Humanoids, the independent publisher founded by iconic creators Mœbius, Philippe Druillet, and Jean-Pierre Dionnet, is staffing up ahead of its 50th anniversary in 2024, with the addition of a new marketing and sales directors, as well as promoting a longterm staffer into being director of U.S. Publishing Operations.

Esther Kim, recently marketing manager of BOOM! Studios and, before that part of Image Comics’ sales team, has stepped into the role of director of marketing at the company, alongside Holly Aitchison, another BOOM! veteran — although most recently part of Oni Press’s consumer marketing department — who has been named as the director of sales.

Additionally, Amanda Lucido, who has been with Humanoids since 2018, has taken on the role of director of U.S. publishing operations, where she will oversee all day-to-day operations of the company’s North American publishing efforts.

In a statement, Humanoids chief operator officer of US Operations Alex Donoghue says, “Humanoids has long been synonymous with groundbreaking science-fiction and fantasy graphic novels that originated amid—and continue to bring greater awareness to — the French medium of bande dessinée, while also breaking new ground through expansion of its editorial ambitions in a variety of genres and aesthetics, and not without the contributions of the U.S. comics industry’s top talent."

"This year, we anticipate our biggest releases yet, and are proud to announce the addition of Holly Aitchison and Esther Kim to our Sales and Marketing departments, as well as the promotion of the extremely talented Amanda Lucido. In 2023, we’ll continue to develop incredible graphic novel, film, and media projects such as the Taika Waititi-directed The Incal, the mind-bending expansion of this cult-favorite universe in all new original graphic novels (The Incal: Dying Star, The Incal: Kill Wolfhead), and so much more.”

In 2022, Humanoids not only saw The Incal — the beloved collaboration between Mœbius and visionary filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky — become the best-selling science fiction graphic novel of all time with sales of over three million copies, but moved to expand the Incal mythology with The Incal: Psychoverse, a new graphic novel by Mark Russell, Yanick Paquette and Dave McCaig, which was the publisher’s best-selling title of the year.

The company is based in Los Angeles, California, with CEO/publisher Fabrice Giger, Group COO Matthieu Coppet overseeing, and senior editor Jake Thomas overseeing all plans.

Yanick Paquette talks about his Incal work and more during a 2022 convention appearance.