Mad Cave Buys Papercutz | News

This week brought some big news for the kids’ graphic novel world: Mad Cave Studios has acquired Papercutz,one of the pioneers in the field. Papercutz was founded in 2005 and kicked off with a series of Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys graphic novels that got them off to a roaring start; I interviewed the founders in 2016 about how they built the market and what made them tick. Over the years they picked up some popular licenses, including several Lego lines (which they later lost to LBYR), the Smurfs, Asterix (which brought some controversy with it), and Geronimo Stilton, as well as some cool original titles such as Metaphrog’s fairy-tale adaptations, David Gallaher’s Only Living Boy and Only Living Girl, JIm Benton’s Attack of the Stuff, and Art Baltazar’s Gillbert. Papercutz founder Terry Nantier started out importing European graphic novels with his other publishing house, NBM, and his keen eye and strong ties with overseas publishers made Papercutz unique in the children’s graphic novel world. Editor in Chief Jim Salicrup, a veteran of Marvel and Topps, has brought not only his take but also endless enthusiasm for the Papercutz line.

Mad Cave, founded in 2014, is a relative upstart by comparison, but last year they launched a YA graphic novel line, Maverick, and the Papercutz acquisition gives them a ready-made middle-grade imprint with several hundred titles and, crucially, a strong presence in Scholastic Book Fairs. Nantier and Salicrup will stay on to help with the transition.

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