Just about at the same time that my lengthy examination of the recent troubles at Scout Comics went live … they were announcing a partnership with Element Media. Although the PR doesn’t mention funding, one would hope there is some involved.
Under the deal, Scout will relaunch in Summer 2024 and even start a new imprint for horror/thriller comics, Dark Harbor Comics. Element Media, a wholly owned subsidiary of Element Global, Inc. (OTC:ELGL), will help Scout “expand further into the comic book, original graphic novel, gaming, and multimedia space.”
Before getting to the upbeat statements from those involved, who or what is Element Media? A Google search turns up as many results for a high school glee club of the same name, so they stay low to the ground (but could also be Google’s increasingly unreliable search results.). Element Global has business interests in “mining, renewable energy, technology, sports and media.” The Element Media web site promises “GLOBAL CONTENT” and the Element Global website mentions things like “An Innovative Holding Company Building A Global Network” and “Creating a Global Network Through a Multi-Vertical Platform.”
If we know one thing, it’s that it’s global!
Element Global is publicly traded; however, NASDAQ says the company is “not currently being traded.”
Anyway, both parties hailed the deal, and Scout president James Haick said it would allow an initiative called Scout Launch, which will pay creators.
Steve Gagnon, co-CEO of Element Media Global, Inc., said, “We are incredibly excited to be partnering with Scout to expand into the comics and graphic novel space. They have a proven track record of producing quality comic books while having an impressive ability to sell their IP into Hollywood, as well as proving themselves to be incredibly nimble in a rapidly evolving market across all of our media brands.”
James Haick, President of Scout Comics, said, “The collaboration between Element and Scout is the beginning of something very special. Our shared visions and collaborative efforts are poised to help revolutionize the comic book industry. These initiatives will not only benefit our creators and employees, but comic fans in general. One of these initiatives is called SCOUT LAUNCH, which will bring new paying jobs to writers, artists, colorists, and more. We couldn’t have arrived here without the hard work and dedication from our current back-office team, our amazing printer Comic Impressions, our Scout HQ employees, and of course our talented creators. With July on the horizon, we all look forward to building anticipation for the extraordinary developments ahead.”
Richard Rivera, Publisher of Scout Comics, added, “I’m excited for the possibilities that will come from the re-launch this summer and confident that our amazing creators and important retail-partners, the local comic shops, will benefit from a streamlined, reliable publishing schedule. It will shake things up, but in a great way, and Scout is eager to get everyone on board with the new vision. The partnership with Element is going to be game changing.”
Hopefully part of the relaunch will include Scout hiring someone to facilitate the better communication that they have promised to creators who claimed they were being ghosted.
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