Hi, kids! Stephen Romano from Eibon Press here with an announcement we’re pretty sure you’re gonna love. Yep, it’s the collection book many of you have been screaming for, and we’re doing it up right. That’s MANIAC, kids! And it’s a beautiful new trade paperback that collects the entire original movie adaptation, along with MANIAC VS. THE NEW YORK RIPPER. Hot, damn, right?
This collection is something we decided to do this year, in response to overwhelming continuous demand, and to allow new readers to experience the series, now that the original run is basically sold out. We have a sequel series starting up soon, too, and we want everyone to be able to read the original, so they can see where it all started!
Now, let’s talk frankly. (Get it? Frankly? Like Frank Zito. Oh I slay me.) So we know what a few of you are probably thinking right now. “Don’t these guys always tell us no collections at Eibon?” Well, yeah, we DO say that. But we also say that we don’t do collections at Eibon unless the single issue comic books do well. It’s a matter of straight economics. We are a tiny little company and simply can’t afford to do these things if they’re not popular and we don’t make any money from them. The print and distribution cost for the books is enormous and it hurts us bad if people don’t buy them. (For example, LASERBLAST sold so few copies when we put it out in 2017 that we were hardy able to even consider a second issue, much less a collection!) But MANIAC is one of our most popular books, and indeed the print run is very nearly sold out. (In fact, it would be totally sold our right now if the first issue hadn’t been a 2,000 copy run!) We get requests almost EVERY DAY from fans of the film and fans of our comics to reprint the issues with The New York Ripper, so we had to make a call: Either reprint the single issues or do a collection. We decided to roll the bones and do a collection this time. (It was a cheaper option, to be honest.) If this does well, we may consider other collections like it. Our GATES OF HELL graphic novel did NOT do well, unfortunately, and it really soured us on the idea of doing more. But BOTTOMFEEDER FULL BLACK has done much better, so we’re hoping MANIAC will be the same.
I repeat: Only if the single issues sell out—or come damn close to selling out—can we even remotely consider doing these things. Believe me, we WANT to give you this stuff. It’s just a matter of how we can pull it off. And times are really tough now. For everyone. But we’ll keep hanging in there as long as we can, making the best Eibon Press books possible, for you. In keeping with this philosophy, we’ve gone all-in for the MANIAC collection.
Check out these specs:
- It’s a 136 full color book which collects the entire first series, and we even have some bonus pages and a new supplement section. The whole thing has been jazzed up with new colors, new lettering and new edits.
-The EIBON SLEEVE, as you can see, is beyond amazing, with an all new and totally-twisted cover painting by Pat Carbajal that captures Joe Spibell as Frank Zito like you’ve never seen him before. This is some of Pat’s best work and we’re sure as hell excited to bring it to you.
-The sleeve is also a wraparound, and the back will feature an equally amazing portrait, which will be revealed soon.
-This is a super limited print run of only 500 copies.
-First 300 copies signed and numbered by myself with a FREE enamel pin, with all new art by Pat Carbajal.
-We also have a fun PSYCHO FAN package for this one, which will be announced soon.
-And as a final bloody cherry on top, we got our pal Eli Roth to pen a fun little intro we know you’ll like. Eli is a true fan of the film and our comics and we asked him to join us in the spirit of the horror community. This a project created BY fans, for FANS, and it’s officially licensed, approved and endorsed by film director William Lustig.
So to those of you who missed out the first time, here’s your chance to get MANIAC in one big sloppy gory bite. And don’t forget that MANIAC 2: ROADKILL will be coming this fall, just in time for HALLOWEEN. We’re working on the first issue now, and let me tell you, kids, if you thought the first series was rough… you ain’t seen nothing yet. It’s a four-issue series that plays like MANIAC meets THE HITCHER meets ROAD GAMES meets NATURAL BORN KILLERS. It’s certified bonkers and you won’t wanna miss it. I’ve had great fun writing this and Pat is cackling with glee over every blood-soaked page.
Be in our store SEPTEMBER 4th at 7pm Pacific when our MANIAC GRAPHIC NOVEL pre-orders. Every single penny you spend at Eibon Press keeps indie publishing alive and more books coming. If you do that for us, we can promise you’ll NEVER be disappointed. We sweat bullets and starve for this company. We’re in it for the love of the game. We won’t let you down.
Meanwhile, stay safe, keep your families close, and remember: We’re still the big bad human race. We’ve survived worse as a species. We will live on. And comic books will survive too. ;)
Thanks, guys.