SelfMadeHero

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title: "SelfMadeHero" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["comics-based-on-fiction", "comic-book-publishing-companies-of-the-united-kingdom", "british-graphic-novels", "original-english-language-manga", "privately-held-companies-of-the-united-kingdom", "2007-establishments-in-england", "publishing-companies-established-in-2007"] description: "UK-based independent publishing house" topic_path: "geography/united-kingdom" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SelfMadeHero" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary UK-based independent publishing house ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox publisher"]

Field	Value
name	SelfMadeHero
parent	Metro Media Ltd
founded	2007
founder
country	United Kingdom
headquarters	London
distribution	Abrams Books (US)
Canadian Manda Group (Canada)
Abrams & Chronicle Books (UK)
Thames & Hudson (Australia)
keypeople	Emma Hayley
genre	Graphic novels
imprints	Manga Shakespeare
Eye Classics
Crime Classics
Graphic Biography
website
::

| name = SelfMadeHero | image = | caption = | parent = Metro Media Ltd | status = | traded_as = | predecessor = | founded = 2007 | founder = | successor = | country = United Kingdom | headquarters = London | distribution = Abrams Books (US) Canadian Manda Group (Canada) Abrams & Chronicle Books (UK) Thames & Hudson (Australia) | keypeople = Emma Hayley | publications = | topics = | genre = Graphic novels | imprints = Manga Shakespeare Eye Classics Crime Classics Graphic Biography | revenue = | owner = | numemployees = | website = SelfMadeHero is an independent publishing house which specialises in adapting works of literature, as well as producing original graphic novels.

SelfMadeHero's books are distributed in the UK by Abrams & Chronicle Books and in the U.S. by Abrams Books.

History

SelfMadeHero was founded in February 2007 by Emma Hayley, and launched with two lines: Manga Shakespeare, featuring works based on the Bard but with different settings – mainly Japan in the past and future, and Eye Classics, which are adaptations of great classic works, such as those of Poe and Kafka.

In 2008 Emma Hayley was named UK Young Publishing Entrepreneur of the Year as part of the British Book Awards.

In 2009 SelfMadeHero expanded to include graphic adaptations of Sherlock Holmes, including Hound of the Baskervilles and A Study in Scarlet, and later several works by H.P. Lovecraft, including the anthology LOVECRAFT by I.N.J. Culbard. It also began publishing the Graphic Biography series with Johnny Cash: I See a Darkness, which has further expanded to tell the fascinating life stories of era-defining pop-culture icons such as Hunter S. Thompson and Nick Cave.

Since 2010 SelfMadeHero has been publishing original material, notably Glyn Dillon's The Nao of Brown, The Motherless Oven trilogy by Rob Davis. In 2011 the company received the Kitschies Black Tentacle award.

Graphic Anthology Programme (GAP) and ''Catalyst''

With support from Arts Council England SelfMadeHero launched the Graphic Anthology Programme (GAP) in February 2021. The GAP was a free, public programme that eventually selected 7 applicants for “an intensive 12 weeks of comics mentoring and masterclasses.” This resulted in the anthology Catalyst being published in October 2021*,* which featured 11 short stories, including the works produced by the 7 chosen GAP participants. The Cartoon Museum also hosted a temporary digital exhibition promoting Catalyst in 2022, titled Catalyst – the Online Exhibition, and Arts Council England also host an online exhibition titled Comics as a catalyst for change.

As well as its central theme of "catalyst", the GAP and the published anthology have both received recognition and praise for the diversity of the creators involved.

2023 First Graphic Novel Award

In June 2023, entries opened for the 2023 First Graphic Novel Award. The award was originally founded by Myriad Editions in 2012, and is now described as :[...]a partnership between the Cartoon Museum, the publisher SelfMadeHero, and independent graphic novel editor Corinne Pearlman, former Creative Director at Myriad Editions, with thanks to generous support from the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS) and The bks Agency, sponsors of the £500 prize for the winning entry.Entries are set to close in September 2023, with the winner to be announced in December. Among the judges is SelfMadeHero founder Emma Hayley. SelfMadeHero are also offering a publishing contract as one of the two prizes awarded to the winning author or team, the other being the £500 bursary donated by The bks Agency.

Bibliography

Manga Shakespeare

The adaptations of Shakespeare's plays were made by Richard Appignanesi (who previously worked on Icon Books' Introducing... series), with the art created by UK-based manga artists who came to prominence via Tokyopop's Rising Stars of Manga (United Kingdom & Ireland) competition, their work for Sweatdrop Studios or London manga collective Umisen Yamisen.

Of SelfMadeHero's two initial lines, it was Manga Shakespeare and its first two titles (Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet, which were published simultaneously in January 2007) that contributed most to establishing the company. This foundation later allowed SelfMadeHero to branch out into other genres and lines.

::data[format=table]

Title	Artist	Released	ISBN	Ref
Hamlet	Emma Vieceli	February 2007
Romeo and Juliet	Sonia Leong
The Tempest	Paul Duffield	September 2007
Richard III	Patrick Warren
A Midsummer Night's Dream	Kate Brown	February 2008
Julius Caesar	Mustashrik	June 2008
Macbeth	Robert Deas
As You Like It	Chie Kutsuwada	January 2009
Othello	Ryuta Osada
Henry VIII	Patrick Warren	May 2009
King Lear	ILYA
Much Ado About Nothing	Emma Vieceli
The Merchant of Venice	Faye Yong	September 2009
Twelfth Night	Nana Li
::

Eye Classics

The creators are drawn from a British comic background (in particular Nevermore) but also include screenwriters and more traditional artists.

::data[format=table]

Title	Author	Adaptation	Artist	Released	ISBN	Ref
Nevermore (anthology)	Edgar Allan Poe	various	October 2007
The Master and Margarita	Mikhail Bulgakov	Andrzej Klimowski	Danusia Schejbal	May 2008
The Trial	Franz Kafka	David Zane Mairowitz	Chantal Montellier	March 2008
The Picture of Dorian Gray	Oscar Wilde	Ian Edginton	I. N. J. Culbard	September 2008
At the Mountains of Madness	H. P. Lovecraft	I. N. J. Culbard	October 2010
The Castle	Franz Kafka	David Zane Mairowitz,	Jaromir99	November 2013
The Shadow Out of Time	H. P. Lovecraft	I. N. J. Culbard
The Man Who Laughs	Victor Hugo	David Hine	Mark Stafford
::

Crime Classics

The Crime Classics line began with a set of four adaptations of the Arthur Conan Doyle stories, adapted by Ian Edginton, with art by I. N. J. Culbard: ::data[format=table]

Title	Author	Artist	Released	ISBN	Ref
The Hound of the Baskervilles	Ian Edginton	I. N. J. Culbard	May 2009
A Study in Scarlet		first=Rachel	last=Cooke	url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/mar/28/study-scarlet-ian-edginton-review	title=A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle, Ian Edginton and INJ Culbard
The Sign of the Four	September 2009
The Valley of Fear
::

Rachel Cooke reviewed A Study in Scarlet for The Observer and concluded:

Graphic Biography

::data[format=table]

Title	Author	Artist	Released	ISBN	Ref
Johnny Cash: I See a Darkness	Reinhard Kleist	October 2009
Gonzo: A Graphic Biography of Hunter S. Thompson	Will Bingley	Antony Hope-Smith	October 2010
Kiki de Montparnasse	José-Louis Bocquet	Catel Muller	February 2011
Baby's in Black: The Story of Astrid Kirchherr & Stuart Sutcliffe	Arne Bellstorf	March 2011
Castro	Reinhard Kleist	July 2011
Hellraisers	Robert Sellers	JAKe	October 2011
A Chinese Life	Li Kunwu & Philippe Ôtié	Li Kunwu	July 2012
The Boxer	Reinhard Kleist	March 2014
An Olympic Dream: The Story of Samia Yusuf Omar	Reinhard Kleist	March 2016
Agatha: The Real Life of Agatha Christie	Anne Martinetti & Guillaume Lebeau	Alexandre Franc	May 2016
The Trial of Roger Casement	Fionnuala Doran	September 2016
Haddon Hall: When David Invented Bowie	Néjib	February 2017
Nick Cave: Mercy on Me	Reinhard Kleist	September 2017
Guantánamo Kid: The True Story of Mohammed El-Gharani	Jérôme Tubiana	Alexandre Franc	March 2019
Isadora	Julie Birmant	Clément Oubrerie	September 2019
Mozart in Paris	Frantz Duchazeau	September 2019
Zátopek	Jan Novák	Jaromír 99	October 2020
Buñuel: In the Labyrinth of the Turtles	Fermín Solís	April 2021
Orwell	Pierre Christin	Sébastien Verdier	May 2021
Knock Out!	Reinhard Kleist	July 2021
Alice Guy: First Lady of Film	José-Louis Bocquet	Catel Muller	July 2022
::

Awards and nominations

::data[format=table]

Year	Award	Category	Book	Creator(s)	Result
2011	Kitschies	The Black Tentacle	N/A	N/A	Won
2013	Angoulême International Comics Festival	title=Dillon wins Best Book at Comic Awards	url=https://www.thebookseller.com/news/dillon-wins-best-book-comic-awards	access-date=28 Nov 2013	date=28 Nov 2013}}
2015	British Comic Awards	last=Alverson	first=Brigid	title=British Comic Awards announces 2015 winners	url=https://www.cbr.com/british-comic-awards-announces-2015-winners/
2016	Eisner Award	title=John Lewis's 'March', Peter Kuper's 'Ruins' Win Eisner Awards	url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/awards-and-prizes/article/71008-john-lewis-s-march-peter-kuper-s-ruins-win-eisner-awards.html	access-date=23 July 2016	date=23 July 2016}}
2020	Angoulême International Comics Festival	title=Prix SNCF du Polar 2020	url=https://polar.sncf.com/la-selection#r_1	access-date=26 March 2020	date=26 March 2020}}
2020	Excelsior Award	Excelsior Award Black	Guantánamo Kid: The True Story of Mohammed El-Gharani	Jérôme Tubiana & Alexandre Franc	Won
::

Notes

References

References

1. "SelfMadeHero".
2. [https://www.bbc.co.uk/cambridgeshire/content/articles/2007/01/26/manga_feature.shtml Manga Hamlet by The Bard?], [[BBC Radio Cambs]], March 9, 2007
3. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/6647927.stm Shakespeare gets comic treatment], [[BBC]], May 11, 2007
4. (4 February 2012). "The 2011 Kitschies, presented by The Kraken Rum".
5. (February 20, 2021). "📢 We're live! GRAPHIC ANTHOLOGY PROGRAMME (GAP) Promoting diversity in comics publishing, a free 12-week mentoring programme for budding comic-book artists.".
6. "Graphic Anthology Programme".
7. "Catalyst".
8. Bruton, Richard. (2022-03-03). "'Catalyst': SelfMadeHero's Graphic Anthology Features As An Online Exhibition At The Cartoon Museum".
9. "Comics as a catalyst for change".
10. "SelfMadeHero releases anthology by emerging creators of colour".
11. (June 15, 2023). "We're proud to have joined amazing publishers @MyriadEditions & @SelfMadeHero to launch the First Graphic Novel Award!".
12. "2023 First Graphic Novel Award".
13. "SelfMadeHero".
14. "Manga Shakespeare: Hamlet".
15. "Manga Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet".
16. [https://www.theguardian.com/books/2007/nov/17/fiction.edgarallanpoe Review of ''Nevermore''], ''[[The Guardian]]'', November 17, 2007
17. Cooke, Rachel. (March 28, 2010). "A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle, Ian Edginton and INJ Culbard". [[The Observer]].
18. [https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/oct/24/johnny-cash-kleist-faber-review Johnny Cash: I See a Darkness by Reinhard Kleist], ''[[The Guardian]]'', October 24, 2009
19. (2011-01-22). "Gonzo: A Graphic Biography of Hunter S Thompson, by Will Bingley and Anthony Hope-Smith – review". The Guardian.
20. Picardie, Justine. (2011-03-19). "Kiki de Montparnasse by Jose-Luis Bocquet and Catel Muller – review". The Guardian.
21. (2012-05-15). "Arne Bellstorf Illustrates the Young Beatles".
22. Smart, James. (2011-06-24). "Castro by Reinhard Kleist – review". The Guardian.
23. (2011-09-24). "Hellraisers: A Graphic Biography, By Robert Sellers and JAKe".
24. [https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/oct/12/chinese-life-li-kunwu-p-otie-review A Chinese Life by Li Kunwu & Philippe Ôtié], ''[[The Guardian]]'', October 12, 2012
25. NowReadThis. (2022-05-11). "The Boxer – the True Story of Holocaust Survivor Harry Haft".
26. "Slings & Arrows".
27. Cooke, Rachel. (2016-08-02). "Agatha: The Real Life of Agatha Christie by Anne Martinetti, Guillaume Lebeau and Alexandre Franc – review". The Guardian.
28. Page, Eric. (2018-02-21). "BOOK REVIEW: The Trial of Roger Casement by Fionnuala Doran".
29. Cooke, Rachel. (2017-01-31). "Haddon Hall: When David Invented Bowie review – a glam star is born". The Guardian.
30. [https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/sep/21/nick-cave-mercy-on-me-reinhard-kleist-review Nick Cave: Mercy on Me by Reinhard Kleist], ''[[The Guardian]]'', September 21, 2017
31. "Guantanamo kid: The True Story of Mohammed El-Gharani".
32. Cooke, Rachel. (2019-09-17). "Isadora review – glorious art of a dervish". The Guardian.
33. "Slings & Arrows".
34. "Slings & Arrows".
35. "Slings & Arrows".
36. "The AOI - Orwell – review".
37. "Book review: Knock Out! by Reinhard Kleist".
38. "Slings & Arrows".
39. (28 Nov 2013). "Dillon wins Best Book at Comic Awards".
40. Alverson, Brigid. (14 Nov 2015). "British Comic Awards announces 2015 winners". CBR.
41. (23 July 2016). "John Lewis's 'March', Peter Kuper's 'Ruins' Win Eisner Awards".
42. (26 March 2020). "Prix SNCF du Polar 2020".
43. "Shortlists 2020".

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