Ghost Machine, a first-of-its-kind creator-owned and operated media company officially launched today at New York Comic Con. Creators co-own all the characters and universes developed for Ghost Machine, sharing in all publishing, media, merchandise, and beyond. The pioneering creator collective is a global best-of-class roster of artists and writers whose award-winning and iconic works include a who’s who of comic book legends such as Batman, Superman, Spider-Man, The Flash, The Ultimates, Black Lightning and Green Arrow: Jason Fabok, Gary Frank, Bryan Hitch, Geoff Johns, Lamont Magee, Francis Manapul, Brad Meltzer, Peter J. Tomasi, and Maytal Zchut. The company plans to announce additional talent in the months ahead, including one major superstar creator. All creators will be exclusive to Ghost Machine for their comics work after completing their already committed to projects.
As the recent Hollywood strikes have shown, creatives are disenfranchised with the traditional industry model—creators seek increased empowerment as a natural progression to an ever-changing entertainment landscape. Ghost Machine’s enterprising business model is at the forefront of this evolution with the characters and full company ownership shared by its creators in every way.
“Our ambition for Ghost Machine is to push beyond superheroes, introducing new genres, characters and shared universes, completely co-owned by all the creators involved. We see this as the future of how creatives will work and retain creative control and meaningfully participate in success like never before,” said the Ghost Machine founding creators joint statement. “Our passion is for the magic of graphic storytelling and the emotional resonance of compelling characters. But we are not just a comic book company—we are the first wholly creator-owned and operated media company of its kind, born out of a desire to create and succeed together.”
Ghost Machine’s titles will be published through the original champion of creator-owned comics—Image Comics—the industry’s third largest comic book publisher behind Marvel and DC, which launched in 1992 when seven of the top comic book creators left Marvel Comics to own their own work and ideas. Now, Ghost Machine drives the industry norms and opportunities even further by having top talent collaborate and build out shared universes that they entirely control together. If Image Comics pushed the original boundaries, Ghost Machine is breaking barriers and creating a new frontier for creators.
Eric Stephenson, Publisher and Chief Creative Officer at Image Comics, said: “It’s been incredible to see how much planning has gone into what the Ghost Machine collaborators are putting together. It’s an amazing list of talent, but beyond that, they’re giving every aspect of this line a lot of thought, so that it’s more than just another series launch, it’s a true event. The way they’re working together, and working with Image, make this a noteworthy development for us, as well as a must-read comics lineup for anyone looking for something different and new.”
A two-issue prequel series, GEIGER: GROUND ZERO by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank, ships in November and December before Ghost Machine’s first official release in January 2024 with GHOST MACHINE #1, a 64-page special which will introduce its FOUR SHARED UNIVERSES of characters: 1) THE UNNAMED; revealing a mysterious group of genre heroes from across history, featuring characters and titles like GEIGER, JUNKYARD JOE, REDCOAT and FIRST GHOST. A GEIGER series, based on Geoff Johns and Gary Frank’s hit comic of the same name, is already in development at Paramount TV with director Justin Simien. 2) ROOK: EXODUS; a sprawling sci-fi epic which takes place in the far future, on a world where every aspect of nature is controlled by humanity. 3) The universe of FAMILY ODYSSEYS centering around the time displaced family, THE ROCKETFELLERS, and their friends. And 4) An epic HORROR UNIVERSE co-created and illustrated by one of our secret superstar artists to be announced, currently under contract. Following Ghost Machine #1, Ghost Machine’s titles will begin shipping in April 2024 with an all-new ongoing GEIGER series, REDCOAT and ROOK: EXODUS.
