New York, NY — Fans of Stardoll, the online social gaming phenomenon with more than 200,000,000 members worldwide, will have a new way to dive into their virtual world this Fall. Stardoll has inked a deal with Papercutz, the industry’s leading children’s graphic novel publisher, to publish an ongoing series of books featuring five best friends trying to make it in the fashion world. Much like Stardoll’s real-life members, the stars of the series are budding young fashion moguls with big dreams of success and a flair for creative expression.
“We are excited about our partnership with Papercutz and expanding the Stardoll brand through their creative graphic novels,” said Carla Masters, Stardoll Head of Licensing.
The Stardoll community is all about fame, fashion, and friends, and bringing this credo to life in a story required a formidable imagination and a good deal of fashion sense. Papercutz called on veteran comics illustrator and designer JayJay Jackson to tell the tale, and Jackson created a rich backstory that mixes teen high school drama with mysterious paranormal elements. The five girls at the center of the series have unique secret powers that counterpoint their latent creative talents.
“When Papercutz asked me to come up with a concept for graphic novels based on the beautiful and fun Stardoll fashion web site I couldn’t have been more excited,” Jackson said. “I set out to create a place like ours, but with some twists, and to come up with characters that have a mythical, supernatural edge who, nonetheless, live mostly normal lives. Now I can spend every day in the magical and fantastic world of the STARDOLL graphic novels; I only hope readers will have as much fun hanging out there as I do.”
STARDOLL #1: “Secrets & Dreams,” the first full-color 64-page graphic novel, releases on September 17, followed by STARDOLL #2: “The Secret of the Star Jewel” on December 17. The tween-targeted series will continue with four new volumes each year.
Popular with reluctant readers and gifted readers alike, Papercutz graphic novels cover a wide range of genres, reading levels, and favorite characters including The Smurfs, LEGO® NINJAGO, Geronimo Stilton, Nancy Drew, and many more. Papercutz is proud to be the largest standalone publisher exclusively dedicated to children’s graphic novels, with books available at all major retailers, bookstores, and comic book stores, and e-books available on comiXology and all e-reader devices.
Stardoll is a fun-filled social game for teen girls and young women, who love fashion, shopping, decorating, creativity and making new friends from around the world. +200 million MeDoll avatars have been created to date with two new players joining every second, making Stardoll the largest online dress up games for girls in the world! The company is based in Stockholm, Sweden with offices in US and UK. It is backed by two of the world’s top venture capital firms: Sequoia Capital and Index Ventures.