The following is an interview with Printed in Blood co-founders Steven Hoveke and Phil Lawrence regarding their recent partnership with Massive Publishing for retail distribution. In this interview, Fanbase Press Editor-in-Chief Barbra Dillon chats with Hoveke and Lawrence about why Massive is the perfect partner for their critically acclaimed art books, what readers will have in store with their upcoming titles – Bernie Wrightson: A Tribute and Hannibal: Artbook, and more!
Barbra Dillon, Fanbase Press Editor-in-Chief: Congratulations on the upcoming retail release of Bernie Wrightson: A Tribute and Hannibal: Artbook in partnership with Massive Publishing! What made Massive the perfect partner to bring these incredible books to the direct market?
Steven Hoveke and Phil Lawrence: We had been looking for a distribution partner for some time. Our initial contact with Massive came to be via a chance introduction, and we both quickly saw that there was a lot more than either of us originally thought. Massive already had a large part of what we were looking for already in place, and we gave them a boutique publishing imprint to help co-create higher-end projects. With a little discussion, we spent the next few months figuring out exactly what that partnership might look like and how it would work. The agreement we arrived at leaves us excited to be able to start taking advantage of those benefits we see so both entities can grow and prosper.
BD: Likewise, what will readers have in store for them with the Bernie Wrightson and Hannibal art books, especially in light of the fact that they will be released through Massive’s high-end collectables brand, Massive Select?
SH & PL: Both selections feature massive (pun intended) collections of original art showcasing the art and the artists included. The Wrightson book alone features almost 30 never-before-seen-publicly pieces from private collections of the master’s gorgeous artwork.
As we move forward with this new partnership, we see the opportunity to create editions for Massive Select that will bring new eyes to the incredible body of work they’ve already built and continue to nurture and add. Together, we hope to build Massive Select into an imprint that will immediately symbolize quality and bring amazingly cool projects to life for all involved.
BD: What do you feel makes these two upcoming releases stand out from the crowd in appealing to both cinephiles and horror enthusiasts alike?
SH & PL: We started creating these Artbook projects back in 2017 with John Carpenter’s The Thing: Artbook, and we’ve had a tremendous, positive response to our projects as they’ve been released from both fans of original art and fans of given properties.
With the Bernie Wrightson: A Tribute Artbook, we approached things a little differently, as we really wanted to not only make a lasting testament to this illustrative legend’s legacy, but we wanted to be able to share a little bit of those who already knew Bernie and that he was a hell of a guy. We also wanted the stories we gathered from movie, TV, other personalities who weren’t making physical art for the book already to be able to illustrate that fact and give folks who didn’t ever get the chance to meet him a real sense of who and what he was to so many folks. Plus, with the deal we made for this project, we’re able to give back a percentage of all profits back to Bernie’s estate, primarily to his widow Liz.
With our Hannibal: Artbook, featuring over 180 new pieces of artwork celebrating the amazing NBC series about everyone’s favorite cannibal. Hannibal has a fanbase which does not quit and are starved for merchandise. This has been a tremendously popular book for us thus far, and we don’t find that fading anytime soon.
BD: Are there any other upcoming 2024 projects on which you are working – either in partnership with Massive or directly through Printed in Blood – that you are able to share with our readers?
SH & PL: We do have a great many irons in the fire for both 2024 and beyond. We have a Kickstarter launching in early June for two new officially licensed Ultraman books. The first, an episode guide to the first 8 live-action TV series starting with UltraQ from 1965 and moving on through Ultraman80. Nearly 400 episodes have been watched and have had entries created for them with images and broadcast info for each episode. Additionally, we have an Ultraman: Artbook being offered in the same campaign which features over 150 brand-new pieces of artwork created for the book alongside a very special section featuring (nearly) all of the covers from recent Marvel Comics Ultraman/Ultraseven comics series. These are published for the first time with absolutely no trade dress and are simply showcasing the fantastic art created for them.
Following that, we start down the road with the first of several book projects coming from illustrator and comic legend Tim Bradstreet (Punisher, Hellblazer), including the next entries in his archival career retrospectives covering the last 10 years or so of his incredibly detailed work.
Beyond that, folks will just have to follow us and see.
BD: Lastly, what would you like to tell fans who want to learn more about Bernie Wrightson: A Tribute, Hannibal: Artbook, and your other work?
SH & PL: We have a number of ways beyond the standard “Hey, follow us @printedinblood on all social media platforms.” Clearly, folks can access our website, printedinblood.com, directly for any new products. We also have a public substack newsletter called “Blood Spatters” that folks can sign up for at printedinblood.substack.com.
For artists, we also maintain a private online message board for artists only who can sign up and get info about upcoming projects well before the public and our own email notifications go out. Artists can sign up at PIBforum.com. This forum is monitored solely by PIB staff, and each signup is verified by us before approval.
