There are more Disney comics coming, but this time, from a publisher few, if any, would’ve picked out of a lineup as potential suitors for the company that Walt & Mickey built.

Announced at last weekend’s Book Expo America, Slave Labor Graphics, home to titles such as Johnny the Homicidal Maniac, Lenore, Milk and Cheese, My Monkey’s Name is Jennifer, and an equally eclectic group of creators; has landed the rights to four new Disney-based comics: Haunted Mansion, Wonderland, Tron, and Gargoyles.

While not the first time Slave Labor has published books based on licensed properties, the deal marks the first time the company has partnered with such a mainstream licensor, one that virtually guarantees a rise in the company’s profile.

While Owner, President, and Publisher, Dan Vado acknowledges that the pairing between SLG and Disney may have come as a rather sudden thing to most, the deal has been percolating for well over a year.

“Disney originally came to me about something else that, ultimately, we couldn’t get done, but I maintained a cordial relationship with the people who contacted us,” Vado told Newsarama. “A little over a year ago, I made an offhand remark to someone about how I would like to do a story about Wonderland after Alice left – to try and tread upon some new ground within Disney’s version of the world. They were intrigued by the idea, so I wrote up a proposal, not really knowing where it was going to go, for a line of comics that would be along those lines – using their brand, but doing things a little differently, and aiming for a slightly older audience than Disney is most associated with. They were interested in seeing if they could move their brand over to the teen market, which we seem to have penetrated reasonably well.”

The aiming for the teen market by Disney that Vado mentioned is something that can’t be overlooked. As media watchers have pointed out, the entertainment giant’s various brands have tremendous success among young children, but weaken noticeably in the pre-teen and teen years (with a handful of exceptions). The popularity of the various brands pick up again with adults, due in part to nostalgia, as well as parents introducing their children to the various Disney brands and properties.

Initially, Vado wrote a pitch for three series, with Disney suggesting Gargoyles, as Greg Weisman, creator of the animated series had expressed an interest to Disney in continuing the storylines he’d begun, and the blossoming SLG deal seemed to be the perfect fit.

Again, despite the seemingly odd-ish fit of SLG and Disney, Vado said that he had creators ready to go as soon he began looking. “In each of these cases, I had people who we were publishing who were highly motivated to do stories about each of those things,” Vado said. “Landry Walker, who writes Little Gloomy is a huge Tron fan. He’s had an idea about writing Tron for a long time. Tommy Kovac, who does Autumn for us is a big Alice in Wonderland fan, so he was ready to go, and I had a plan for Haunted Mansion. So we were set with creators who were ready to go and follow through in the vision that I’d proposed for the comics.

“I think that people will see that Haunted Mansion, Wonderland, and Gargoyles fit pretty well with us and what we do, with Tron being a slight exception. But when they see the finished product, they’ll see why it makes sense for us.”

That said, Vado ran down the four titles SLG has lined up:

Haunted Mansion (bi-monthly, black and white, $2.95, issue #1 coming in October)

“This will be based on the theme park ride, not on the movie. The ride itself is one of the few ‘E-ticket’ attractions that do not have an official story. When Walt Disney was conceptualizing it, his view was essentially, ‘This is a haunted house. The rider is a person trapped in a haunted house. That’s the only story you need.’ There are elements of a story in it, and hinted at over the years, but only the one at EuroDisney [Phantom Manor] has a story.

“What I’ve done is researched the ride – a lot of which was riding the ride many hundreds of times over the course of my life – and there is a story there. In essence though, Haunted Mansion is going to be an anthology in the spirit of the ride. There are 999 ghosts in the mansion, so that produces the potential for at least 999 stories – where did these ghosts come from? How did they die? What are they doing in the Mansion?

“We’ll also tell the backstory of the Mansion itself in a thread which will run through the main stories. I consider the most central characters of the larger story to be the ‘Ghost Host’ – the guy hanging in the rafters, Madame Leota – the medium who appears in the crystal ball in the attic, and the Bride, who’s in the attic. They’re central to the story.

“That said, the backstory will be there to drive along elements of some of the other stories, but I’m not going to make paying attention to the backstory the focus of the series. After all, people ride the Haunted Mansion, not for the backstory, but for the individual elements, which we’ll touch upon in the stories of the anthology.” 

Gargoyles (bi-monthly, full color, $3.50, issue #1 coming in December or January)

“This will be tied to the animated series, and will be written by Greg Weisman who created the animated series that aired origiiannly, as a Touchstone animated series in the mid ‘90s. Greg will be continuing the storyline set within the animated series. Of course, the property as a whole was helped along by the Season 1 DVD doing very well for Disney. We’re hoping to continue that wave of popularity.”

Wonderland (bi-monthly, full color, $3.50, issue #1 coming in spring, 2006)

“Wonderland is set after Alice leaves at the end of the animated film. We’re going to be playing with the look that was established by Disney for Wonderland in the film, and we’ll be playing, largely, with the same characters from the film, which are essentially the same characters from the novels, but we’re sticking with the same feel that the film brought across. We’re looking to take it from the moment the movie ends, and move things forward.”

Tron (bi-monthly, full color, $3.50, issue #1 coming in spring, 2006)

“Tron will have elements of the original movie in it; and Disney of course, wants to push some attention towards their newest version of Tron, which is coming out next year. The comic that we’re doing begins six months after the story that takes place in the recent videogame, and continues from there. Assuming this is successful, we’ll be going back and bridge the gap between the first movie and the game.”

While the titles sound like no-brainers for the bookstore market, Vado said that his primary focus will be for the Direct Market, at least initially. “Any retailer that sells Johnny the Homicidal Maniac can attest that there’s a chunk of our market that comes from outside of the regular marketplace,” Vado said. “I think these titles will appeal to the traditional SLG fan, as well as Disney fans that are looking for something new that’s not the usual Disney fare.”

In addition to the DM, Vado said that, as with other SLG titles, he anticipates some interest from Hot Topic stores, and perhaps some from the Disney Store chain. Vado commented that though the chain of stores is no longer owned by Disney, “I’d like to think that the Disney Stores would see some value in carrying the comics. We’re also going to try and make some inroads in getting these titles sold in the theme parks, at least in terms of Haunted Mansion. But from the start, it’s very important for us that we get the direct market retailers on board.”

In regards to the bookstore market, and collections of the single issues, Vado declined to comment on that portion of the plan, although Newsarama has learned that Disney’s Hyperion Books line will have first refusal rights to produce graphic novels of the material, of which, SLG would see royalties.

In regards to branding, Vado said that (going hand in hand with his comments about Disney looking at these titles to appeal to a teen market) the four series probably won’t prominently carry the Disney logo on their covers.

“There will be references to Disney on the cover, such as ‘Inspired by the classic Disney attraction’ on Haunted Mansion. So yeah – what we’re all aiming for here is a different take on Disney, so they’re going to tread a little more softly than they would on their own material.”

Talking to Vado, you can almost hear the slight anxiety in his voice in regards to the deal – somewhere between a kid who’s just been handed the keys to the candy store, and someone who’s just been placed behind the wheel of a racecar going 200 mph. At its core, the Disney deal means a change for Slave Labor, of that much, Vado is sure.

“As it is, it’s a lot for us to take on, as it’s a first for us in many ways – it’s work for hire, so we’re hiring people to do stories, making ourselves responsible for the content, and editing in a more traditional way. Even though I’ve selected the creative teams based on people who have an emotional involvement in the material, they still need to follow through on the overall original vision for the line, since that was what got us the deal with Disney in the first place. Based on my experiences, Disney is going to be supporting our efforts with these comics a little more aggressively than they would be with other licensees. On the publishing end, at least, they seem to really want to see if their brands can extend beyond the traditional kid-based entertainment that they’re known for, and in a way that doesn’t utilize their more iconic characters – which is a pretty big thing to be a part of.

“Also, if this all works out, I have to be able to grow my company into the proper size to handle all of this,” Vado continued. “Right now, we’ve got a handful of people here, and they’re already working too hard as it is, just doing the books that we do and keeping everything on schedule. I couldn’t in good conscience, suddenly triple our output with work for hire books that require a lot of management without adding some people onto staff. And of course that in and of itself is easier said than done.”

Part of Vado’s anxiety also comes from the fact that, while the four initial series are in various stages of production, he occasionally looks up from the work at hand for a gander down the road.

“Right now, our initial releases will be spread out over a six-month period, and from there, once we can gauge the success/failure of those four, we have other titles with other creators that we’re already developing,” Vado said. “If we do expand with more Disney-based titles, those will move a little faster in terms of the agreement, from idea to comic than these ones. So, while we’ve definitely got all we’re willing to take on right now, there’s definitely room for expansion in the future.”

artwork above by Roman Dirge, © 2005 Disney