2009-05-27 - STILL MORE COMIC BOOKS 101 DELETED SCENES, PART II

Previously, in COMICS 101: Last time, we began looking at another deleted chapter from Chris Ryall's and my new book COMIC BOOKS 101 (which is now in stock at Amazon! Go order it now!), this one a virtual roll call of the comic-book publishing landscape. And as it happens, we only made it to the "F's..."

CHAPTER 7: SMALL PRESS
ROLL CALL

Throughout the history of the comic book, there have been dozens upon dozens of start-up publishers, spin-off companies, side ventures, successful launches, failed attempts, stragglers, wannabes, winners, losers, and everything in between. Beyond the other publishers covered in this book, we realize it would be a futile task to even try to catalog all the other comic-book publishers that ever opened their doors. To do so would be asking for reprimand ("How could you leave off so-and-so?!" or maybe "How could you include so-and-so?!")... but we love a good debate. So here's a run-down of the many publishers who made a mark either on the industry or on us personally.

Some of the defunct publishers covered here folded under clouds of controversy. The descriptions that follow are presented as casual discussions to the best of our understanding, not as attempts to choose sides or cover the legal facts behind any publisher's decision to cease operating.

Titles in green are still in existence today. Titles in red are no longer operating.

First Comics
First Comics is yet another independent publisher that arose in the early '80s. Like many of the other publishers who owed their existence to the newly created direct-market distribution system, their demise can also be attributed to the collapse of that same system in the early '90s. But before that time, First Comics, under the stewardship of editor Mike Gold, birthed many beloved titles created by esteemed creators--John Ostrander and Timothy Truman's GRIMJACK; Mike Grell's JON SABLE, FREELANCE; Mike Baron and Steve Rude's NEXUS; Howard Chaykin's AMERICAN FLAGG; and Jim Starlin's DREADSTAR. The company also published self-contained graphic novels like Eric Shanower's OZ titles. Many of these titles live on today through reprints and new series from publishers like IDW Publishing, which has published new GRIMJACK, JON SABLE, and BADGER series, as well as a complete collection of the OZ graphic novels.

:01 First Second
:01 First Second is a publisher of graphic novels from creators around the world, many titles of which are non-fiction or autobiographical and created by writers and artists from other fields. The company's mission as stated is to reach an audience "from 7 to 77."

Gemstone Publishing
Gemstone has long been known as the home to the Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide, and other collectible price guides. But in recent years, the company has also licensed the rights to Disney's wide array of titles and characters, and publishes comics and digests featuring Mickey Mouse, Uncle Scrooge and the many other beloved characters in the Disney catalog. In 2006, the company began an ambitious project of reprinting the entire EC Comics catalog from the 1950s. These stories have been newly recolored and collected in prestigious hardcover collections.

Gold Key Comics
Gold Key Comics was formed in 1962 when parent publisher Western decided to form a new imprint rather than distribute all titles through its partner, Dell Comics. Gold Key published many licensed titles, including the Warner Bros and Walt Disney Studios projects that Dell previously handled. The company was also the first publisher to produce STAR TREK comic books. They published many science-fiction, mystery and jungle-adventure comics, comics which are fondly remembered as much for their fully painted covers as for the interior content. When the company fell on hard times in the '70s and cancelled nearly their entire line, they began experimenting with other distribution methods. They produced many digest-sized reprint books for mass-market outlets, and sold their comics in polybags, three to a bag, under the "Whitman Sampler" banner. Ultimately, the company folded in the mid-1980s. Some of its original titles, like MAGNUS, ROBOT FIGHTER and TUROK, SON OF STONE, eventually returned in the 1990s through a new publisher, Valiant Comics.

Harvey Entertainment Company
Harvey Comics was formed in the early 1940s and the basis of their output was child-friendly licensed titles such as CASPER, THE FRIENDLY GHOST and BABY HUEY, and also comics based on newspaper strips like MUTT AND JEFF and SAD SACK. The company also developed original comics that found a large audience of kids, comics like RICHIE RICH. The company eventually purchased the rights, including animation rights, to the characters like Casper and others who were originally created by Paramount Studios' Famous Entertainment animation studio. Harvey re-released many of the cartoons under the name Harveytoons, and supplemented those efforts with more comics. A mid-1980s comic slump caused the company to cease publication of their comics. Harvey was sold in the 1990s and is now owned by Classic Media, a large entertainment conglomerate.

Malibu Comics
Malibu Comics launched in 1986 to mild fanfare -- it was an independent comic company that started up around the same time as many others, and its initial creator-owned and licensed fare didn't really stand out. A line intended to attract high-profile creators and give them creative freedom for new characters, Bravura, likewise met with middling appreciation. The company's fortunes turned when they launched the Ultraverse, a new line of interconnected superhero titles that debuted in the boom times of the early 1990s. Of course, with a boom follows a bust, and in the mid-1990s, the company sold much of their assets and their Ultraverse characters to Marvel Comics.

Markosia Enterprises
Markosia Enterprises is a British comic book publisher who offers a slate of comics and graphic novels both licensed (KING KONG, STARSHIP TROOPERS) and creator-owned (THE BOY WHO MADE SILENCE, OF BITTER SOULS, HOPE FALLS).

Moonstone Books
Moonstone Books is a Chicago-based comic book publisher that launched in 1995. In 2001, the company began publishing a slate of licensed titles such as KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER, DOC SAVAGE, THE PHANTOM, and more. The company has pioneered a technique they call Wide-Vision for some graphic novels, telling stories with two-page spreads of art, in an attempt to replicate the widescreen feel of motion pictures.

NOW Comics
NOW Comics was launched by artist Tony Caputo in 1985. The company published many licensed titles (SPEED RACER, THE TERMINATOR, THE TWILIGHT ZONE), but ceased operations in 1990 amidst accusations of non-payment and disputes over creators' rights.

Pacific Comics
Brothers Bill and Steve Schanes began as comics retailers in the early 1970s and developed into comics publishers upon the birth of the direct market. Once the stagnant distribution methods opened up to allow publishers to sell directly to stores, it removed a large barrier of entry for smaller publishers, Pacific offered creators control and ownership over their characters, something the Big Two did not. This led to Pacific publishing titles like Sergio Aragones' GROO THE WANDERER, Neal Adams' MS. MYSTIC, Jack Kirby's CAPTAIN VICTORY (the first title Pacific released) and Dave Stevens' ROCKETEER. The company filed for bankruptcy in 1983, but their efforts to enhance creators' rights had lasting impact and allowed many other small publishers to follow their lead.

Penny-Farthing Press
Penny-Farthing Press is based in Houston, Texas. The company launched in 1998 with one title, THE VICTORIAN, and has since expanded their slate to include a half-dozen titles, including PARA, THE LOCH, and DECOY.

Red 5 Comics
Red 5 Comics launched in 2007. The company has received fan appreciation and award nominations for its title ATOMIC ROBO. The company received a 2007 Gem Award from Diamond Distribution for New Publisher of the Year.

Sirius Entertainment
Sirius Entertainment launched in 1994. Titles such as Michael Linsner's DAWN, Jill Thompson's SCARY GODMOTHER and Drew Hayes' POISON ELVES have all developed dedicated followings among comics fans.

Speakeasy Comics
Speakeasy Comics launched in Canada in 2004. While titles like ATOMIKA and ROCKETO garnered strong followings, some financing for the company never materialized and they folded in 2006, with many of their titles being picked up by other publishers.

Top Cow Productions
Top Cow Productions was a studio formed in 1992 by one of Image Comics' founders, Marc Silvestri. The company's output featured titles from many well-known creators such as writer Garth Ennis, and artists David Finch and Michael Turner. Turner's WITCHBLADE and Silvestri's own title, THE DARKNESS, found early success. Top Cow developed additional hits in the form of RISING STARS, WANTED, and FATHOM. They also produced the first-ever comics starring Lara Croft from the popular TOMB RAIDER series of videogames.

Topps Comics
Topps Comics was formed after the trading-card company realized its association with many top artists in producing trading-card art could also be utilized in comics themselves. The company launched in 1993 with titles that included characters and concepts created by legendary creator Jack Kirby, dubbed "The Kirbyverse." The company also published many licensed comics, including JURASSIC PARK, THE X-FILES and ZORRO. The comics line lasted for five years and was cancelled in 1998.

Valiant Comics
Valiant Comics was created in 1989 by former Marvel Comics Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter and artist Bob Layton. The company's titles were very well-received at the start, and included titles such as HARBINGER, QUANTUM & WOODY, and X-O MANOWAR, along with former Gold Key titles like SOLAR and TUROK. Some behind-the-scenes machinations led to Shooter's ouster in the early '90s, but the company's titles continued to sell huge numbers, many breaking the one-million sales mark. The company was sold to videogame company Acclaim Entertainment even as the bust of the early '90s affected many of its titles. The company relaunched its surviving titles as Acclaim Comics, but ultimately failed to keep its audience. Acclaim filed for bankruptcy in 2004. Many of the characters were sold off, and then ultimately ended up back in the bands of Valiant Entertainment. The company has spoken of plans to relaunch many of its titles but those plans have yet to materialize.

Wildstorm Comics
Wildstorm Comics launched in 1992 under Image Comics co-founder Jim Lee. In 1999, the company was purchased by DC Comics and now operates as an imprint of that publisher. Early successes for the publisher include Jim Lee's own WILDC.A.T.S. and J. Scott Campbell's GEN 13. Many of the company's characters and titles all make up a shared "Wildstorm Universe," but others, like ASTRO CITY and LEAVE IT TO CHANCE found large audiences, too. Perhaps the company's biggest title, THE AUTHORITY, a cynical take on superheroes out to change the world, received acclaim as much for its controversial take on its heroes as it did for its stories. Wildstorm also partnered with superstar writer Alan Moore to create an imprint called America's Best Comics and titles such as THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDNARY GENTLEMEN, PROMETHEA, TOM STRONG and TOP TEN. The company has relaunched its Wildstorm Universe titles a couple of times in an attempt to recapture earlier glory, to lesser effect each time. The company has recently been producing a mix of creator-owned titles such as Brian K. Vaughn's EX MACHINA and licensed books like WORLD OF WARCRAFT, based on the online game.

Virgin Comics
Virgin Comics was started in 2006 as a joint venture by Virgin Group's Sir Richard Brandon, author Deepak Choprah and the Gotham Entertainment Group. The company's output focuses on two different lines: Shakti (comics based on Indian culture and myths) and Director's Cut (comics developed by filmmakers such as filmmakers Nicolas Cage, Edward Burns, Jonathan Mostow and John Woo). The company also created a line of comics called Voices, featuring talent from other fields such as musician Dave Stewart and adult-film star Jenna Jameson, and partnered with Marvel Comics icon Stan Lee to create a new line of superhero comics.

Scott Tipton thinks Chris Ryall should take a bow for his hard work on this chapter. If you have questions about comics, send 'em here.

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