Anthony Bregman’s (pictured) New York-based production company Likely Story and New media entrepreneur John S Johnson have purchased a 33% interest in graphic novel publisher Top Shelf Productions.

Under the terms of the capital investment deal Johnson will join the board of Top Shelf and Likely Story will get a first-look deal for all new Top Shelf publications.

The first project slated for development through Likely Story is Alex Robinson’s Too Cool To Be Forgotten, which was named one of Amazon.com’s top ten graphic novels of the year.

Too Cool To Be Forgotten tells of a 40-something father of two who undergoes hypnotherapy to quit smoking, only to be transported back to his teenage existence in 1985.

Forced to relive his high school life, the man must discover whether he can make amends for his past life or will be condmened to repeat prior mistakes.

Bregman, whose Likely Story produced the upcoming Sundance premieres Please Give and The Extra Man, introduced Johnson to Top Shelf partner Chris Staros several years ago and the relationship grew from there.

Staros joined Top Shelf founder as a partner in 1997, two years after Brett Warnock founded the company. The stable of more than 200 titles includes Alan Moore’s From Helland The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Craig Thompson’s Blankets, and Jeffrey Brown’s Clumsy & Unlikely.

Among other initiatives Johnson founded the philanthropic Pacific Foundation, which funds innovation in the arts, environment and social justice.

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