VILLARD TO PUBLISH POPULAR WEBCOMIC GOATS

Interviews with Jon Rosenberg on his new book deal hot off the presses at FLEEN and ComicMixaLot.  Read the full press release below:

Villard Books, an imprint of Ballantine Books at the Random House Publishing Group, announced today that Villard will publish three graphic novels collecting the long-running and wildly popular webcomic Goats.

Villard Books will publish the recently completed Goats story arc, The Infinite Pendergast Cycle, as a trilogy —in the style of the great sci-fi sagas Goats so affectionately parodies. Each trade paperback volume will be full color and published at six-month intervals. The first volume, Goats: Infinite Typewriters, set for July 2009, will include newly revised and created material intended to introduce new readers to the colossal and complex Goats universe—and set up the audience for the rest of the epic. Book 1 will cover material published on the Goats website from December 2003 to January 2006. The second book, Goats: The Corndog Imperative, scheduled for a November 2009 release, covers January 06 to March 2007. And the third book, Goats: Showcase Showdown, due out in April 2010, covers March 07 to April 08.

Goats was introduced online on April 1, 1997, making it one of the web’s longest-running webcomics. Today Goats receives an average of 1.5 million hits a month and offers a wide range of Goats-themed merchandise.

Goats is a sci-fi parody epic, a Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy or Futurama for the Internet age. This is humor imagined on an epic scale—more than a simple gag-a-day strip, Goats’ on-going story comprised of several distinct story arcs. The anarchic and hyper-inventive Goats has a sprawling storyline concerning two ordinary techies who are tasked with saving the universe from utter destruction—and the demonic chickens, cyborg goldfish, omnisexual aliens, disgruntled hackers, Mayan death gods, and random celebrities they encounter along the way.

“Like Penny Arcade and The Perry Bible Fellowship, Goats has won a devoted web following with its totally original voice and delightfully demented humor,” said Tricia Narwani, acquiring editor at Villard. “We’re excited to bring Goats to an even wider audience.” Goats was acquired in a deal with Judith Hansen of the Hansen Literary Agency.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Jonathan Rosenberg is the webcomic artist responsible for Goats and megaGAMERZ 3133T. Rosenberg has been producing webcomics since 1997, making him one of the original webcomic artists. Rosenberg graduated from Cornell University in 1995 with a major in biology. Before working full-time as a webcomic artist, he also worked as a website design consultant. Jonathan is now a full-time cartoonist.

ABOUT VILLARD BOOKS:

Villard Books, named after the Stanford White brownstone mansion on Madison Avenue that was the home of Random House for twenty years, was founded in 1983. It publishes a general nonfiction and fiction list that has positioned itself on the leading edge of popular culture. Villard is the home for several highly regarded graphic novels, including American Splendor by Harvey Pekar; Flight, edited by Kazu Kibuishi; Elk’s Run by Fialkov and Tuazon; and Postcards, edited by Jason Rodriguez. Among the bestselling authors it has published are Jon Krakauer, Eve Ensler, Governor Jesse Ventura and Peter Greenberg, the "Travel Detective." Visit the Villard website at www.villard.com

Xaviar Xerexes

Wandering webcomic ronin. Created Comixpedia (2002-2005) and ComixTalk (2006-2012; 2016-?). Made a lot of unfinished comics and novels.