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Rocketship Entertainment launches its first monthly comic with Empiria

Posted on March 10, 2026 by Graphic Policy Team Leave a comment

Rocketship Entertainment has announced they will be publishing Empiria, an allegorical fantasy epic exploring corruption, prejudice, and disparity from writer David K. Wilson and illustrator Jacque Solomon with lettering by Scott O. Brown. Empira will be the first monthly comic ever released by Rocketship Entertainment, and it will be distributed to the direct market through Lunar Distribution.

Happily ever after is over, but this story– book is just beginning. In a world where elves rule over humans, gnomes, unicorns, dragons, and mermaids , corruption has taken the glint off this fairytale. In the province of dragons and unicorns, old wounds of apartheid are ripped open when a unicorn is assaulted by a gang of fascist dragons. A resentful human peasant joins an anti-elf church, spurred on by a blowhard demagogue. The greedy elven king urges his subjects to buy his magic crystals while he does nothing for his people, and his daughter is disgusted that she must act as the public face of his scheme while doing everything possible to set things right. And tensions that have been boiling over amongst these communities explode when the elven prince is abducted from his birthday party on live television.

Comics

Rocketship Entertainment will be publishing TurtleMe’s The Beginning After the End novels

Posted on July 30, 2025 by Graphic Policy Team

Rocketship Entertainment has announced that it will be publishing the novels behind the award-winning webcomic and anime phenomenon The Beginning After the End by author Brandon Lee, aka TurtleMe. The first three volumes will launch in a Kickstarter campaign on August 5^th featuring softcover editions and deluxe hardcover illustrated editions along with exclusive merch. Those volumes will release in retail in 2026, followed by campaigns for the final nine volumes.

The Beginning After the End follows the story of King Grey, who once benefited from unrivaled strength, wealth, and prestige in a world governed by martial ability, but now finds himself reborn in a society dominated by magic. Given a second chance at life, the once-king strives to understand his role in this new world and the purpose of his reincarnation while correcting the mistakes of his past.

Backers of the campaign can bring home the first three volumes of the series in hardcover or softcover editions. The hardcover is a deluxe illustrated edition that will contain ten full color original illustrations for each volume with covers that depict imagery and scenes from their respective volumes in debossed fourteen karat gold and mother of pearl on a die-cut barn door. Deluxe hardcovers will be clad in a leather-bound slipcase with a wraparound gate that is secured by a zinc alloy sword fitted into the sheath of the door. The campaign will also include a blind box collector’s enamel pin set and a gift box set featuring acrylic standees, a replica of the sword Dawn’s Ballad, and the maps of Alacrya and Dicathen.

SDCC 2025: Rocketship Entertainment Takes Off with Panels, Signings, and Exclusives

Posted on July 21, 2025 by Graphic Policy Team

Rocketship Entertainment will make its appearance at San Diego Comic-Con from July 24-27, 2025 at the San Diego Convention Center. The Rocketship Way Station (booth #2707) will be on the main show floor where fans can pick up graphic novels, games, and merchandise.

Among the merch fans can purchase will be a limited run of 300 exclusive shirts featuring key art from the upcoming Crunchyroll anime adaptation of Let’s Play! In addition, at the Rocketship panel one lucky fan will walk away with a one of kind hand drawn shikishi illustration of Bowser by series director Daiki Tomiyasu and signed by both Director Tomiyasu and creator Leeanne M. Krecic!

Creator Leeanne M. Krecic will be at the Rocketship booth throughout the weekend for signings of a special poster from the upcoming Crunchyroll anime adaptation! Creator Nick Seluk will be signing and doing free sketches all weekend of your favorite Heart & Brain characters! On Friday, Thom Zahler will be signing free Cupid’s Arrows prints from 2:00-3:00 PM for the launch of Cupid’s Arrows: Volume 2.

On Saturday from 10:00-11:00 AM, Rocketship Co-founder and creator Rob Feldman will be signing prints and copies of his Ringo-nominated series Cyko KO with special guests Jon Heder(Napolean Dynamite, Blades of Glory) and Efrin Ramirez (Napoleon Dynamite, Eastbound and Down), who voice Cyko KO and Lil Kahuna respectively in the Ckyo KO animated series. And for Monsterverse fans, later Saturday from 3:30-4:30 PM, creators David M. Booher, Rosie Knight, and Drew Zucker of Monsterverse: Declassified will be signing free prints and copies of the book, which will both be available at the booth. Finally, the Rocketship booth will feature portfolio reviews for new and aspiring artists to have their work critiqued by Rocketship CEO & Publisher Tom Akel and Eisner nominated artist Ryan Benjamin. In addition to its activities at the Way Station, Rocketship Entertainment will be hosting the Taking Off with Rocketship Entertainment panel with Leanne M. Krecic, Ryan Benjamin, Fernando Pinto, Thom Zahler, Nick Seluk, and Tom Akel. Ryan Benjamin and Comic Pro Boot Camp will also be hosting Learn How to Draw Professional Comics.

Taking Off with Rocketship Entertainment

Saturday, July 26^th 7:30 – 8:30 PM
Room 26AB

Rocketship Entertainment, the 2021 Ringo Award winner for favorite publisher, has quickly become an industry leader in publishing hit webcomics and webtoons and a growing force in independent publishing. Hear from CEO & publisher Tom Akel, creator Leeanne M. Krecic (a.k.a. “Mongie,” Let’s Play, Dragon King Oath), creator Ryan Benjamin (founder, Comic Pro Boot Camp, co-creator of Stan Lee’s Genesis), creator Fernando Pinto (Gunpunch, Eat Fighter), cartoonist Thom Zahler (Angry Birds, Cupid’s Arrows), and NYT bestselling author Nick Seluk (Heat & Brain, Awkward Yeti). They’ll talk about the transitions from webcomics to print and back and what’s coming to Rocketship, T-Minus 10 tabletop, and Bottlerocket! all ages comics. The panel will include an exclusive look at the upcoming Let’s Play anime series premiering on Crunchyroll this fall, at the Cyko KO animated pilot starring the cast of Napoleon Dynamite, the upcoming Angry Birds graphic novels, and a special Let’s Play giveaway!

Learn How to Draw Professional Comics – Comic Pro Boot Camp

Thursday, July 24th, 11:30 – 1:00 PM

Room 3

Whilce Portacio (Uncanny X-Men, Punisher), Ryan Benjamin (Batman Beyond, Grifter), Carlos D’Anda (Justice League vs. Godzilla), and Alex Sinclair (Hush 2, Justice League) will run a hands-on drawing workshop teaching professional strategies from pencils, inks, and colors. Each attendee needs to bring drawing materials.

Rocketship Entertainment signs with Lunar Distribution to service the Direct Market and hires a new VP of Sales and Marketing

Posted on February 18, 2025 by Graphic Policy Team

Rocketship Entertainment has announced that it has signed with Lunar Distribution to distribute to direct market comic book shops.

To further efforts across both specialty and mass markets, Rocketship has hired Danielle Garre as VP of Sales and Marketing. Garre joins Rocketship with decades of entertainment experience, most recently as VP of digital for NBC Late Night, including Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and Saturday Night Live, and SVP of digital for Comedy Central.

Garre will lead sales across all channels for Rocketship, its young readers imprint Bottlerocket!, and T-Minus 10 Games.

Rocketship continues to be distributed to the book market worldwide through Simon & Schuster.

SDCC 2024: Legendary Comics reveals Pacific Rim: Final Breach

Posted on July 28, 2024 by Graphic Policy Team

During San Diego Comic-Con, Legendary Comics has announced a 3-book graphic novel sequel to Pacific Rim and Pacific Rim Uprising that will pick up on the franchise storyline and take it in bold new directions. With a new cover featuring the likenesses of Charlie Hunnam (Raleigh), John Boyega (Jake Pentecost), and Charlie Day (Newt), Pacific Rim: Final Breach is written by Joshua Fialkov with art by E.J. Su. Partnering with Rocketship Entertainment, the book trilogy is being pre-sold on Kickstarter paired with exclusive merchandise available only through the campaign. The Kickstarter campaign for Pacific Rim: Final Breach launches on Wednesday, July 31. You can sign up to be notified as to when it launches.

Humanity faces its ultimate threat as the Precursors unleash a new wave of devastating Kaiju assaults on Earth in Pacific Rim: Final Breach! After years of failed attempts to enter the Anteverse, the trans-dimensional realm from which all Kaiju emerge, Jake Pentecost and Hermann Gottlieb conceive a daring last-ditch plan whose success hinges on finding legendary Jaeger pilot Raleigh Becket—the only human being to ever survive behind enemy lines. Living in exile off the grid, Raleigh must choose assured annihilation or confront his past and team up with a new generation to pilot the brand-new Gipsy Destroyer, the last Jaeger standing. Tensions escalate and old wounds reopen as the PPDC finally crosses the breach to confront what lies on the other side… It’s time for humanity to meet its true enemy and cancel the apocalypse once and for all.

Rovio Continues Angry Birds’ 15th Anniversary Celebration by Partnering with Rocketship Entertainment for New Middle Grade Graphic Novels and Young Readers Comics

Posted on July 26, 2024 by Graphic Policy Team

Rocketship Entertainment and Rovio Entertainment have entered into a multi-book publishing agreement to bring all-new Angry Birds middle grade graphic novels and young readers comics to fans starting later this year. Facilitated by Angry Birds’ licensing agency, IMG, this collaboration is part of the 15^th anniversary celebration of the beloved franchise.

The graphic novel series will be written by 3x Eisner Award-winner and New York Times bestselling author Paul Tobin and illustrated by renowned artist Thom Zahler. The young readers comic series, which will release in comic shops in 2025, will be written by best-selling author Katie Cook.

Three graphics novels – The Haunting of Hog House, Level Up, and Breaking the Bank are currently planned and will be offered in a Kickstarter pre-order campaign along with limited edition exclusive merchandise.

The first book, The Haunting of Hog House will release spring ’25 and is described as:

Chuck inherits a castle! It’s old and spooky and needs a serious amount of restoration, but…wow! A castle! Chuck’s not really sure who left him this castle in their will (it’s a mystery, even to the lawyers) but he’s eager to start living life as the lord of a castle. EXCEPT…he finds out that he’s only one of the people who inherited the castle…

SDCC 2024: Rocketship Entertainment reveals its panels, signings, and portfolio reviews

Posted on July 22, 2024 by Graphic Policy Team

Rocketship Entertainment is heading to San Diego Comic-Con being held from July 25-28, 2024 at the San Diego Convention Center.

The Rocketship Way Station (booth #2707) will be on the main show floor where fans can pick up graphic novels, games, and merchandise.

Creator Leeanne M. Krecic (Let’s Play, Dragon King Oath) will be at the Rocketship booth throughout the weekend for signings, along with scheduled signings with creators Ryan Benjamin (Brothers Bond, Stan Lee’s Genesis), Thom Zahler (Cupid’s Arrows, Warning Label), Reilly Brown (Outrage), Sanford Greene (1000), David Stoll (Metaphorical HER), Danni Shinya Luo (Bleeding Edges), Tom Akel (Stan Lee’s Backchannel, Stan Lee’s Genesis), Ryan Dunlavey and Adam Guzowski (Action Philosophers) and Rob Feldman (Cyko KO). The signing schedule will be posted at the Rocketship booth, and there will be free prints available for every signing while supplies last.

Finally, the Rocketship booth will feature portfolio reviews for new and aspiring artists to have their work critiqued.

In addition to its activities at the Way Station, Rocketship Entertainment will be hosting its own panel Taking Off with Rocketship Entertainment with Leanne M. Krecic, Ryan Benjamin, Sanford Greene, Thom Zahler, and industry legend Marv Wolfman. CEO & Publisher Tom Akel will also appear on the Kickstarter panel, Kickstarting Comics in 2024 and Beyond, and Ryan Benjamin will be hosting the Learn How to Draw – Comic Pro Boot Camp.

Taking Off with Rocketship Entertainment
Saturday, July 27^th 7:30 – 8:30 PM
Room 24ABC

Kickstarting Comics in 2024 and Beyond!
Thursday, July 25th, 4:30 – 5:30 PM
Room 29CD

In 2023 comics on Kickstarter grew creator revenue 31 percent over a year and maintained a 78 percent success rate. Kickstarter’s head of publishing Oriana Leckert,Rocketship Entertainment CEO & publisher Tom Akel, Bad Idea CEO Dinesh Shamdashani, Clover Press publisher Hank Kanalz, comics writer and Kickstarter Advisory Board member Kat Calamia, and Mythworks co-founder Ray Chou discuss best practices, success, and failures, and what’s next for crowdfunded comics!

Learn How to Draw – Comic Pro Bootcamp
Thursday, July 25th, 2:30 – 4:00 PM
Room 3

Whilce Portacio (Uncanny X-Men, Punisher), Ryan Benjamin (Batman Beyond, Grifter), and Alex Sinclair (Batman, Justice League) hold a hands-on drawing workshop focused on the process of creating comics. Don’t forget to bring your sketchbooks and art to follow along with Comic Pro Boot Camp.

Crowdfunding Corner: Stan Lee’s Genesis, the official tabletop game honoring Stan Lee

Posted on December 5, 2023 by Graphic Policy Team

Backer Beware: Crowdfunding projects are not guaranteed to be delivered and/or delivered when promised. We always recommend to do your research before backing.

The first ever Stan Lee tabletop game is now on Kickstarter! Produced by Rocketship Entertainment, T-Minus 10 Games, and Stan Lee’s POW! Entertainment.

In Stan Lee’s Genesis, players must harness their creative energy to give birth to a unique universe. Stan Lee’s Genesis is intended to put the power of creation into the hands of the players and honor the legacy of Stan’s brilliance as one of the preeminent creative forces of the 20th century. Every game is different as players both compete and collaborate as they construct a comic book universe full of heroes, villains, super teams, evil syndicates, galactic threats, and all-encompassing crossover events!

Recently announced, due to popular demand they are creating a solo mode for the game and there will be a Solo Story Campaigns Book included as a comic book with at least 10 solo scenarios.

The campaign for Stan Lee’s Genesis runs until Friday, December 15, 2023 at 7:03 PM EST.

SDCC 2023: Rocketships blasts its way to the show with panels, live art, signings, and portfolio reviews

Posted on July 17, 2023 by Graphic Policy Team

Rocketship Entertainment will make its appearance at San Diego Comic-Con from July 20-23, 2023 at the San Diego Convention Center. The Rocketship Way Station (booth #2707) will be on the main show floor where fans can pick up graphic novels, games, and merchandise.

Eisner and Ringo nominated creator Leeanne M. Krecic (Let’s Play, Dragon King Oath) will be at the Rocketship booth throughout the weekend for signings and will have a new SDCC Exclusive Let’s Play print that will be available for free while supplies last.

New York Times bestselling author Nick Seluk (Lars the Awkward Yeti, Heart and Brain) will be at the Rocketship booth for an hour each day of the con for free signings and sketches of your favorite Lars, Heart, and Brain characters!

Creators Ryan Benjamin (Brothers Bond, Stan Lee’s Genesis), Thom Zahler (Cupid’s Arrows, Warning Label), Reilly Brown (Outrage), Sanford Greene (1000), and Rob Feldman (Cyko KO) will all have free signings and be doing live art that will be made available in upcoming Kickstarter and Zoop campaigns. Additionally, there will be a limited run of preview decks available for the upcoming Heroverse: Battleforce 20^th Anniversary Edition card game with creator Tom Akel on hand to sign copies.

Finally, the Rocketship booth will feature portfolio reviews for new and aspiring artists to have their work critiqued by Tom Akel and Ryan Benjamin.

The signing schedule will be posted at the Rocketship booth, and there will be free prints available while supplies last.

In addition to its activities at the Way Station, Rocketship CEO & publisher Tom Akel will appear on the Kickstarter panel, Kickstarting Comics in 2023 and Beyond, Leeanne M. Krecic will be appearing on Japanamerica: How Anime Grew from Niche to Mainstream, and Ryan Benjamin will be hosting the Comic Pro Boot Camp Workshop as well as premiering a teaser for the upcoming Comic Pro Boot Camp book series.

Kickstarting Comics in 2023 and Beyond!

Thursday, July 20th, 3:00 – 4:00 PM
Room 9

In 2022 comics on Kickstarter raised over $30 million and had a 78 percent success rate. Kickstarter’s head of publishing Oriana Leckert, Rocketship Entertainment CEO & publisher Tom Akel, Legendary SVP of publishing Robert Napton, Bad Idea CEO Dinesh Shamdashani, and Vault Comics managing editor Der-shing Helmer discuss best practices, success, and failures, and what’s next for crowdfunded comics.

Japanamerica: How Anime Grew from Niche to Mainstream

Friday July 21, 2023 11:00am – 12:00pm
Neil Morgan Auditorium, San Diego Central Library

Panelists Leeanne Krecic (Let’s Play), Justin Rojas (Studio Nano), Beth Taylor (Bioworld merchandising), Mason Lieberman (anime musician, Pokémon), and Fintan Mooney (anime blogger) talk about how anime and Roland Kelts’ book impacts their lives. Moderated by Amanda Nanawa (former GM, Funimation Channel).

Comic Pro Boot Camp Art Demo

Saturday, July 23rd, 12:30 – 2:00 PM
Room 3

This is your chance to get a taste of what it’s like to be a professional comic book artist. Learn details on production and art strategies from three professional seasoned artists. Bring paper and pencil and be prepared to get critiqued.

Wondercon 2023: Rocketship Entertainment kicks off their 2023 Con Season

Posted on March 23, 2023 by Graphic Policy Team

Rocketship Entertainment will appear at WonderCon March 24 – 26, 2023 at the Anaheim Convention Center.

The Rocketship Way Station (booth #1605) will be on the main show floor where fans can pick up graphic novels, games, and merchandise all weekend long.

Also, coming off the massive success of the Kickstarter campaign for her dating simulation game Everdate, Eisner and Ringo nominee Leeanne M. Krecic (Let’s Play, Dragon King Oath) will be doing signings and giving away exclusive Let’s Play prints at the booth on Friday, March 24^th at 3:30, Saturday, March 25^th at 4:00, and Sunday, March 26^th at 11:00. On Saturday and Sunday, Rocketship CEO Tom Akel (Stan Lee’s Backchannel) and artist Ryan Benjamin (Brothers Bond, Stan Lee’s Genesis) will be signing prints from the upcoming Stan Lee’s Genesis tabletop game, and Ryan Benjamin will be doing live art of characters from the game.

Marv Wolfman will also be a guest at the convention. CEO & publisher Tom Akel announced at the ComicsPRO industry conference last month that the legendary writer of The New Teen Titans and Crisis on Infinite Earths will be publishing his first all ages graphic novel Mekk and Me through Rocketship Entertainment’s young readers imprint Bottlerocket!

On Friday, March 25^th at 2:00, Rocketship Entertainment will be hosting the panel Knowing Your Worth – Creators Taking the Reins of Their IP.

2022 was a referendum on fair terms for comic creators. Everything from work life balance and compensation to control of creator’s intellectual property and how their work is marketed have come to the forefront of industry conversations. With the explosion of digital comics platforms and crowdfunding, hear from creator’s who are taking control of their own destinies and what creators who have never been published before should be looking for in their contracts and representation. Join a panel of creators including Eisner and Ringo nominee Leeanne M. Krecic (Let’s Play, Dragon King Oath), Eisner nominee Ryan Benjamin (Brothers Bond, Stan Lee’s Genesis) along with attorney Matt Sugarman of Weintraub Tobin and Rocketship Entertainment CEO and creator Tom Akel.

Conventions

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