TKO Studios

TKO Studios is an American comics publisher founded by Tze Chun and Salvatore Simeone in 2017.[1]

TKO Studios
Founded2017
FounderTze Chun, Salvatore Simeone
Country of originUnited States
Headquarters locationLos Angeles
Key peopleTze Chun
Salvatore Simeone
Sebastian Girner
Official websitetkopresents.com

History

TKO Studios was founded in 2017 by Tze Chun and Salvatore Simeone. Unlike the majority of other American comic book publishers, TKO sell their books directly to consumers and comic book shops, completely bypassing distributor Diamond Comic Distributors.[1] In 2020, TKO Studios signed a deal Ingram Publisher Services / Publishers Group West to handle book distribution.[2]

Wave One

The first wave of books launched December 10, 2018[3] and contained four miniseries: The Fearsome Doctor Fang by Tze Chun, Mike Weiss, and Dan McDaid; Goodnight Paradise by Joshua Dysart and Alberto Ponticelli; Sara by Garth Ennis and Steve Epting; and The 7 Deadly Sins by Tze Chun and Artyom Trakhanov. Their first wave of books were all released in three formats; a trade paperback collection, a box set of single issues, and digitally in single or collected editions. During their initial release the first issue of each series was available free digitally so consumers and retailers could preview the series before purchasing the rest.[4]

Title Format Story Art Cover(s) Colors Letters
The Fearsome Doctor Fang 6-issue comic
miniseries		 Tze Chun
Mike Weiss		 Dan McDaid Daniela Miwa Steve Wands
Goodnight Paradise 6-issue comic
miniseries		 Joshua Dysart Alberto Ponticelli Giulia Brusco
Sara 6-issue comic
miniseries		 Garth Ennis Steve Epting Elizabeth Breitweiser Rob Steen
The 7 Deadly Sins 6-issue comic
miniseries		 Tze Chun Artyom Trakhanov Giulia Brusco Jared K. Fletcher

Wave Two

The second wave launched in October 28, 2019 using the same release format for another four miniseries: The Banks by Roxane Gay and Ming Doyle; Eve of Extinction by Salvatore Simeone, Steve Simeone, Nik Virella, and Isaac Goodhart; Pound for Pound by Natalie Chaidez and Andy Belanger; and Sentient by Jeff Lemire and Gabriel Walta.[5]

In 2020, Sentient became the first title from TKO to be nominated for an Eisner Award, when the series picked up a nomination for Best Limited Series.[6]

Title Format Story Art Cover(s) Colors Letters
The Banks 6-issue comic
miniseries		 Roxane Gay Ming Doyle Jordie Bellaire Ariana Maher
Eve of Extinction 6-issue comic
miniseries		 Sal Simeone
Steve Simeone		 Nik Virella
Isaac Goodheart		 Maria Nguyen Nik Virella
Ruth Redmond
Pound for Pound 6-issue comic
miniseries		 Natalie Chaidez Andy Belanger Daniela Miwa Serge LaPointe
Sentient 6-issue comic
miniseries		 Jeff Lemire Gabriel Walta Steve Wands

Wave Three

The third wave of books launched in November 9, 2020 with three comic book miniseries: Lonesome Days, Savage Nights by Steve Niles, Salvatore Simeone, and Szymon Kudranski; The Pull by Steve Orlando and Ricardo López Ortiz; and Redfork by Alex Paknadel and Nil Vandrell.[7] In addition the three miniseries, TKO released an illustrated prose collection Blood Like Garnets by Leigh Harlen with illustrations by Maria Nguygen and a new series of one-shot comic books under the banner TKO Shorts with three titles Seeds of Eden, The Father of All Things and Night Train.[8]

Title Format Story Art Cover(s) Colors Letters
The Manning Files – Volume 1:
Lonesome Days, Savage Nights		 6-issue comic
miniseries		 Steve Niles
Salvatore Simeone		 Szymon Kudranski Thomas Mauer
Redfork 6-issue comic
miniseries		 Alex Paknadel Nil Vendrell Giulia Brusco Ryan Ferrier
The Pull 6-issue comic
miniseries		 Steve Orlando Ricardo Lopez Ortiz Triona Farell Thomas Mauer
TKO Shorts #1: Seeds of Eden One-shot
comic		 Liana Kangas
Joe Corallo		 Paul Azaceta Jeff Powell
TKO Shorts #2: Father of All Things One-shot
comic		 Sebastian Girner Baldemar Rivas Steve Wands
TKO Shorts #3: Night Train One-shot
comic		 Steve Foxe Lisandro Estherren Patricio Delpeche
Blood Like Garnets Prose
anthology		 Leigh Harlen Maria Nguyen Maria Nguyen
Jared K. Fletcher		 Maria Nguyen N/A

Media Adaptions

In August 2020 The Banks was put into development as a feature film by production company MACRO with Gay returning to pen the script with Charles D. King, Poppy Hanks, Jelani Johnson, Salvatore Simeone, Tze Chun and Jatin Thakker serving as producers.[9]

References
  1. A New Comics Publisher Aims to Shake Things Up. The New York Times, December 19, 2018.
  2. "TKO Studios Signs Deal With Top Book Distributor Ingram Publisher Services / Publishers Group West". Comic Years.
  3. "First wave of books currently available". Twitter. TKO Studios. Retrieved January 28, 2020.
  4. New Publisher TKO Studios Plans to Change How Readers Buy Comics. The Hollywood Reporter, December 10, 2018.
  5. TKO Studios Releases Second Wave of Comics Outright Geekery, November 1, 2019
  6. 2020 Eisner Awards Nominations Comic-Con, 2020
  7. TKO Studios announces new wave of books from Steve Orlando, Steve Niles, other non-Steve creators The Comics Beat, September 24, 2020
  8. TKO Studios adds zine-sided Knockout Shorts, illustrated prose to Wave 3 offerings The Comics Beat, October 16, 2020
  9. Roxane Gay to Adapt Graphic Novel 'The Banks' for TKO Studios, Macro The Hollywood Reporter, August 12, 2020.
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