Comic Book Publishers of the Past, 2nd edition

COMIC BOOK PUBLISHERS OF THE PAST
Second Edition  6/09/2017
By Alex Ness

As a continuing feature, I continue considering the publishers of the past.  Sadly, this edition contains some publishers who the industry is bereft by their absence.

Continuity Publishing

Neal Adams was the 1970s most famous and arguably popular artist.  He was paid well and used his power to get certain changes in the industry.  He began a studio with a number of talented artists, all of whom became somewhat clonish in pencils to the Neal Adams style.  When Continuity Publishing began publishing comics they all had a corporate look, and for my experience, seemed to be vehicles solely to show the art of the studio.  The writing was weak, and somewhat bad.  However, I know people who bought every issue. 

Comico: The Comic Company

COMICO was a company that had a number of hit series, and some of the best talents of comics had work appear there.  Matt Wagner, Bill Willingham, Mike Gustavich, Tony Isabella and many more Big Two talents had work there.  Grendel is probably the best remembered since it remains in cycle, but Justice Machine was good, and Elementals featured pencils and words from FABLES creator, Bill Willingham.  Sadly, the company was not consistent and failed, at some point before its fall, to keep quality works coming out.  The various titles that were owned by the creative talents moved on, and at least one big one, Elementals was a subject of copyright ownership fights.

Cross Generation Entertainment

CROSS GENERATION Comics were born from a millionaire's dream to create more than superhero comics.  Mark Alessi funded and helped develop a comic book universe where the powers were inter related, and the universe was meant to be woven tightly to make every book have more than just a single story.  The company used the studio system to create the comics, and had a look about them.  The stories were genuinely good, and the art was pretty.  But, the thing that held down any bit of CrossGen was the comic book universe aspect.  The times it was used as part of a story it slowed down and felt artificial rather than organic.  Adventure comics, mythological, science fiction and fantasy were all part of the buffet of comics offered by CrossGen.  Mark Waid, Tony Bedard, Chuck Dixon, Ron  Marz and Barbara Kesel all are good to great writers, and despite the limitations of story, they overcame to create truly enjoyable tales.  By the time the end came about, the publisher had spent lots of money, received little for it, and these quality works faded from view.

First Comics

Eclipse and First are my two favorite defunct comic book publishers.  Whereas Eclipse published almost all kinds of genres, Firsts was more focused, on fantasy, superheroes, and dystopian futures.  Mike Grell's Jon Sable was an adult tale of a bounty hunter, problem solver.  Timothy Truman and John Ostrander's GrimJack was a stellar badass.  Howard Chaykin's irreverent American Flagg asked what do we do with our patriotism and failed dreams.  Mike Baron wrote Badger, a martial arts multi personality action comic, as well as the future assassin, Nexus, who was compelled to kill the evil doers his dreams tell him to kill.

First was a comic company with oodles of readable books, and my wife liked two of their creations, Jon Sable and Dreadstar.  I think, if you ask who was reading comics in the 1980s, girls/women were not nearly represented in fandom.  My wife's mark of approval suggests to me that these comics were more adult, more thoughtful than most. 

The underappreciated UK wave writers' works

COMMENTARY
6/8/2017
By Alex Ness

This article is meant to give readers a hint what to buy if they are fans of the writers here.  Each of the works offered are good, but, in my opinion, never received the accolades deserved.  Sales are not the same as critical praise.  And critical praise is not the same as a work that is beloved.  I make no distinction here regarding how well or poorly the work sold, whether it was critically approved of, or anything.

WARREN ELLIS wrote Strange Kiss and more featuring a character named William Gravel.  He is SAS, a warrior, an investigator and more.  The tales are vulgar and brutal, but they perfectly depict the horrors he fights against.

Jobremus Bojeffries is a collection of tales from a family that isn't normal.  There's a werewolf, a vampire, and an incredibly old grandpa, nuclear baby.  This a fun work, perhaps slightly silly, but unlike most Alan Moore and quite charming.  If you do like Alan Moore's serious entries you might not like it, but if you like great writing, I think you will.

A woman is murdered but her essence lives on, in the memories of semi sentient plants.  She has become an avatar of the green, similar to Swamp Thing or Poison Ivy.  The art is beyond beautiful here, and the story is intriguing.  Why it isn't beloved, I'll never know.

Garth Ennis is a writer who is powerful when writing political, violent intrigue.  Here he reinterprets the Unknown Soldier as an ultra patriot who has had a hand in counter revolution, anti communist partisan attacks, and a role with CIA as an assassin.  The work is revisionist, and some people hate that, but as a straight forward story it was brilliant.

I was introduced to Dan Abnett's talents through Marvel UK's Knights of Pendragon.  Using superheroes and different kinds of humans, the story tells of a reunited King Arthur's round table.  And through myth and legend tells about protecting the Green.  I loved this book and am amazed to hear Dan Abnett fans say, never heard of it.

Paul Jenkins is famous for his work on Sentry, Inhumans, and Hellblazer.  He is rightly fan appreciated for that.  But while I loved Inhumans, his work on Mythos boiled down the various Marvel legendary characters, and retold their story with a great power, respect and simplicity that is missing today.

As many who read my articles know, I love the work of Jamie Delano.  His runs on Hellblazer and Animal Man.  His recent work for Avatar, Rawbone and Narcopolis are filled with crisp dialogue and themes, along with deadly dark subject matter.  Narcopolis is an amazing consideration of how drugs have been offered to replace things like conscience, honor, thought and more.  It might be true to say, few comic book writers would have the gravitas to make such social commentary.

I love the work of Grant Morrison, and I really like the guy.  When I read his Kid Eternity story it didn't light a fire in me, nor, from what I saw,  most other readers.  But it has improved with each read, and I think it is because of the deft skills of layering meaning that he can accomplish.  Along with the artist on this book, Morrison takes a somewhat silly character and redefines him for modernity.

Mike Carey has written many comics, and as far as I am concerned, all of them good.  So this selection is a smaller work, and not so much under appreciated as unknown.  His story of the Werewolf By Night is perfectly beautiful, dangerous, and has a story rather than a vignette.

I liked it a helluva lot.

Pat Mills is responsible for Judge Dredd, ABC Warriors, Marshal Law, and my particular favorite, SLAINE.  Any of these choices is well worth your read.  But Pat Mills particular variety of story fits perfect with an offering from Marvel, PUNISHER 2099.  The future dystopia where this future version of the Punisher is as dark as Punisher is, and this work thrives upon the darkness.  It really is a good ride.  I recommend it.

I Dream of Sarah

Some people have charisma.  They are popular for their looks, charm or their energy of person.  Sarah Palin crashed into American politics when John McCain chose her for his Vice President candidate in 2008.  I don't much care about Ms Palin, but, it would be true to say, I found her very attractive.

But, no matter how many tried, no one really captured her sexiness.  They captured her vapid and frustrating intellect, but not really the thing that I liked.

Until this was shared with me.

Compliments
Allen Montgomery

Yes, that is my bald head.

If you liked Action Heroes, It was a good time to be alive

THE YEAR WAS 1986

I was sick of college.
I was horny and alone.
And I had thought about quitting life often.

I often resorted to comics to escape.

I was about to get my insular world of  comic book heroes sent into disarray.  My big two heroes only  bubble burst.  Who were those weird costumed guys from Charlton?  I never saw them before...

But I learned quickly.

The super heroes of the world have not always come from DC or Marvel Comics.  In the middle 1960s Charlton Comics, a smaller but self contained publisher/distributor offered a great number of adventures and heroes.

Dick Giordano, Joe Gill, and Steve Ditko were the central creative and editorial figures of Charlton, but there were others, including Jim Aparo, Dennis O'Neill, and Steve Skeates.  They worked for less money than at the Big Two, but the freedom to create was far greater.

The Blue Beetle had been published by other companies, and in different forms and characters, but the last and most definitive Blue Beetle was created by Steve Ditko.  Imagine them as Spider-man but with gadgets and you'll be close to the target. His stories are highly entertaining and mix adventure and humor well.

Captain Atom was created by Steve Ditko and Joe Gill.  He is a living nuclear reactor.  He was a technician who was unfortunate enough to be near the reactor when it blew, and his being absorbed the energy and reformed his being.  His adventures range from fighting villains to discoveries in space.

The Question was created by Steve Ditko as a means to question the world's values and to show his Objectivist world views.  As a comic character, the Question is a splendid vehicle for deeper mysteries and investigations.

Nightshade was less popular, but still interesting.   She partnered with Captain Atom, and had unique powers. Nightshade's powers are hereditary as the only surviving member of the royal family of the Land of Nightshades.  Able to teleport herself and others by passing through the Land of Nightshade.  She can cast shadows, and manipulate them to appear differently.  She was created by David Kaler and Steve Ditko.

Sarge Steel was a war veteran who turned his martial skills into skills needed for Private Investigation.  His left hand was a mechanical appendage.  He was created by Pat Masulli and his adventures ranged from P.I., to spying, and his typical adventures were against former Nazis, Communists or criminals who tested his mental strength.

Judomaster was a different kind of hero. He wore a costume that was reminiscent of the flag of Imperial Japan, but fought against the Japanese in the Pacific war.  He had an Asian partner named Tiger who wore a similarly Japanese costume.  His adventures were entertaining, and made sense within themselves.  Once you could get over the fact that the two heroes wore those costumes.

Peacemaker was a fun all action character who worked for a secret organization who fought against anyone who attempted to disturb world peace.  As such, he was the sort of character kids could repeat the adventures of without paying more for those fancy special powers.  He used jets, helicopters, mini submarines, and jet packs.  This guy was ready for war.

Peter Cannon Thunderbolt was a wonderful character, who had adventures that didn't match up to his potential.  His Pete Morisi developed the character using Eastern Mysticism and tales of the power of inner strength.  Trained by the masters at a distant monastery to focus his self upon perfect physical body abilities, and new mental abilities, his adventures were often about how the one man could overcome.  They were entertaining, but again, I always left expecting more.

After DC Comics purchased the rights to Charlton's characters. As shown in the images included, DC did attempt to create a new mythos for each character, with solo tales.  Most were good, but other than The Question, were short lived.    What they became famous for, is that these characters were the templates or analogues for the characters of the epic series THE WATCHMEN.  Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons had originally planned to use the originals, but with so many of those characters dying, it would kind of spoil buying all those characters and all the plans.

And Watchmen was amazing.

Comic Book History: Some of the publishers who are no longer around

This is not an obituary of the following comic book publishers.  I mean to suggest what to search for, and what these comics offered.

I loved the experience of buying, reading, and collecting comics.  My intention is to point your possible interest area in the right direction.

Some comments prior to writing more about each publisher.  Many of the comics were in Black and White versus the world of color most all comics have now.  The writing and art are less smooth in conjunction than the current world of comics.  Despite the present comic book industry's more perfected finished product, many of these comics, however amateurish, are better.  I think that the truth is, the stories meant more at the time.  That isn't to say these comics are universally better than the present day comics.  It is to say that, despite some wonky spelling, some less than professional looking art, and black and white pages, the works are better because the concepts were  new, the efforts were energetic, and I felt that the works were worth my time and money.

AIRCEL

In themselves the comics put out by Aircel were often good, but never, actually great.  They were interesting, always, and they often showcased the work of exceptional talent Barry Blair.  But, when the black and white comic glut hit, the orders of their books crashed.  They were a nice change from the mainstream, in that the worlds explored, the stories told were different, interestingly portrayed, and weren't attached to the years and years of continuity that the mainstream comic companies had placed before themselves.


ATLAS SEABOARD

Comic books companies like Marvel and DC had such a large part of their market that new companies stood little chance to compete.  Distribution, Publicity and simply brand loyalty were areas that this company had to do without, and it couldn't last.  But, however unfortunate the beginnings, the works were created with some love, energy, and quality.  Sadly, some of the works were put together in patchwork fashion, and what you did was reboot your expectations every comic.  Sometimes it worked, other times, not.  Known name talents like Rich Buckler, Steve Ditko, Wally Wood, Neal Adams and more, contributed to the comics, which, were lost on the news stand compared to their competitors.

BLACKTHORNE PUBLISHING

Blackthorne Publishing was the after birth of the remnants of Pacific Comics, a company that was made for the new direct market world of comics.  The employees were former Pacific Comics staff, and the works they produced were aimed at a niche that they perceived existed.  Initially they were successful, and they had a market presence that was considerable.  But, the format of 3D was only so interesting, and more and more the books were perceived as simply gimmicks, not works of a lasting quality or interest.  They put out a number of parody comics, and they were only as popular as the comic reader was attuned to the works they were parodying.  I greatly enjoyed the Dick Tracy reprints that Blackthorne put out, they were well done, and kept me coming back.  I am glad to have read them.

The publisher fell apart when investments in properties did not return on the investment.  Declining sales of product meant that the failed investments became a very important aspect in the viability of the company.

ECLIPSE COMICS

I consider Eclipse to be my favorite comic book publisher.  For many reasons.  They were innovative, daring, different, and still created comics that were incredibly well done.

Two brothers created Eclipse comics, Jan and Dean Mullaney in 1977.  They created one of the first ever Graphic Novels, by Don McGregor and Paul Gulacy called SABRE.  Later they produced numerous successful comics, that, in their tone, genres, and focus were absolutely new for the time.  This included publishing works from Japan that were at that time rare, new, and high quality.  They had studio partnerships with Viz comics who still exists, and Studio Proteus. 

They published a comic in the middle 1980s that featured child birth, vividly expressed.  They had heroes, but few in "costumes".  The comics were crisply written, edited and drawn.  And while they provided an incredible amount of entertainment, they were almost completely different from the rest of the market.  The difference is why, perhaps, they didn't rise to the top.  But for creative work artistic quality, they were great.

The death of the direct market, a flood wiping out their back issue archive, and divorce between Dean Mullaney and chief Editor Cat Yronwode made the situation for Eclipse to survive untenable.

TRIDENT COMICS

Trident Comics was based in Leicester, UK, specializing in black and white comics created by British creatives. It was a partner company to Neptune Distribution, which released the works into the market.  As you might be aware, I am a fan of a shitload of UK talents.  Grant Morrison, Neil Gaiman, Paul Grist and Mark Millar were featured.  They were excellent, if raw, and I missed them when they disappeared from the comic scene.  The collective library of Trident Comics is worth searching for and acquiring.

COMIC Stores & My Summer Reading List

I will be compiling various resources for comic book fans.  I will look at the past companies, the trends and genres of comics, the local talents, and interviews with comic book talents.  I have worked for a number of comic book stores, as well as tried to visit as many as I was able.  Some of the stores I mention will not still exist.  But I think it is good to remember the past.

SHINDERS NEWS
I think 8 Twin City locations
Dead now.

I have lived in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis/Saint Paul, for 30 years.  Shinders supplied my comic book addiction more than any other store.  They were a bit outrageous on their wall comics, but the cheapo section was brilliant.  They had shelf space for every publisher, and I miss them.

CHARLIE'S COMIC BOOKS
1421 S. Kolb Road
Tucson, AZ. 85710-8431
(520) 320-0279

Charlie's Comic Books I only have had the briefest of experiences with.  But that experience was great.  I had met Charlie Harris at Fantasy Comics, but, while that was a good store, I thought the owner was a prick.  Charlie's is the manager's vision, and he kicks more ass than most any other non-chain, and indy store.

HEROES AREN'T HARD TO FIND
1957 E 7th St
Charlotte, NC 28204
(704) 375-7462

When I lived in Charlotte NC in 1988-89, it was when my addiction to comics was at its peak.  Heroes, for short, was a power in the area, customer friendly, and had great amounts of back issues to search through.  They host the Heroes Convention in Charlotte, which is a big production.  I would be happy to have them in the area where I live.  Who knows, maybe someday.  (I love Charlotte, it was beautiful.)

The just finished Memorial Day holiday reminds us that soon will be Summer

Over summer I do 3 things.  Well other than eating, drinking, sleeping, peeing and pooing.  I mow the lawn in a weekly battle with Lawn Gnomes, Smelly Hippies, and thorny weeds.  I drink beer, and perhaps Bloody Mary's after mowing.  And I read. These are to be re-read as I try not to repeatedly read comics, so that they remain fresh.

1963
Published by Image Comics
Alan Moore, Stephen Bissette and Rick Veitch

I didn't altogether understand the point of this series at first.  But, I loved every moment of it.  The series is an homage to the Silver Age of American comics (Marvel Comics especially), and even offered spoof advertisements on the back to continue the homage.  The stories in themselves are well done, the characters very interesting, but I always felt the story needed to be longer, and ongoing. 

JACK KIRBY'S MISTER MIRACLE
JACK KIRBY'S FOURTH WORLD
MISTER MIRACLE SPECIAL

FROM DC Comics
By Jack Kirby
and Steve Rude

I love the work of Jack Kirby.  I particularly enjoy his 4th World mythology.  His characters Big Barda and Scott Free are a wonderful creation that makes the comic series MISTER MIRACLE among my favorites.  So why am I reading it?  I am rereading it for the many teenth time.  It cheers me up, and I find it rewarding with every read.

MISTER MIRACLE

FROM DC Comics
By Steve Englehart and Marshall Rogers
(and others)

After Jack Kirby was gone from DC his characters still existed.  Marshall Rogers and Steve Englehart created a story line that was beautiful, and sadly, too short.  I bought the series when Steve Gerber and Michael Golden took over, as well and while it lost something, it looked nice.