An award nominated independent publishing house has announced it is winding down the business citing the financial impact of Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic.
Black Hearted Press (BHP) which which was set up in 2011, became one of the countries leading publisher of comic books and graphic novels.
Headquartered on Sauchiehall Street in Glasgow the firm was nominated for multiple awards including the Saltire Society Awards in 2022. The company become well known over the years for breaking barriers with projects including the women in politics anthology We Shall Fight Until We Win, which was co-published with 404 Ink.
BHP also published Freedom Bound, which told the story of three slaves living in Scotland before the practice was banned. The graphic novel which was distributed in every secondary school in the country had been created in partnership with the University of Glasgow to teach youngsters about slavery.
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The company had expanded into the US market in 2019 but founder Sha Nazir said the international side of the business had struggled due to shrinking profit margins and escalating costs, exacerbated by the complexities of Brexit and the pandemic.
In a statement the founder said: “I’ve loved working with everyone at BHP Comics and I’m really proud of all we’ve achieved. It’s been a tough decision to wind the company down but we feel it’s the right one.
“Over the course of the next few months we’ll be selling off all remaining BHP stock. If you’ve got a gap in your collection, now’s the time to grab it.
“BHP has been instrumental in opening numerous doors, and I take immense pride in its profound impact on both Scottish and UK comics publishing. We broke many barriers, getting wider acceptance of comics in UK publishing, increasing representation and being the only person of colour publisher in Scotland for far too long.
“BHP’s legacy lives on through the many lives it has touched. It will be around for the next few years in schools because of Freedom Bound and our titles will live on in the shelves of our readers and no doubt pop up in charity shops for years to come.”
However, Sha said he would not be stepping away entirely from the world of comics with him continuing his freelance publishing consultancy role for the Terry Pratchett estate.
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