Johanna Draper Carlson dubs AiT/Planet Lar’s Larry Young “the best comic marketer of our time,” pointing to his reissuing of Stuart Moore and Ryan Kelly’s 2003 graphic novel, Giant Robot Warriors … just in time for the Transformers movie:
What’s different about it? The previous edition book comes wrapped in a new dust jacket with a more dynamic cover image, back cover praise from Variety.com and other sources, and flaps that explain the premise and provide creator bios. Oh, and this review copy came with a letter that explained the whole thing, just in case I didn’t catch on.
This is the kind of thinking more publishers and creators should aim for. “How can I get a three-year-old book more attention? By improving what I can (a new wrap makes an old book look fresh) and figuring out what hooks will catch a reader’s attention.” Genius!
On his blog, Kelly shows off the new cover, and a glimpse at a half-dozen preliminary sketches: “The decision over which one to do was hard-fought and carefully mulled over for 16 hours in a smoked-filled room by 12 angry men. But we picked the right one!”
