee Loughridge		August 19, 2020	Part of the Hotell universe.
Red Border [19]		Jason Starr	Will Conrad	Ivan Nunes		August 26, 2020	Standalone series.
Year Zero [20]	#1–5	Benjamin Percy	Ramon Rosanas	Lee Loughridge	April 4, 2020	September 30, 2020	Part of the Year Zero universe.
Old Haunts [21]		Ollie Masters Rob Williams	Laurence Campbell		May 20, 2020	October 28, 2020	Standalone series.
Devil's Highway [20]		Benjamin Percy	Brent Schoonover	Nick Filardi	June 3, 2020	November 25, 2020	Part of the Devil's Highway universe.
Bad Mother [22]		Christa Faust	Mike Deodato	Lee Loughridge	August 5, 2020	December 30, 2020	Standalone series.
Grendel, Kentucky [23] [24]	#1–4	Jeff McComsey	Tommy Lee Edwards		September 2, 2020	December 23, 2020
American Ronin [7]	#1–5	Peter Milligan	ACO	Dean White	October 7, 2020	February 17, 2021
Year Zero Vol. 2 [25]		Benjamin Percy	Juan Jose Ryp	Frank Martin	November 4, 2020	March 24, 2021	Part of the Year Zero universe.
E-Ratic [26]		Karee Andrews		Brian Reber	December 2, 2020	April 28, 2021	Part of The Resistance universe.
Byte-Sized [27]	#1–4	Cullen Bunn	Nelson Blake II	Snakebite Cortez	December 9, 2020	March 31, 2021	Standalone series.
Mann's World [28]		Victor Gischler	Niko Walter		January 13, 2021	April 21, 2021
Redemption [29]	#1–5	Christa Faust	Mike Deodato	Lee Loughridge	February 3, 2021	June 30, 2021
Casual Fling [29]		Jason Starr	Dalabor Talijic	Marco Lesko	February 10, 2021	May 27, 2021
Chariot [30]		Bryan Edward Hill	Priscilla Petraites		March 3, 2021	July 28, 2021
The Resistance: Uprising [31]	#1–6	J. Michael Straczynski	C. P. Smith	Snakebite Cortez	April 7, 2021	September 29, 2021	Part of The Resistance universe.
Marjorie Finnigan, Temporal Criminal [32]	#1–8	Garth Ennis	Goran Sudžuka	Miroslav Mrva	May 5, 2021	December 29, 2021	Standalone series.
Moths [33] [34]	#1–6	J. Michael Straczynski	Mike Choi		June 2, 2021	November 24, 2021	Part of The Resistance universe.
Fight Girls [35]	#1–5	Frank Cho		Sabine Rich	July 7, 2021	November 17, 2021	Standalone series.
Not All Robots [36]		Mark Russell	Mike Deodato	Lee Loughridge	August 4, 2021	December 29, 2021
Telepaths [37]	#1–6	J. Michael Straczynski	Steve Epting	Brian Reber	September 1, 2021	February 23, 2022
Out [38]	#1–5	Rob Williams	Will Conrad	Marco Lesko	October 6, 2021
Knighted [39]		Gregg Hurwitz	Mark Texeira	Brian Reber	November 8, 2021	March 30, 2022	Part of The Resistance universe.
Hotell Vol. 2 [40]		John Lees	Dalabor Talijic	Lee Loughridge	December 1, 2021	April 27, 2022	Part of the Hotell universe.
Crimson Cage [41]			Alex Cormack	Ashley Cormack	December 8, 2021	April 20, 2022	Standalone series.
The Fourth Man [42]	#1–4	Jeff McComsey	Mike Deodato	Lee Loughridge	January 5, 2022	April 27, 2022
Primos [43]		Al Madrigal	Felipe Flores	Brian Reber	February 2, 2022	May 25, 2022
Hit Me [44]	#1–5	Christa Faust	Priscilla Petraites	Marco Lesko	March 2, 2022	July 27, 2022
The Joneses [45]		Michael Moreci	Alessandro Vitti	Ive Svorcina	April 6, 2022	August 31, 2022	Part of The Resistance universe.
Devil's Highway Vol. 2 [46]		Benjamin Percy	Brent Schoonover	Nick Filardi	May 4, 2022	September 28, 2022	Part of the Devil's Highway universe.
Newthink [47]		Gregg Hurwitz	Mike Deodato	Lee Loughridge	June 1, 2022	October 26, 2022	Standalone series.
Absolution		Peter Milligan			July 6, 2022	November 30, 2022
Sacrament			Marcelo Frusin		August 3, 2022	December 28, 2022
E-Ratic 2: Recharged [48]	#1–4	Kaare Andrews		Brian Reber	September 7, 2022	December 21, 2022	Part of The Resistance universe.
Year Zero Vol. 0	#1–5	Daniel Kraus	Goran Sudžuka	Miroslav Mrva	October 5, 2022	February 22, 2023	Part of the Year Zero universe.
Trojan	#1–4	Daniel Kraus	Laci	Marco Lesko	January 4, 2023	April 26, 2023	Standalone series.
Black Tape		Dan Panosian	Dalibor Talijic	Ive Svorcina	February 1, 2023	May 24, 2023
Red Zone		Cullen Bunn	Mike Deodato Jr.	Lee Loughridge	March 1, 2023	June 21, 2023
Sins of the Salton Sea	#1–5	Ed Brisson	C. P. Smith		June 7, 2023	October 4, 2023
The Ribbon Queen	#1–8	Garth Ennis	Jacen Burrows	Dan Brown	July 26, 2023	February 28, 2024
The Madness	#1–6	J. Michael Straczynski	ACO	Marcelo Mariolo	August 9, 2023	January 10, 2024
Rumpus Room [49]	#1–5	Mark Russell	Ramon Rosanas	Ive Svorcina	September 20, 2023	January 24, 2024
Red Light [50]	#1–4	Sarah Cho	Priscilla Petraites	Miroslav Mrva	November 1, 2023	February 14, 2023
Little Black Book	#1–4	Jeff McComsey	Chris Ferguson	Marco Lesko	March 13, 2024	June 12, 2024
U&I [51]	#1–6	J. Michael Straczynski	Mike Choi		February 7, 2024	September 25, 2024	Part of The Resistance universe.

Announced series

Overview of upcoming AWA Studios series

Title	Issues	Writer	Artist	Colorist
The Amazing Ordinary [52]	TBA	Margaret Stohl	TBA	TBA
The Cong: Gorilla Warfare [53]		TBA
Lil' Freakin Maniacs [26]		Kaare Andrews
YT Savior [54] [55] [56]		Ales Kot	Robert Sammelin

Graphic novels

Overview of AWA Studios graphic novels

Title	Writer	Artist	Colorist	Release date
Gatsby	Jeremy Holt	Felipe Cunha	Dearbhla Kelly	May 10, 2023

One-shots

Overview of AWA Studios one-shots

Title	Writer(s)	Artist(s)	Colorist(s)	Release date	Note(s)
The Resistance: Reborns [28]	J. Michael Straczynski	C. P. Smith	Snakebite Cortez	January 6, 2021	Part of The Resistance universe.
ET-ER [57]	Jeff McComsey Dan Panosian	Javier Pulido Shawn Crystal	Javier Pulido Jean-Francois Beaulieu	October 13, 2021	Part of the ET-ER universe.
ET-ER Vol. 2	John Lees Michael Coast Stuart Moore	Vladimir Krstić-Laci Mark Texeira Nelson Blake II		June 8, 2022

Magazines

Overview of AWA Studios magazines

Title	Issues	Writer(s)	Artist(s)	Colorist(s)	Start date	Conclusion date	Notes
Upshot Now [9]	#0–	Various			October 3–6, 2019 (New York Comic Con)	Present	The official magazine of AWA's Upshot imprint, featuring previews of its comic books and graphic novels.

Film and TV adaptations

• Chariot ^[58]
• Hotell ^[59]
• Marjorie Finnigan, Temporal Criminal ^{[60] [61]}

References

1. "Comic Publishers are flocking to Simon & Schuster for Distribution". March 15, 2021.
2. Goldbart, Max (February 14, 2023). "Fremantle Invests In Lis & James Murdoch-Backed AWA". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved February 14, 2023.
3. Gustines, George Gene (March 20, 2019). "A Comic Book Publisher Creates Its Own Origin Story". The New York Times .
4. Lang, Brent (March 18, 2020). "Sister Invests in AWA Studios, New Comic Book Company From Marvel Vets (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
5. Marston, George (March 20, 2019). "ENNIS, JMS, HUDLIN, CHO, STOHL, More Join Bill Jemas' AWA". Newsarama .
6. Griepp, Milton (September 3, 2019). "AWA ASSEMBLING RETAIL COUNCIL". ICv2.
7. Burlingame, Russ (June 5, 2019). "Peter Milligan Talks AWA's American Ronin". ComicBook.com.
8. Babos, John (August 9, 2019). "J. Michael Straczynski, Mike Deodato Jr. Team for 'The Resistance' Comic". Hollywood Reporter.
9. "AWA To Debut Sampler Magazine UPSHOT NOW at NYCC" (Press release). Artists Writers & Artisans. September 25, 2019 – via Newsarama.
10. Arvedon, Jon (February 11, 2020). "AWA Studios Creators and Execs Preview Upshot Imprint Titles". CBR. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
11. Goldsmith, Jill (June 10, 2021). "Zach Studin To Lead New Studio Division For Graphic Fiction Publisher AWA". Deadline. Retrieved August 7, 2021.
12. "Bill Jemas, AWA Launches Film and TV Studios Division". CBR. June 11, 2021. Retrieved August 7, 2021.
13. Earl, William (June 10, 2024). "AWA, Vertigo Entertainment Announce Partnership to Create New Horror Storytelling Pipeline (EXCLUSIVE)".
14. Jackie (November 21, 2022). "AWA Studios Enlists Top Creatives to Shepherd Content Derived From Graphic Novels". AWA: Artists Writers & Artisans. Retrieved November 30, 2022.
15. Destito, Deanna (June 5, 2020). "AWA Studios launches new imprint iPOP! with BE WAWA". The Beat . Retrieved October 13, 2020.
16. "The Borough of Brooklyn is the Setting for New Supernatural Comic Series, 'Lesser Evils'". BK Reader. May 25, 2022. Retrieved May 26, 2022.
17. Destito, Deanna (March 10, 2020). "PREVIEW: Take a peek at AWA's ARCHANGEL 8 ahead of its debut". comicsbeat.com. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
18. Johnston, Rich (July 9, 2019). "John Lees and Dalibor Talajić Launch "Hotell" From AWA Comics". Bleeding Cool .
19. Johnston, Rich (July 9, 2019). "Jason Starr and Will Conrad Launch "Red Border" From AWA Comics". Bleeding Cool .
20. Johnston, Rich (July 9, 2019). "Benjamin Percy Launches Two Comics From AWA – Year Zero and Devil's Highway". Bleeding Cool .
21. "Old Haunts".
22. "Bad Mother Comic Series By Christa Faust - AWA Studios".
23. "Grendel Kentucky Comic Series - AWA Studios".
24. Johnston, Rich (September 23, 2019). "Tommy Lee Edwards Draws Cannabis Horror Comic For AWA – "Grendel, Kentucky"". Bleeding Cool .
25. McMillan, Graeme (August 20, 2020). "Zombie Comic 'Year Zero' Getting Second Volume". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved August 27, 2020.
26. Johnston, Rich (September 23, 2019). "Kaare Andrews to Launch Two Comics, "E-Ratic" and "Lil' Freakin Maniacs" From AWA". Bleeding Cool .
27. Johnston, Rich (September 23, 2019). "Cullen Bunn and Nelson Blake II's "Byte Sized" Coming From AWA Comics". Bleeding Cool .
28. "JMS and Mike Deodato's Resistance Returns – AWA January 2021 Solicits". Bleeding Cool. October 23, 2020. Retrieved October 29, 2020.
29. Johnston, Rich (November 20, 2020). "AWA Has a Casual Fling – and Redemption – in February 2021 Solicits". Bleeding Cool . Retrieved November 26, 2020.
30. McMillan, Graeme (December 14, 2020). "Sci-Fi Comic 'Chariot' to Hit Stores in March". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved December 29, 2020.
31. McMillan, Graeme (January 15, 2021). "Pandemic Sci-Fi Comic 'The Resistance' Returns in New 'Uprising'". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved January 26, 2021.
32. Tantimedh, Adi (January 25, 2021). "Marjorie Finnegan: AWA Teases Garth Ennis' Time Travel Caper Comedy". Bleeding Cool . Retrieved January 26, 2021.
33. Johnston, Rich (March 19, 2021). "J Michael Straczynski and Mike Choi Launch Moths #1 From AWA in June". Bleeding Cool . Retrieved April 1, 2021.
34. Johnston, Rich (September 23, 2019). "Babylon 5's Joe Michael Straczynski to Write Resistance Spinoff, "Moths", From AWA Comics". Bleeding Cool .
35. Burdette, Chad (January 25, 2021). "Frank Cho returns to comics with Fight Girls from AWA Publishing". comic-watch.com. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
36. Avila, Mike (May 13, 2021). "Mark Russell's 'Not All Robots' is a parable of toxic masculinity & AI supremacy in our capitalist hellscape". Syfy Wire . Retrieved July 13, 2021.
37. Avila, Mike (June 11, 2021). "Imagine a world with millions of telepaths. J. Michael Straczynski did, and wrote a comic about it". Syfy Wire . Retrieved June 16, 2021.
38. "AWA Studios announces Out from Rob Williams, Will Conrad and Marco Lesko". Graphic Policy. July 23, 2021. Retrieved November 23, 2021.
39. Johnston, Rich (August 17, 2021). "Gregg Hurwitz & Mark Texeira's Knighted, Batman Of The AWA Universe". Bleeding Cool. Retrieved November 23, 2021.
40. Dyce, Andrew (September 16, 2021). "Horror Anthology HOTELL Returns For Volume 2 This December (Exclusive)". Screen Rant. Retrieved November 23, 2021.
41. Dyce, Andrew (September 7, 2021). "'Crimson Cage' is The Comic Wrestling Fans Have Been Waiting For (Exclusive)". Screen Rant. Retrieved November 23, 2021.
42. Johnston, Rich (October 24, 2021). "Jeff McComsey, Lee Loughridge, Mike Deodato's The Fourth Man from AWA". Bleeding Cool. Retrieved October 28, 2021.
43. Johnston, Rich (September 23, 2019). "The Daily Show's Al Madrigal to Write New Comic, "Primos", For AWA". Bleeding Cool .
44. Mega, Al (December 28, 2021). "AWA announces Hit Me, a female driven crime thriller comic book series from creator Christa Faust and artist Priscilla Petraites". comiccrusaders.com. Retrieved February 3, 2022.
45. King, Samantha (January 22, 2022). "Writer of Barbaric Pens New Fantastic Four-Style Superhero Comic". Screen Rant. Retrieved February 3, 2022.
46. Brooke, David (February 23, 2022). "Devil's Highway Vol. 2 sets to crank up the paranoia and speed". Adventures in Poor Taste. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
47. MacNamee, Olly (March 17, 2022). "AWA Studios Announces New Sci-Fi Anthology 'Newthink'". comicon.com. Retrieved April 12, 2022.
48. "AWA Studios' High School Superhero Returns in E-Ratic: Recharged Volume 2". Comics. Retrieved June 30, 2022.
49. "AWA unveils Mark Russell and Ramon Rosanas's "Rumpus Room"". Multiversity Comics. June 14, 2023. Retrieved June 23, 2023.
50. Brooke, David (August 16, 2023). "EXCLUSIVE AWA Studios First Look: Red Light #1". Adventures in Poor Taste. Retrieved August 22, 2023.
51. Chiu-Tabet, Christopher (November 16, 2023). "J. Michael Straczynski and Mike Choi to Weave a Superhero Romance in "U And I"". Multiversity Comics. Retrieved November 20, 2023.
52. Johnston, Rich (September 23, 2019). "Margaret Stohl's "The Amazing Ordinary", From AWA Comics". Bleeding Cool .
53. Johnston, Rich (September 24, 2019). "AWA to Publish Mystery Giant Ape Comic, "The Cong – Gorilla Warfare"". Bleeding Cool .
54. "AWA Studios - All of the comics fit to print". awastudios.net.
55. Johnston, Rich (July 8, 2019). "Ales Kot's "Savior" Gets a Name Change to "YT S@vior" for AWA". bleedingcool.
56. Whalen, Andrew (September 24, 2019). "UPCOMING COMIC 'SAVIOR' STARS CORPORATE FASCIST MEGACHURCH MESSIAH". newsweek.
57. Johnston, Rich (September 23, 2019). "Jeff McComsey and Javier Pulido's Universal Healthcare Comic, "ET ER" From AWA Comics". Bleeding Cool .
58. Fleming, Mike Jr. (July 12, 2021). "'Top Gun: Maverick' Helmer Joseph Kosinski To Direct 'Chariot,' Graphic Novel Adaptation Won By Warner Bros; Julian Meiojas Scripting, 21 Laps Producing". Deadline. Retrieved July 4, 2022.
59. Kroll, Justin (June 22, 2022). "Elle Callahan To Write And Direct Adaptation Of Graphic Novel 'Hotell' As AWA Studios Ramps Up Slate". Deadline. Retrieved July 4, 2022.
60. Complex, Valerie (December 1, 2022). "AWA Studios Partners With LuckyChap Entertainment For Feature Film Adaptation Of Garth Ennis Graphic Novel 'Marjorie Finnegan, Temporal Criminal'". Deadline. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
61. Johnston, Rich (September 23, 2019). ""Marjorie Finnegan, Temporal Criminal" by Garth Ennis, From AWA, to Be Announced at NYCC". Bleeding Cool .

External links

• Official website