From the Top: Comic Book Resources chats with Top Shelf Productions' Chris Staros about the eight projects the publisher will debut at Comic-Con International:
 
"Well, so many great projects came to fruition this year that the summer ended up being our biggest release season ever. With our printing bills between April and July alone topping $200,000 -- yee-gads! -- this summer is definitely our biggest gamble yet. But these eight books, combined with the three recent Alan Moore/Top Shelf editions of From Hell, Voice Of The Fire and The Mirror Of Love, were so strong, that it was definitely a gamble worth taking. Of course, the fans and retailers will ultimately let us know whether we'll be paying off these printing bills in a timely manner … ahem."
 
Staros also addresses the financial crisis Top Shelf faced just over two years ago:
 
"To tell the truth, I'm not exactly sure how we've survived. I guess getting up every morning and working 12-14 hours a day, seven days a week, helps. Setting up at eighteen conventions a year to meet all the fans personally doesn't hurt either. Simultaneously working several fronts: the direct market, the book trade, and convention/website sales is also a key factor. And, of course, being lucky enough to publish a few really successful books, like From Hell and Blankets -- which have helped improve our brand recognition -- is all a part of it, too.

"Almost all of the publishers I know have invested every penny they could save and borrow to get their operations off the ground and sustain them. And even after years of publishing, they'd all be hard pressed to say that they've recouped any of those financial investments. This is an industry propped up by love, and love alone. It's something you throw yourself into because you want it to be your life, not because you think a paycheck is there. And so, no matter what hardships there are, these people and this industry will survive, because the love of comics is not something that's going to go away."