When Magnetic Press was founded in 2013, Mike Kennedy brought experience in both comics and video games into this endeavor. In the ensuing 10+ years, Magnetic Press has worked with both newcomers and established creators from all nations. Earning a total of 31 Eisner Award nominations in their first ten years of eligibility. In keeping with that pursuit of quality literature from all corners of the globe, Magnetic Press is now bringing to Kickstarter, Florent Maudoux’s Seven-Volume Adventure Series ‘Freaks’ Squeele’ into “FREAKS’ SQUEELE: The Complete Chaos Curriculum.”
We recently caught up with Mike to talk about his creative roots, how his experience in comics and video games has influenced Magnetic Press, and his exciting new collaboration with Florent Maudoux. Join us in welcoming Mike Kennedy to GVN Talking Comics.
Video Games and Comics
GVN: Thank you for sharing a small part of your day, Mike. Since this is our first opportunity to chat, let’s start by discussing your creative beginnings. You began your career in the comic book and video game industries before founding Magnetic Press in 2013. What motivated you to dive into publishing, and what was your goal when you started?
MIKE: I had been writing comics on the side while also being a full-time producer in the video game industry for companies like Namco and Electronic Arts. Mostly stuff for Dark Horse – Star Wars, Ghost, Lone Wolf 2100, Alien v Predator, Aeon Flux… Video game work is great, but the revolving door of projects, crunch time, and layoffs was getting to be pretty routine, and I was given an opportunity to join an indie publishing house called Archaia. We earned a lot of clout and a few Eisner awards in my time there. When Archaia was bought by Boom Studios, the time came to try something new. I had already identified a bunch of great French comics that hadn’t made it to the states – NAJA, ZAYA, MEKA, DOOMBOY – so it seemed like the perfect opportunity to start my own label. There is so much amazing talent and titles from beyond the States that it proved to be a good niche to occupy. Our goal was simply to give due exposure to these incredible books and authors in an English-language marketplace, and in doing that, we built a nice reputation for content and production quality.
Magnetic Press Play
GVN: In 2021, Magnetic expanded its platform by launching Magnetic Press Play, an imprint dedicated to gaming and exploring new media opportunities. This initiative features games such as “Carbon Grey RPG,” “Klaw: Were-Wars,” “Hugo Broyler,” and “The World of Cassyno.” As you considered this expansion, what factors influenced your decisions regarding which properties to focus on?
MIKE: I had wanted to get back into interactive development from the very beginning, predating Magnetic at Archaia. That game-design drive never really left my system, and there were so many exciting ways to pursue interactive “gameplay” in print within the publishing world without the need for a 100+ person dev team or a multi-million dollar video game budget. With the rise of Kickstarter, it seemed like a good time to finally pursue some of those design ideas. CARBON GREY was a comic I helped Hoang Nguyen develop a decade earlier, and we had talked about pursuing an RPG for years. CASSYNO was inspired by one of the amazing creators we were fortunate enough to publish in our first year as Magnetic – Bengal (who has since gone on to create amazing stuff with Rick Remender). KLAW was based on the graphic novel series by Joel Jurrion and Antoine Ozanam that we published under Magnetic. HUGO BROYER was our first attempt at a tabletop RPG/strategy game based on a graphic novel I wrote with Francisco Paronzini. Everything up until that point was inspired by titles already within our stable. Eventually, that experience led to bigger licenses with partners such as Disney (on the PLANET OF THE APES RPG).
Florent Maudoux’s Freaks’ Squeele
GVN: Let’s focus on the main reason we’re here today: the crowdfunding campaign for Florent Maudoux’s critically acclaimed seven-volume adventure series, Freaks’ Squeele. What attracted Magnetic Press to Florent Maudoux’s unique and internationally recognized series, and how did this partnership come about?
MIKE: FREAKS SQUEELE had been on my radar going all the way back to 2010, but it took until now, with Magnetic’s partnership with Florent’s creative studio Label 619, to finally tackle it properly. We have published several amazing books by Label 619, including Mathieu Bablet’s SHANGRI-LA and CARBON & SILICON, Guillaume Singelin’s FRONTIER, and, most recently, Label 619 founder Run’s MFKZ. They have always done well for us, so continuing that success with FREAKS SQUEELE seemed almost a given. Florent’s art and pop-culture-infused stories have been extremely popular in Europe and Japan while also paying tribute to American comics, movies, and a ton of Japanese manga and anime. It was overdue for a proper release in English. It is a perfect combination of Western heroics, University hijinks, and epic fantasy told in a witty, manga-inspired style that is incredibly easy to fall in love with. It’s no wonder the series ran more than 1000 pages, with numerous in-universe spin-offs since.
Navigating Cultural References
GVN: As you took on this project, did you encounter any challenges in adapting “Freaks’ Squeele” for an English-speaking audience while remaining faithful to Maudoux’s vision? Additionally, how do you navigate cultural references that may not translate directly from French to English?
MIKE: A lot of it is pretty universally recognizable. Even though the original series takes place in a French city within the French education system, it’s not all that different from University life here in the West. The pop-culture references are also pretty universal. While there are a few things that may be distinctly French, nothing is too far of a stretch or alien to understand. The human experience is universal. At the heart of the series are identifiable characters going through identifiable things. There weren’t many cases where we had to get creative with Florent. There’s a reason this series has amassed such a fan-following around the world.
The Kickstarter Campaign
GVN: The Kickstarter campaign for this exciting project has begun. Why did Magnetic Press choose Kickstarter as the platform to launch Freaks’ Squeele in English?
MIKE: We have had tremendous success with Kickstarter and Backerkit over the last decade – particularly in the last 5 years, in response to the pandemic. We love book stores and retail outlets, but a fair portion of the audience has gotten used to shopping online. We’re more than happy to make the Direct-to-Consumer experience unique and rewarding, and we love the communities that grow around each title and campaign. We try to make each campaign an exploration of each title’s universe, with stretch goals and special editions that deepen the immersion and broaden the story world. In-universe artifacts and exclusive extras hopefully make each campaign an extended party that people have fun bringing to life. We’ve got lots of plans for the FREAKS SQUEELE campaign as well!
GVN: As you have said, this is not Magnetic Press’ first go-around with crowdfunding. What lessons from past campaigns (like Planet of the Apes RPG) helped to influence your direction of the Freaks’ Squeele rollout?
MIKE: While we try to make each campaign a unique experience, there are indeed a few things that have worked well in most cases. Having successfully funded and fulfilled over 50 campaigns, we know how to manage orders and shipping pretty well. (You can never account for every issue that comes up, but we’ve done a pretty good job of minimizing them.) Courier costs are still a challenge, particularly for International orders, but we try to ease the pain as much as we can.
PLANET OF THE APES was our largest campaign to date, which I’m happy to say completed worldwide fulfillment a few months ago, and the fan reaction has been great. That particular campaign was a bit of an education in working with a major licensor, particularly considering it was only Disney’s second approved Kickstarter project ever. It is comforting to see that so many major licensors are growing more comfortable with how ubiquitous the platform has become. It really is an indispensable outlet, particularly for limited editions and campaign-exclusive rewards.
GVN: Thank you once again, Mike, for your kind attention. In closing, with the campaign approaching, what personally excites you most about bringing Florent Maudoux’s Freaks’ Squeele to a wider audience?
MIKE: Aside from the series itself being beautifully illustrated and a hell of a lot of fun, the universe is so deep and wide that hopefully readers get lost in another world and yearn for more. Because there is so much more…! Not the least of which is a full Role-Playing Game set within Florent’s visionary world, spanning centuries of tales and interesting places to explore.
Advice for Other Publishers
GVN: Ok, I fibbed a small bit. One last question: What advice would you give to other publishers considering international comics for English markets?
MIKE: That’s kind of a tough question, mainly because I wouldn’t want to assume anyone’s goal or approach… It feels like the North American market has grown a lot more “bargain-based” in the last decade, seeking maximum value out of every purchase (which is challenging with an audience trained by Amazon to expect a significant discount the day of release).
The market in France and Europe feels much more robust (although they are facing challenges as well), with readers who seem to value the work that goes into authoring and designing a book. They regularly sell 4 times more copies of a book in a country the size of Texas than we might sell in the whole of North America… and these are amazing books!
We are bombarded with so much competing content here, and consumers have been trained to expect that content at a discount, or even free. That mentality has hurt almost every entertainment medium in the States. It is a bit unfortunate, and the understandable result of our consumer conditioning. (And GenAI is certainly not helping that glut of content at all…) That’s why we strive to give our products that extra production value that makes a purchase worthwhile – more satisfying, and less disposable.
I guess that would be my advice: if you’re going to do something, make it something special that stands out. Everyone else may be phoning it in for a quick buck. But real passion for a project should be evident in the resulting product. The authors who put their heart and soul into something do it out of love, so the publication should match that passion. Doing so goes a long way with authors (and audiences) worldwide.
Magnetic Press’ FREAKS’ SQUEELE: The Complete Chaos Curriculum campaign is now on Kickstarter. You can check it out here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/label619/freaks-squeele?ref=50bxzk
Senior Writer at GeekVibesNation – I am a 60 something child of the 70’s who admits to being a Star Trek/Star Wars/Comic Book junkie who once dove headfirst over a cliff (Ok, it was a small hill) to try to rescue his Fantastic Four comic from a watery grave. I am married to a lovely woman who is as crazy as I am and the proud parent of a 21-year-old young man with autism. My wife and son are my real heroes.
