BOOM! Studios imprint Archaia Entertainment have informed retailers that the current print run of Return of the Dapper Men will be the publisher’s last, as they have come to an agreement to return the property’s rights to creators Jim McCann and Janet K. Lee.”Archaia had come to an agreement with Jim and Janet to return the rights for Return of the Dapper Men to them prior to BOOM! acquiring the publisher,” said BOOM!’s VP of publishing and marketing Filip Sablik. “This had been in process for some time and the recent announcement was simply to give our retailer partners a final opportunity to stock up on the current printing before it became unavailable. We would have loved to continue publishing the ‘Dapper Men,’ while honoring all of the beautiful production values and high standards the first edition had set, but felt it was only right to honor Jim and Janet’s wishes. We wish them the absolute best in charting the future of the ‘Dapper Men’ series.”The book, originally expected to be the first in a trilogy, was released in 2010 to strong sales and critical acclaim but a planned 2012 follow-up has still not yet been completed.”We felt that, along with Archaia, we put out a beautiful book that exceeded everyone’s expectations — especially our own,” McCann told CBR. “However, after much discussion between Archaia, BOOM, and Janet and I, at this point in our careers and in the best interest of all parties, the proper home for ‘Dapper Men’ is back with us, the creators, moving forward.”It’s not clear whether there was any disagreement between the parties, or if it was just a matter of McCann and Lee electing to go fully creator-owned, or whether the process was significantly slowed down by BOOM! acquiring Archaia. There has been interest in adapting Dapper Men to other media, but nothing significant seems to have moved forward on that front.
