Archaia Studios Press Hires Pauline Benny As Art Director

Press Release

Kearny, NJ -- Nov 5, 2007 -- ASP is proud to announce the addition of Pauline Benney as Art Director to its expanding stable of top-notch publishing, editorial, and creative talent. The award-winning Benney brings design and layout skills to ASP that will be immediately useful as Benney will ensure books continue to be released on time and that they live up to the already high production standards fans have learned to expect from ASP.

Additionally, Benney brings to ASP a keen eye for art as well as an array of artist contacts built from her 10 years as Art Director at White Wolf Publishing. With ASP's growing lineup of creator-owned comic book and graphic novel titles, Benney will be able to reach out to her artists and help to continue to expand the company. While at White Wolf, Benney worked with such artists as Alex Maleev, Brom, Guy Davis, Vince Locke, Tim Bradstreet, Alex Sheikman, John Van Fleet, Jason Alexander, Leif Jones, Steve Ellis, Ben Templesmith, Marko Djurdjevic, Jean Sebastien Rossbach, Mark Nelson, and many, many more.

Before taking a year away from the industry, one of the last books she art directed, Vampire The Requiem, earned her the 2005 Silver ENNIE Award for Best Interior Art.

"I knew of Mark [Smylie] while at White Wolf where he did illustration work for a variety of Vampire titles," Benney said. "Since he founded ASP, I've watched the company grow and grow, publishing some bitchin' titles, working with some truly talented artists, and producing some jaw-droppingly beautiful books. I'm looking forward to working with ASP's creators and am hopeful I can get the chance to once again work with some of the illustrious artists I've come to know over the last decade."

"I've known Pauline for a long time," said Mark Smylie, publisher of ASP Comics, "and I know how hard she works and how good she is at her job. We couldn't be happier to bring her on board. Not to mention, with Pauline taking on the layout of the books, I may now finally be free to return to paint a few pages of Artesia every now and then, something for which I've longed, but have just been too busy with building the company to do."

All of ASP's titles are available at finer comic book retailers and bookstores worldwide.

ABOUT ARCHAIA STUDIOS PRESS
Mark Smylie founded Archaia Studios Press (ASP) in 2002 as a new home for his epic fantasy comic book, Artesia (first published by Sirius Entertainment). Artesia, winner of ForeWord Magazine's Best Graphic Novel of 2003, and its sequels -- Artesia Afield and Artesia Afire -- gave ASP its foundation. Artesia: Adventures in The Known World, a roleplaying game written by Mark, expanded ASP into the world of gaming; the game won the Origins Award for Role-Playing Game of 2005. Now Mark and publishing partner Aki Liao have expanded ASP to include a line of idiosyncratic and creator-driven comic books and graphic novels in the fantasy, science fiction, and horror genres, as well as translations of several of Europe's best titles. More information can be found at www.aspcomics.com