Geronimo Stilton Comics: Jim Salicrup

Jim Salicrup has a long history in comics. Currently acting as editor in chief at Papercutz, he has worked for Marvel and DC comics and edited titles like The Uncanny X-Men, Spider-man, The Avengers and Fantastic Four.

Papercutz is a small graphic novel publishing house with a focus on quality kids comics. Their titles include Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, Classics Illustrated and more recently Geronimo Stilton! I recently chatted to Jim via email about the experience of translating the Geronimo comics to English.

The Geronimo Stilton News Site: The regular Geronimo Stilton Books have been quite popular in their English translations. Were you familiar with them before you saw the comics?

Jim Salicrup: All the credit on GERONIMO STILTON goes to Papercutz publisher Terry Nantier! 

Terry is also the top guy at NBM Publishing and is very familiar with what's going on in the European comics market, as he's been bringing some of the best graphic novels created there to American audiences for years -- for a few excellent examples just check out the CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED DELUXE series also from Papercutz. 

We were both familiar with the American GERONIMO STILTON chapter books -- we both loved how visual even the chapter books are -- and were thrilled to discover that English language rights to the graphic novels were available. Terry didn't waste a second making sure we did everything we could do secure those rights. 

When we finally made the deal, it was as if we just won the Lottery!  It's great to be able publish material that you love, and bring these wonderful graphic novels to Geronimo's countless American fans.

The Geronimo Stilton News Site: Why did you think Papercutz was the best company to publish the comics? What was it about Geronimo Stilton that appealed to you?

Jim Salicrup:Papercutz is devoted to publishing the very best comics for all ages, and GERONIMO STILTON is such a great example of exactly that. 

Not only are the stories exciting, well-written, filled with fun and adventure, and the artwork is simply outstanding, but there's a very strong educational element that is gracefully worked into each graphic novel.  Since Papercutz books are also available in many schools and libraries, that's just an added plus. 

We believe we're the right publisher for GERONIMO STILTON simply because we're the only publisher totally devoted to graphic novels for all ages. 

Personally, the GERONIMO STILTON graphic novels appeal to me just like the great Disney UNCLE SCROOGE comics by Carl Barks did-- brilliantly researched fun stories, beautifully told in comics form.  How can you possibly not like GERONIMO STILTON?

The Geronimo Stilton News Site: The comics, like the books,  were originally published in Italy. Can you let us know how the English translation/publication came about?

Jim Salicrup:We have a wonderful translator, Nanette McGuinness, who also loves the GERONIMO STILTON chapter books, and she does a marvelous job! 

We then try to have the English lettering be as expressive and as imaginative as the original Italian version. 

Every page of the GERONIMO STILTON graphic novels features not only the traditional comics-style lettering, but many other kinds of type to capture the fun-feeling of the truly expressive dialogue and captions. 

This is just one example of how every detail in each GERONIMO STILTON graphic novel is given a tremendous amount of attention to create the very best graphic novels possible -- yes, it's a lot more work, but the results are worth it!
 
The Geronimo Stilton News Site: Geronimo Stilton was your largest initial print run ever-congratulations! What made you decide to print so many?

Jim Salicrup:  Thanks! We're lucky to be working with one of the best book publishing and distribution companies in the world-- Macmillan -- and they did a wonderful job of getting booksellers as excited as we are about GERONIMO STILTON. 

I suspect, like most other Papercutz titles, we'll be going back to press many times to keep up with the demand from GERONIMO STILTON fans!  And with plans for an animated GERONIMO STILTON TV series, we expect there to be millions of more  GERONIMO STILTON fans to come!  How exciting is that?
 
The Geronimo Stilton News Site: Are you marketing the comics to English speaking countries outside of the US, like Australia or the UK?

Jim Salicrup:Yes, we are!  Right now our primary focus is North America, but the books are available world-wide, in English, exclusively from Papercutz through Macmillan. 

The Geronimo Stilton News Site: I read your interview at The Vault a couple of weeks ago, where you were talking about the reluctance of some comic stores to stock the Geronimo titles. I have to say I have experienced this.

In Australia only one of the online comic stores have stocked this title and of the two huge online comic stores in the US that I regularly purchase from neither are stocking it.

The thing is they may have a point, because if you check on Diamond Comic’s reorder database the first two titles that only came out last week are unavailable, you can’t even back-order them.

Why is this so and how can comic stores who want to stock the title work around this?

Jim Salicrup:  Well, Diamond did offer the books, and sold some, but for whatever reasons, they may not be available for re-orders.  As you can imagine, this is very frustrating.  But to be clear, the books are available to stores from either Macmillan or directly from us.  

For individuals, you should have no problem finding the GERONIMO STILTON graphic novels at booksellers everywhere, especially online booksellers.

I hope I didn't give you the impression that I don't like comicbook shops.  Just the opposite, I think they're great!  Especially the top 200 stores.  They're the ones that eagerly support comics and graphic novels for all ages, and I can't thank them enough. 

On the other hand, for many of the comicbook stores that only carry endless amounts of super-heroes, it's as if we don't even exist!  They certainly have every right to decide what to carry and not carry in their stores, and I certainly understand the many difficulties that they face in today's economic environment-- but that actually makes carrying GERONIMO STILTON graphic novels something they should seriously consider. 

Attracting new, younger customers is the smartest thing they can possibly do. 

The Geronimo Stilton News Site: You have had quite a history in the comics industry but your focus now seems to be on promoting comics for younger readers. Do you feel there is a general lack of comics for younger readers in the mainstream comic industry ?

Jim Salicrup:  Well, my first published work appeared in KIDS MAGAZINE when I was 14 years-old. 

I started Marvel Comics when I was 15 years-old, and everything I worked on there was for all ages, but I also worked on SPIDEY SUPER-STORIES, the comicbook produced by Marvel in cooperation with the Childrens Television Workshop, the people who created Sesame Street and The Electric Company. 

Spider-Man appeared on The Electric Company, and the comicbook was designed to get kids to read, and that's something I've always believed in strongly. 

Literacy is still a problem for many children, and comics are the obvious solution.  Comics, in general, simply make reading a lot of fun.  Adults often forget how intimidating the world can seem to a child.  Even tying a shoe can seem like an impossible task if no one bothers to patiently show you how to do it. 

Reading is vital in understanding the world around us, and comics are able to not only help children learn how to read, they can actually making reading become an enjoyable experience. 

So, yes, having comics that are not written down to kids, comics that respect their intelligence, and are also enjoyable to adults as well, you can say that is certainly our focus at Papercutz.

The Geronimo Stilton News Site: Is there anything else you would like to share with Geronimo fans?

Jim Salicrup: Being an Editor-in-Chief myself, I certainly relate a lot to Geronimo.  I worry about Geronimo editing the Rodent Gazette because newspapers are having such a difficult time these days.  But Geronimo is such a great writer, as his books and graphic novels prove, that I'm not too worried -- being a best-selling author is a great back-up career!

Oh, and if Geronimo Stilton doesn't mind, there's a list of a few old comicbooks I'd love for him to pick up for me the next time he travels back in time...   

The Geronimo Stilton News Site: Lastly, What is your favourite type of cheese?

Jim Salicrup: Mozzarella, but not moldy!

You can order all the Geronimo Stilton Graphic Novels now from Amazon.com

Tags: Geronimo Stilton, Geronimo Stilton Books, Geronimo Stilton Graphic Novels, Literacy