Artists, Writers, & Artisans (AWA), the creative business that puts creators first, announced today that Michael Cotton has joined the company as an Executive Editor. Cotton will work alongside Co-Founders Axel Alonso, Chief Creative Officer and Bill Jemas, CEO & Publisher.
Cotton comes to AWA following his tenure as Senior Editor at DC Comics. Previously, he worked as a journalist reporting on the publishing and entertainment industries for WIZARD and Champion! magazines.
“I’ve followed AWA since its inception and have been amazed by the quality of their stories and vision for working with creators in new and exciting ways,” said Cotton. “The opportunity to carve my own path among this incredibly talented editorial team by assembling an all-new group of diverse creators to deliver fresh original IP for the AWA portfolio is something that I couldn’t pass up. I can’t wait to begin developing content that will excite and resonate with both long-time fans, retailers and new audiences.”
“Axel is, in my opinion, the best there is at what he does,” said Jemas, “and Mike is, in my opinion, the best at what he does. At AWA, Axel has had, and Mike will have, the freedom to do what they each do best and the resources they’ll need to succeed.”
“Since my days at Marvel, Mike has been a mainstay and one of the leading voices in the comic book industry. From his time at WIZARD, his whole purpose has been to advance the industry forward and to support the diverse voices that are so valuable to the medium,” said Alonso. “AWA continues to assemble an incredible team of executives, editors and creators and adding Mike to the team will be invaluable to our ability to continue to develop and diversify the content we produce.”
About AWA
AWA was founded by Jon Miller and former Marvel executives Bill Jemas and Axel Alonso. The company is backed by Lupa Systems, Sister and Lightspeed. Armed with some of the freshest and most critically-acclaimed graphic fiction in a generation, AWA has established itself as an industry leader in terms of its relationship with artists and writers by providing creators the freedom, incentive structure and editorial support to pursue their boldest, most original and socially relevant work. AWA has assembled a lineup of the world’s most renowned comic book talent, including such creators as J. Michael Straczynski, Frank Cho, Garth Ennis, Mike Deodato Jr., Christa Faust, and many more. With the formation of AWA Studios, the company is building a distinct array of new cutting-edge film and TV projects anchored in its burgeoning library of groundbreaking stories. Helmed by Hollywood veteran Zach Studin, AWA Studios recently announced its first project, Chariot, an event feature film, based on the AWA graphic novel by Bryan Edward Hill that Warner Bros. secured after competitive bidding for Joseph Kosinski (Top Gun: Maverick) to direct, with 21 Laps producing.
For more information visit, AWA Studios on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and AWAStudios.net.