Cast Iron Books launches four titles

New independent graphic novel press Cast Iron Books is to launch four titles this year.

The press, which operates on a crowdfunding model, was founded in June 2020 by Lizzie Kaye, formerly commissioning editor at Unbound.

Titles are being offered for pre-order via the Kickstarter crowdfunding platform, before being made available to retailers and the wider public via Gardners and the Cast Iron Books website.

Following the success in October 2020 of the crowdfunding campaign for Future, the debut graphic novel from creators Tom Woodman and Rupert Smissen, with Aditya Bidikar, the title will be published in the trade and made available to retailers from 4th March, 2021. Future follows Kay, an engineer, and her terminally-ill astronaut wife Murray, as they attempt to save humanity from its imminent demise.

The second title for 2021 will be The Plague and Doctor Caim by G E Gallas, an allegorical graphic novel following a 17th-century plague doctor as he grapples with questions surrounding life and death. Gallas is the creator of the graphic novel The Poet and the Flea, about the life of William Blake. The Plague and Doctor Caim will be launched on the Kickstarter platform in March 2021, with a trade release to follow in July 2021.

Candles, an original graphic novel from artist and writer Lyndon White, will also launch in June, with a trade release to follow in October.

Cast Iron Books will also be releasing an ongoing enhanced digital comic, "The Boy With Nails for Eyes", written, illustrated, and enhanced by Shaun Gardiner. The digital comic will be made available on the website.

The final title for 2021 will be Hans Vogel is Dead, by artist and writer Sierra Barnes. Kaye acquired world print and digital rights to the title from Matt Belford of The Tobias Agency. Hans Vogel is Dead is described by Barnes as a “historical fantasy” and follows the titular character, German Second World WarI fighter pilot Hans Vogel, on his journey to and through the afterlife.

Commenting on the press, Kaye said: "At the core of the Cast Iron Books business model is the relationship between creators and readers. Comics and graphic novels have always existed slightly outside the traditional publishing space, and yet they are a huge growth area in English language markets. This is particularly the case on the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter where they closed out 2020 up by 59% with over $25 million raised. Crowdfunding, and Kickstarter in particular, enables independent publishers to reach those readers who are passionate and engaged, in turn allowing writers and artists space for true creativity, pure storytelling, and perhaps most importantly, experimentation. The traditional routes to market have served us all well in the past, but it’s important to recognise and react when change is necessary, as it surely is now. That’s what we’re doing at Cast Iron Books - working in a new way that is good for creators, good for readers, and good for us as publishers.”