Marvel Entertainment and Dabel Brothers Productions, LLC have mutually decided to end their publishing agreement.  Just last year Marvel and the Dabel Brothers signed a deal (see 'Dabel Brothers Join Marvel') under which Marvel would market, print and distribute ongoing and limited series produced by the Dabel Brothers studio, which specialized in creating comic book adaptations of popular science fiction, fantasy, thriller and horror novels. 

 

Dabel Brothers Productions will continue to adapt popular genre novels, but starting in 2008 it will self-publish a new list of comics based on new properties.  Marvel Comics will continue to publish the slate of titles brought to them by Dabel Brothers including Anita Blake Vampire Hunter (by Laurell K. Hamilton), the Hedge Knight series (by George R.R. Martin), Tales of Alvin Maker and Wyrms (by Orson Scott Card), Magician Apprentice (by Raymond Feist), Lords of Avalon (by Kinley MacGregor), and Highwayman (by R.A. Salvatore).

 

It's hard to discern the reasons for the dissolution of this agreement from outside, but it does appear that the Dabel Brothers studio is skittish as a young colt.  Before the Marvel agreement the Dabels (sometimes as 'Roaring Studios') had stints with Image, Devil's Due, and Alias Enterprises. 

 

Marvel comes out of the deal with a number of potentially prime properties including Anita Blake Vampire Hunter -- the first Anita Blake graphic novel collection has spent the last month high in the top ten on the Bookscan list of graphic novels sold in bookstores.