Josh Braun (born 1961) is an American businessperson, film producer, musician and comics publisher known for his work in the bands Circus Mort and The Del-Byzanteens, for his formation in the companies Submarine Entertainment, and New Comic Co., the latter of which is responsible for republishing the horror comics Creepy and Eerie.
Braun and his twin brother Dan grew up in New York City in the 1960s and became fans of horror publications like Creepy and Eerie at a young age, on which they would spend their allowances.[1]
Career
The Brauns began careers in advertising and TV. They became reacquainted with their childhood reads at weekend flea markets.[1]
In 1999, they set out to buy the rights to the forgotten titles, which they felt there could market into revived brands that could be adapted into feature films, television, broadband shorts, Broadway shows, and licensed properties. The Brauns formed New Comic Co. to buy the rights to the Creepy and Eerie, a transaction that took seven years to complete. In 2008, New Comic struck a deal with Dark Horse Comics to publish Creepy Archives, the first in a series of reissues. Though Brauns expected to sell 5,000 copies, given the $49 price, it sold three times that amount. In 2009, the first of the Eerie Archives reached No. 2 on The New York Times graphic novels bestseller list. The company eventually launched New Creepy Comic Book, which introduced an extended family of Creepy characters.[1] In 2009 the Creepy Archives series won the Eisner Award for Best Archival Comic Book Collection.[2] In July 2009, an all-new biannual Creepy comic was released, featuring work from comic book artists Bernie Wrightson and Angelo Torres.
