Magnetic Press bring another international favorite to the masses in the form of Florent Maudoux’s manga-inspired Freaks’ Squeele via Kickstarter.
Maudoux’s critically acclaimed, seven-volume series is now available through Kickstarter, with plenty of exclusive premiums and stretch goals for fans new and old.
We spoke to Magnetic Press Publisher Mike Kennedy all about his love for the genre-bending series, as well as many other exciting new projects, in this exclusive interview.
What motivated you to bring Florent Maudoux’s Freaks’ Squeele to an English-speaking audience?
Mike Kennedy: As a fan of Label 619 for well over a decade, I was surprised that one of their seminal, flagship series still hadn’t reached an English-reading audience after all these years. With numerous spinoffs and continuations, its popularity was unquestionable. So with our recent first-look partnership with Label 619 and the string of amazing, successful releases we’ve brought to the States, it was just a matter of time before this epic adventure reached the front of the queue.
What is it about the work that you believe will appeal to an audience outside of Europe?
Kennedy: Most of Label 619 titles achieve this amazing pastiche blending Japanese Manga, American Comics, and European Bande Dessinée in a way that is totally unique and easily digestible regardless of coastline. Freaks’ Squeele is an awesome blend of crazy college life experiences, superhero tropes turned on their head, and classic horror fantasy that any audience should easily identify. Florent Maudoux fills his universe with a ton of tongue-in-cheek pop culture references and easter eggs. It’s surprising (and comforting) how many references and experiences we share across borders.
What do you personally like most about the genre-bending story and art?
Kennedy: I’m a big fan of Florent’s art, but that’s just the surface level of his work. The world building achieved in this series is pretty impressive too. Not only does Freaks’ Squeele portray an entire contemporary reality, where heroes are everyday people who seek an education and employment, but his characters and plots span centuries, with roots in a fabulous fictional past. He even explores the future in other Freaks’ Squeele spinoffs, like Funerals F and the current Clovid. That’s the sign of a dedicated storyteller: when your story spans generations, dimensions, and realms.
Magnetic Press has published graphic novels from around the world. How do you pick your projects and what is the process of translating and packaging them like for you?
Kennedy: I started out as an artist and animator in the video game industry, but also wrote stories of my own. That quickly led to writing a lot of books for Dark Horse and DC, which in turn led to writing a lot of scripts for 3DO, Namco, Electronic Arts, and more. I think that video game mentality tuned me towards visually engaging, dynamic art styles, while the writer’s side was trained to always look for new ways to view or approach something. When I joined Archaia Entertainment (before they were acquired by Boom Studios), I was introduced to a whole new world of comics in Europe, and I was floored by how much new and exciting material there was outside the US. It didn’t take long to amass a huge wishlist of titles and creators to work with. Over the last 12 years, that list just keeps expanding with new creators and titles who surface every year. I make an annual trip to France (usually for the FIBD show in Angouleme), and come back with a wishlist twice as long as the one I left with.
I try to work directly with the original author and artist as much as possible to make sure the translation is not only accurate, but sounds natural to an English-speaking readership. I like to get creative with the packaging design, as long as the creators are on board. Our editions have been celebrated as some of the authors’ favorites, even when a title has been published in dozens of other languages…
The Magnetic Press edition is already off to a great start on Kickstarter. What do you like about the crowd funding model?
Kennedy: We’ve been using Kickstarter since we launched in 2013. Our first published title, Super-Ego, was our first Kickstarter project. Now, over 50 successful campaigns and 12 years later, it has become one of our primary outlets. Not only does it give us an opportunity to engage directly with the fans, but it also allows us to offer special editions and bonus in-world artifacts (as stretch goals) that make the experience really exciting, not just for the Backers, but for us and the creators. That is honestly the best part about crowdfunding: the excitement that comes from those exclusive, limited-edition offerings that won’t be available again. Each campaign really is an event, with the creators or their titles as the guest of honor.
What is your favorite Kickstarter perk/incentives (stretch goals) for this project?
Kennedy: There are so many cool things planned… 😉
The limited edition “Footlocker” Boxed Set is pretty cool – not just the cool design and the magnetic flap, but that tier also includes an exclusive hardcover Art Book by Florent Maudoux filled with new art and lore that aren’t included in the other 7 volumes of the series. One of the earlier unlocked stretch goals added invisible glow-in-the-dark markings to the Boxed Set that can only be seen in the dark. We haven’t done something like that before. We’ve also unlocked a bunch of stickers that backers can customize their boxed set (or lockers, or notebooks, wherever). Future stretch goals are yet to be revealed, but repeat backers know we have a penchant for metal challenge coins of different designs, so there’s a safe bet that a collectible coin will be on the horizon…
Upcoming releases from Magnetic Press?
Kennedy: 2026 is going to be an exciting year! Not only do we have a lot of great books planned, but our partnership with Oni Press will make those offerings much more visible and attainable. We’ve been a comfortable “boutique” publisher for the past 12 years – having the sales and marketing muscle of a nearly 30-year mainstay like them should provide a healthy “leveling up.” Next year will see the release of many more Label 619 titles (MFKZ, Shin Zero, Freaks’ Squeele), more manfra (French “manga”) like Ogrest, Sioule, Live Memorium), our official Planet of the Apes RPG, and a bunch of other cool sci-fi and fantasy books that we’ll showcase more in the months ahead.
Freaks’ Squeele is available to back on Kickstarter until Friday, January 2.
