"[5] Ultimate control over which titles best fit the imprint, however, did lay with Schutz and Dark Horse owner-publisher Mike Richardson, with input from others including Phil Amara (who "signed up Eric Drooker to do a reprinting of his seminal graphic novel Flood," and worked with Scott Allie on Scatterbrain).
[1] During its second year, Schutz highlighted Maverick's "trades program" as standing out, both for collecting previously published materials, including Neil Gaiman and Alice Cooper's The Last Temptation (initially released in 1994 by Marvel Music), and debuting new work.
"[6]Format changes delayed the release of Neil Gaiman and John Bolton's Harlequin Valentine, which Schutz had originally "planned to [publish] as a 32-page comic book with no ads," but, after seeing the artwork, decided that she wanted: "...to make it a perennial publication — always available and always on the stand.
It will now be a 40-page hardcover book, featuring a 30-page comic-book story and an eight-page backup text piece written by Neil with some single illustrations by John.
"[6]The Maverick Annual anthologies not only featured established and new names, but managed to entice work from semi-retired individuals such as Will Eisner, J.R. Williams, and Denis Kitchen.
Schutz also wanted to spotlight then-lesser known French individuals Philippe Dupuy and Charles Berberian, beyond their normal Drawn & Quarterly audience.