Mojo Press - Weird Business

Weird Business, the title for which Mojo Press was originally formed had a long gestation period, and took around 18 months to physically assemble. It was ultimately published on May 21, 1995 as a 420pg hardback, Mojo Press' third title - after a Weird Business Sampler became the second to see print in 1994. (Klaw's original proposal, by contrast, was for a "100 page hardcover book and a budget that was roughly ten percent of what the finished book eventually cost.")

Having cleared the main hurdle of finding a publisher (by forming one), and with some creative input already lined up (Klaw recalls that "Poppy Z. Brite sent... a script before we had a publisher, or even contracts for the contributors"), including Lansdale and Nancy A. Collins, Lansdale and Klaw began contacting various individuals to solicit contributions. Klaw was able to interest Nebula Award-winner Howard Waldrop and comics artist Michael Lark, while Robert Bloch, F. Paul Wilson, Charles de Lint and Roger Zelazny all signed on as well.

Klaw attempted to enlist one of his literary heroes, the legendary author Michael Moorcock, since the two had met previously at conventions and shared similar interests in science fiction and comics, both integral parts of the Weird Business anthology. Klaw cites Captain Marvel as a particular common interest. Moorcock was in the process of moving from his native London to Austin, Texas, and contacting him proved fraught with difficulty and misinformation.

Ultimately, Moorcock agreed to be a part of the project, and Klaw selected one of his Elric short stories (from the Earl Aubec collection). Steve Bissette was invited to create a cover for the anthology, a daunting task for a project which contained "23 stories by 56 different creators, all with different styles and subject material". Bisette's cover proved popular, but not ideal for Weird Business, so Dave Dorman (cover artist for multiple Star Wars and Aliens comics - including, ironically, the Stoker Award-winning Aliens: Tribes by S. Bissette) was contacted, and produced sketches deemed more suitable to the project.

Klaw recalls many "adventures, mishaps and even tragedies" during the course of the assembling process - Norm Partridge writing "Gorilla Gunslinger" despite suffering from chicken pox, artistic difficulties on a couple of stories with deadlines looming, and the unfortunate deaths of both Robert Bloch (before the book saw print) and Roger Zelazny (less than a month after its release).

When it reached publication Weird Business was nominated for the 1996 Eisner Award for Best Anthology, and became the "largest comic book of original material ever published in English," a proud accomplishment for so new a small publisher. This, however, proved something of a double-edged sword, since:

"..it looked like a book, the comic shops said they couldn't sell it to comic book fans. Booksellers said that since it was a comic book, not many book readers would be interested. Luckily, both parties were mostly wrong, but their prophecies turned out to be self-fulfilling."

Comic shops were, in 1995, still relatively new to the concept of selling slowly but continuously, being far more familiar with the speculater boom which saw massive sales for individual comics for a brief period of time, and few follow-up sales in subsequent weeks. Although Watchmen, The Dark Knight Returns and Maus were all making inroads as continually selling higher-priced trade paperbacks and graphic novels, Weird Business — although selling well — was perhaps slightly ahead of its time.

Klaw recalls that there were similar difficulties in marketing Weird Business' to bookshops:

"Book-length comics had been available in most bookstores since the late 80s, but stores couldn't figure out how to market or sell them... at Bookstop in 1987, Watchmen and Dark Knight Returns were kept in the humor section!"

By 1995, bookshops with a separate "Graphic Novels" section were becoming the norm, but staff knowledge and interest in them was still conflicted:

"...ookstores... had little respect for or understanding about how to sell them. Many felt that graphic novels were still primarily kiddie fare. Weird Business confused them. It listed all these well known writers, but it also had pictures. And it clearly wasn't for children. So in many stores it languished, hidden away from people who might be interested in the book."

Nonetheless, Weird Business was well received and sold well. Moreover "it established the fledgling Mojo Press as a new player in the publishing business". Says Klaw:

"Suddenly, it seemed that everyone who was anyone in comics, horror, and science fiction wanted to work with us."