This list of comics publishing companies lists companies, specifically publishing companies who primarily publish comics. Comic art is an art medium used to present ideas or stories via images. The images are usually arranged in panels in a sequence that conveys the story. Sounds are expressed using speech balloons and onomatopoeia. European comics have existed since 1837, when Swiss artist Rodolphe Töpffer published Histoire de Mr. Vieux Bois. The oldest comic publishing company on this list is the now-defunct book publishing company, David McKay Publications that was founded in 1882 and published comics from 1935 to 1950. Most comic publishing companies were established in the United States, where comics became popular in the mid-1900s.
[36] Published comics as Alias Comics; imprint: Cross Culture. Alias Comics was sold to Abacus Comics[37] and Cross Culture was bought by LAMP PoST Publications in 2007
Comic publishing imprint of Carlsen Verlag, established in 1953,[89] started publishing comics in 1967; imprints: Edition ComicArt, B&L (bought 2002, since 2006 part of Carlsen Cartoon und Humor), Chicken House Deutschland (joint-venture with The Chicken House[90]
First publishing in 1993.[94] All characters except Lady Death were first bought by comic retailer Tales of Wonder, then sold to Devil's Due Publishing, and after the demise of Devil's Due Publishing finally went to Dynamite Entertainment. Rights to Lady Death were first sold to CrossGen Entertainment, and went, after Crossgen's demise, to Chaos! Comics founder Brian Pulido and Avatar Press under its own imprint Boundless Comics[95]
Former imprint: Code 6. Bought by Walt Disney in 2004.[106] Became an Imprint of Marvel Comics in 2010, first publishing under Marvel Comics in 2011[107]
Active imprints: Dark Horse Manga, M Press ("diverse literary fiction and non-fiction prose for authors with a unique voice").,[111]Sequential Pulp Comics. Discontinued imprints: Comics' Greatest World later renamed Dark Horse Heroes (DH's shared superheroes universe), Legend (creator-owned projects, originally by Miller and Byrne),[112] and Maverick (creator-owned projects, follow-up to Legend)[113]
[citation needed] Imprints: America's Best, Ajax Publications, Ajax-Farrell,[131]Decker Publications, Red Top Comics, Steinway Comics and World Famous; successor to Farrell Publications
Registered club open to any comic-fan[133] with the goal to continue prematurly cancelled comic-series. First publishing in 2008. Imprint: Edition Solitaire
Also known as Oxton & Woolfolk Comics Corp. Publisher of Mad Hatter No. 1 and No. 2 (1946). The Mad Hatter was an attorney who craved adventure. With his superb, athletic ability and his signal hat, he took on crime bosses. Grant Richmond was a little-respected junior partner at the law firm of Fuddy and Bustle who felt that the legal system made as much sense as the work of Lewis Carroll. So by night, he put on a costume and became the Mad Hatter. He can shine his top hat insignia against walls to strike fear into criminals, and he also speaks in rhyme.
Victims of the acute paper rationing of 1945-1949 which bankrupt many U.S. Publishing Companies during WWII, O.W. Comics, Inc., was a short-lived house consisting of two comic veterans, William "Bill" Woolfolk, who had worked for MLJ and Facett, and John Gerard "Jack" Oxton, Sr., a film editor with Paramount in NYC. They co-created the Mad Hatter #1 and #2, and co-founded their Comic Book Co., O.W. Comics, which stood for Oxton & Woolkfolk. Woolfolk, the Editor and Oxton, President, operated their publishing company, O.W. Comics, Inc., at 150 Nassau Street, New York City, New York in the mid-1940's.[171][172][173]
Sold to IPC Media and VNU in 1973; bought back by founder in 1979; became Promedia, Inc. in 1982; became Kauka Promedia in 2002; became Rolf Kauka Comics in 2008[185]
[citation needed] Owned by Enwil. Also published under Rural Home Publishing Co. and Rural Home Publications.[188] Titles: Cannonball Comics, Eagle Comics, Red Circle Comics
Marvel Comics is an American comic book publisher and the property of The Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin Goodman as Timely Comics, and by 1951 had generally become known as Atlas Comics. The Marvel era began in August 1961 with the launch of The Fantastic Four and other superhero titles created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, and many others. The Marvel brand, which had been used over the years and decades, was solidified as the company's primary brand.
Image Comics is an American comic book publisher and is the third largest direct market comic book and graphic novel publisher in the industry by market share.
Fantagraphics is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, manga, magazines, graphic novels, and (formerly) the erotic Eros Comix imprint.
Marvin Arthur Wolfman is an American comic book and novelization writer. He worked on Marvel Comics's The Tomb of Dracula, for which he and artist Gene Colan created the vampire-slayer Blade, and DC Comics's The New Teen Titans and the Crisis on Infinite Earths limited series with George Pérez.
Joe Sacco is a Maltese-American cartoonist and journalist. He is best known for his comics journalism, in particular in the books Palestine (1996) and Footnotes in Gaza (2009), on Israeli–Palestinian relations; and Safe Area Goražde (2000) and The Fixer (2003) on the Bosnian War. In 2020, Sacco released Paying the Land, published by Henry Holt and Company.
The Harvey Awards are given for achievement in comic books. Named for writer-artist Harvey Kurtzman, the Harvey Awards were founded by Gary Groth in 1988, president of the publisher Fantagraphics, to be the successor to the Kirby Awards which were discontinued in 1987.
Barry Windsor-Smith is a British comic book illustrator and painter whose best-known work has been produced in the United States. He attained note working on Marvel Comics' Conan the Barbarian from 1970 to 1973, and for his work on the character Wolverine, particularly the 1991 "Weapon X" story arc. His other noted Marvel work included a 1984 "Thing" story in Marvel Fanfare, the "Lifedeath" and "Lifedeath II" stories with writer Chris Claremont that focused on the de-powered Storm in The Uncanny X-Men, as well as the 1984 Machine Man limited series with Herb Trimpe and Tom DeFalco.
Benjamin Franklin Thorne was an American comic book artist-writer, best known for the Marvel Comics character Red Sonja.
Amazing Heroes was a magazine about the comic book medium published by American company Fantagraphics Books from 1981 to 1992. Unlike its companion title, The Comics Journal, Amazing Heroes was a hobbyist magazine rather than an analytical journal.
Mark Waid is an American comic book writer best known for his work on DC Comics titles The Flash, Kingdom Come and Superman: Birthright as well as his work on Captain America, Fantastic Four and Daredevil for Marvel. Other comics publishers he has done work for include Fantagraphics, Event, Top Cow, Dynamite, and Archie Comics.
David John Mazzucchelli is an American comics artist and writer, known for his work on seminal superhero comic book storylines Daredevil: Born Again and Batman: Year One, as well as for graphic novels in other genres, such as Asterios Polyp and City of Glass: The Graphic Novel. He is also an instructor who teaches comic book storytelling at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan.
Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc. is an American comic book distributor serving retailers in North America and worldwide. They transport comic books and graphic novels, as well as other popular culture products such as toys, games, and apparel from comic book publishers or suppliers to retailers.
John Powers Severin was an American comics artist noted for his distinctive work with EC Comics, primarily on the war comics Two-Fisted Tales and Frontline Combat; for Marvel Comics, especially its war and Western comics; and for his 45-year stint with the satiric magazine Cracked. He was one of the founding cartoonists of Mad in 1952.
Kitchen Sink Press was a comic book publishing company founded by Denis Kitchen in 1970. Kitchen Sink Press was a pioneering publisher of underground comics, and was also responsible for numerous republications of classic comic strips in hardcover and softcover volumes. One of their best-known products was the first full reprint of Will Eisner's The Spirit—first in magazine format, then in standard comic book format. The company closed in 1999.
Martin Goodman was an American publisher of pulp magazines, digest sized magazines, paperback books, men's adventure magazines, and comic books, who founded the comics magazine company Timely Comics in 1939. Timely Comics would go on to become Marvel Comics, one of the United States' two largest comic book publishers along with rival DC Comics.
The direct market is the dominant distribution and retail network for American comic books. The concept of the direct market was created in the 1970s by Phil Seuling. The network currently consists of:
Marvel Graphic Novel (MGN) is a line of graphic novel trade paperbacks published from 1982 to 1993 by Marvel Comics. The books were published in an oversized format, 8.5" x 11", similar to French albums. In response, DC Comics established a competitor line known as DC Graphic Novel.
Edward R. Piskor Jr. was an American alternative comics cartoonist. Piskor was known primarily for his work on Hip Hop Family Tree, X-Men: Grand Design, and the Red Room trilogy. Piskor also co-hosted the YouTube channel Cartoonist Kayfabe with fellow Pittsburgh native cartoonist Jim Rugg. In March 2024, Piskor was accused via social media of sexual misconduct. Piskor died on April 1, 2024, at the age of 41, hours after posting a suicide note via social media, defending himself against the allegations leveled against him.
Dave Olbrich is an editor and executive in the American comic book industry. He was instrumental in the creation of two awards for achievement in comic books, voted on by professionals, the Kirby Awards and the Eisner Awards. He was a co-founder and publisher of Malibu Comics. While at Malibu, he helped launch Image Comics. Currently he produces and hosts a YouTube channel about comics and comic-related issues, Geekview Tavern, which began releasing episodes in 2020.
1 2 Munn, Bryan (2010-01-05). "Barry Blair, 1959-2010". Sequential: Canadian Comix News & Culture. Archived from the original on 2012-03-14. Retrieved 2012-02-11.
1 2 "Black Eye Rolls with the Punches: Publisher Vrana Shifts Company Focus Following Turbulent Period", The Comics Journal no. 203 (Apr. 1998), p. 18-19.
↑ Katz, William A. and Katz, Linda Sternberg. Magazines for Young People: A "Children's Magazine Guide" Companion. Bowker, 1991. Second edition. 103. Retrieved January 6, 2011. "Now Comics, 332 S. Michigan Ave., Suite 1750, Chicago, IL 60604"
↑ Ominous Press at Comic Collector Live. Retrieved 18 June 2013
↑ "Comic Guide". www.comicguide.de. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
↑ Reynolds, Eric (November 1994). "Newswatch: Comics Publishers Suffer Tough Summer: Body Count Rises in Market Shakedown: The List Goes On". The Comics Journal. No.172. p.18.
1 2 "Newswatch:Dave Elliott Forms Blackball Comics". The Comics Journal (165): 14. January 1994. ISSN0194-7869.
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