Victorians Assemble

The answer to that question is “No”. There will be another seven books with individual characters but held within the same Victorian universe, Jordan has stated that characters will make cameo’s in each other’s books occasionally but each book is potentially a jumping off point for a new line of stories. The next one will be ‘Cherry Vampyre’ and American artist Kalie Stanton is already working on it. Tantalisingly Jordan-X Studio’s insiders say the artwork is fantastic and the title is a misnomer as it doesn’t involve any vampires. All we can say for certain is that each book will have a different artist and Jordan appears to be writing every story himself, which leads to another question. What is a legacy project?

We understand in this instance writer and artist will be sharing the copyright, they will allow publishers to purchase the books. Jordan then plans to sell licences to toy companies, film producers and other merchandising lines. If at the end of 5yrs the team is happy their work is being handled right and the company holding the licence wishes to extend, then they will. What this means is the creative team are not going to be tied indefinitely to one group, if things go wrong they will only have to wait a relatively short period of time before they are free to find new business partners. It also means that publishers and manufacturers are not forced into purchasing overly expensive licences, the creative team will effectively have to deliver a quality product in order to make money; their future depends on the standard of their work. It is a win-win situation for everyone, the sale of the licence effectively pays the artist to complete each graphic novel; Jordan will only earn his fee once the projects start making money.

“Jordan is at his best when he is free to work alone on projects he has a personal stake in, his attitude can be a little annoying because he puts people first and money second. That said he does want to deliver a quality product and he can. A potential project of this size really needs a publisher that can handle marketing and distribution, if Markosia don’t handle this right they will lose a major revenue stream. When it comes to other partners Time Warner and Bloomsbury will be looking for a suitable franchise to replace Harry Potter and this has all the hallmarks of being a candidate, if they are sensible they will build on the popularity of graphic novels at the moment. Whether or not they can cope with Jordan’s terms is another matter and if I had been in his shoes I don’t know if I would have been so restrictive, it is a bold move and I hope publishers, producers and manufacturers are not too short-sighted that they overlook the potential.”


I AM DEAD - Reprinted for the 1st time in 3yrs with original illustrations
Victorians Assemble

In October 2011 rumours started to circulate about a new British comic book series. It involved British writers and artists, the rumours said, and it promised to be big. But that was no indication of what was being planned, or who.
At the end of November the news broke that Comic Book Alliance co-founder and Markosia editor GM Jordan was working on a legacy project. We didn’t know at the time that the two were linked or what a ‘legacy project’ really was. When news surfaced of Jordan being involved in an accident and was in hospital with head injuries the grapevine went into overdrive. The planned project involved eight new graphic novels and was starting off with ‘The Liberty’. Illustrations are by one of the UK’s hottest new comic book artists, Alex Moore, who recently completed art duties on the critically acclaimed ‘Turning Tiger’ with Richmond Clements. ‘The Liberty’ is tightly under wraps so we don’t know much about the story, but what we do know is that it is steampunk and signed to Markosia. Two panels have leaked out and Moore’s artwork is definitely going to catch the world’s attention, very similar to the art style she adopted on the first work she did with Jordan in Orang Utan Comics ‘FTL #5’. Does that mean there will be another seven books in ‘The Liberty’s’ run?
Panel from 'The Liberty' by Alex Moore & GM Jordan	The answer to that question is “No”. There will be another seven books with individual characters but held within the same Victorian universe, Jordan has stated that characters will make cameo’s in each other’s books occasionally but each book is potentially a jumping off point for a new line of stories. The next one will be ‘Cherry Vampyre’ and American artist Kalie Stanton is already working on it. Tantalisingly Jordan-X Studio’s insiders say the artwork is fantastic and the title is a misnomer as it doesn’t involve any vampires. All we can say for certain is that each book will have a different artist and Jordan appears to be writing every story himself, which leads to another question. What is a legacy project?
Extract from 'Full Moon Fever' by Alex Moore & GM Jordan, FTL #5 - Orang Utan comics	Panel from 'The Liberty' by Alex Moore & GM Jordan
	Since starting work on this article the following titles have been discussed but we are unsure if they are the finished products:
	The Liberty (confirmed) Cherry Vampyre (confirmed) City Jail (unconfirmed) Rider (unconfirmed)	Solo (unconfirmed) 5 Against (unconfirmed) Slum Preacher (unconfirmed)


We understand in this instance writer and artist will be sharing the copyright, they will allow publishers to purchase the books. Jordan then plans to sell licences to toy companies, film producers and other merchandising lines. If at the end of 5yrs the team is happy their work is being handled right and the company holding the licence wishes to extend, then they will. What this means is the creative team are not going to be tied indefinitely to one group, if things go wrong they will only have to wait a relatively short period of time before they are free to find new business partners. It also means that publishers and manufacturers are not forced into purchasing overly expensive licences, the creative team will effectively have to deliver a quality product in order to make money; their future depends on the standard of their work. It is a win-win situation for everyone, the sale of the licence effectively pays the artist to complete each graphic novel; Jordan will only earn his fee once the projects start making money.
So what can we expect over the next year or so, who will Jordan approach? We know he has already contacted British toy companies. Twelve artists have been contacted, two who asked for anonymity said they were impressed with the outline Jordan pitched to them but couldn’t commit because they were undertaking work for other publishers that would limit their availability. We understand that Grant Perkins who recently did an acclaimed cover for Rebellion may well be one of the other five, Jordan’s agency (see the sister article: UK Gets First Dedicated Comic Book Agency) represents Will Pickering (Burke & Hare), Alex Thompson, Rebecca Teal, Leonie O’Moore (Spirit of Hope), Karen Rubins and several others. Presumably he would also have access to Markosia’s pool of artists. What we can expect is a range of styles and experience, all of which show great promise but can they deliver?
We asked people who have worked with Jordan about their experiences of working with Jordan and whether he can pull all of this off.
Michael Morechi (Quarantined writer; Jordan edited the book for Markosia)
“J is one of those rare editors who sees what the book needs to be, not what he'd like it be; he's able to remove ego from the equation, which is a rare thing. With Quarantined, he understood what I was trying to achieve and worked to accomplish that end.”
Steve Tanner (Writer & Owner, Time Bomb Comics)
“Jordan is one of those wonderful people you meet in the comic industry whose passion for the medium is infectious. I first met him when I had just launched Time Bomb Comics and the great thing about him proved to be that his support for us then has been constant since - we love that he genuinely likes what we do! I think he's quite an important player in modern British comics, and I don't think he realises it.”
Karen Young (Agent)
“Jordan is at his best when he is free to work alone on projects he has a personal stake in, his attitude can be a little annoying because he puts people first and money second. That said he does want to deliver a quality product and he can. A potential project of this size really needs a publisher that can handle marketing and distribution, if Markosia don’t handle this right they will lose a major revenue stream. When it comes to other partners Time Warner and Bloomsbury will be looking for a suitable franchise to replace Harry Potter and this has all the hallmarks of being a candidate, if they are sensible they will build on the popularity of graphic novels at the moment. Whether or not they can cope with Jordan’s terms is another matter and if I had been in his shoes I don’t know if I would have been so restrictive, it is a bold move and I hope publishers, producers and manufacturers are not too short-sighted that they overlook the potential.”

Steampunk and movie franchises of this kind have a chequered history in movies, overdo it as in ‘The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen’ and you run the risk of putting off the audiences. Make it too slushy and it will be ridiculed like the ‘Twilight’ series, but hit the right note (Harry Potter or Sherlock Holmes) and you hit a rich seam of revenue that will keep audiences hooked and returning year after year. We leave the final words to Karen Wenborn (formerly of Classical Comics) who described his work to date as; “Different, enticing, enthralling.”