Image Comics

Name:	Image Comics
Date(s):	1992-present
Profit/Nonprofit:	Profit
Country based in:	United States
Focus:	media and entertainment
External Links:	Image Comics
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Image Comics is the third-largest comic book and graphic novel publisher in the United States. It was founded by several high-profile illustrators (Erik Larsen, Jim Lee, Rob Liefeld, Todd McFarlane, Whilce Portacio, Marc Silvestri and Jim Valentino) as a venue for creator-owned properties, in which comics creators could publish material of their own creation without giving up the copyrights to those properties. The originating charter held two central provisions:

• Image would not own any creator's work; the creator would. Image itself would own no intellectual property except the company trademarks: its name and its logo.

• No Image partner would interfere—creatively or financially—with any other partner's work.

Image Comics publish works in the following genres: Superhero, Horror, Dark Fantasy, Thriller, Comedy, Fantasy, Science fiction, Action/Adventure, Science Fantasy, Crime and Mystery. The focus on creator-owned works allows for less mainstream comics and storylines and many creators use the publisher as a means of maintaining ownership of pet projects important to them. The downside is that the line has had problems in the past with keeping to publishing schedules, causing problems for retailers and resulting in complaints from readers, especially during the 1990s.

The current partners are Robert Kirkman, Erik Larsen, Todd McFarlane, Marc Silvestri, Jim Valentino, and Eric Stephenson and there are five main publishing "houses" which are independent of each other:

Image Central	science fiction, fantasy, romance, horror, crime fiction, historical fiction, humor	full board of partners	1992	(see "Publications")
Robert Kirkman, LLC Skybound Entertainment Energon Universe Skybound Comet Skybound Games Howyaknow, LLC	horror and action/adventure Hasbro Comic Book Universe YA and Middle Grade graphic novels indie games mobile indie games	Robert Kirkman	2010 2023 2021 2018 2018	The Walking Dead, Invincible, Outcast, Super Dinosaur, Oblivion Song, Fire Power, Birthright, Manifest Destiny, Extremity, Redneck, Kill the Minotaur, Manifest Destiny and others. Transformers, G.I. Joe Clementine: Book One, Everyday Hero Machine Boy, Sea Serpent's Heir Book One Slime Rancher, The Long Dark, The Walking Dead: The Final Season, remastered versions of Baldur's Gate, Baldur's Gate II, Baldur's Gate: Siege of Dragonspear, Icewind Dale, Planescape: Torment, and Neverwinter Nights
Todd McFarlane Productions	superheroes	Todd McFarlane	1992	Spawn, Saviour
Top Cow Productions	superheroes, science fiction, horror	Marc Silvestri	1992	Cyberforce, Witchblade, The Darkness, Magdalena, Aphrodite IX, Fathom, Midnight Nation, Rising Stars and many others See individual Top Cow page for details.
Shadowline	superheroes, horror	Jim Valentino	1993	ShadowHawk, normalman, Blacklight, Task Force 1, The Intimidators, Emissary, After the Cape, Bomb Queen, Cowboy Ninja Viking, DNAgents, Eddy Current, Hiding in Time, Lazarus, The Pact and others

Publications

Notable Comics

1992

• Youngblood by Rob Liefeld
• Spawn by Todd McFarlane
• The Savage Dragon by Erik Larsen
• Wild C.A.T.S by Jim Lee
• ShadowHawk by Jim Valentino
• Cyberforce by Marc Silvestri
• Wetworks by Whilce Portacio
• Pitt by Dale Keown (first non-founder comic)

1990s

• Bloodstrike by Rob Liefeld
• Stormwatch by Jim Lee
• The Maxx by Sam Kieth
• Tribe by Larry Stroman (largest-selling African-American-created comic at that time)
• Trencher by Keith Giffen
• 1963 by Alan Moore, Steve Bissette, and Rick Vietch
• Groo by Sergio Aragonés
• Bone by Jeff Smith
• A Distant Soil by Colleen Doran
• Astro City by Kurt Busiek, Brent Anderson and Alex Ross.
• Gen¹³ by Jim Lee
• Witchblade by Marc Silvestri
• The Darkness by Marc Silvestri, Garth Ennis and David Wohl
• Jinx by Brian Michael Bendis
• Mage by Matt Wagner
• The Badger by Mike Baron and Michael Avon Oeming
• Kabuki by David Mack

2000s

• The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore
• Invincible by Cory Walker
• Powers by Brian Michael Bendis
• Faction Paradox by Lawrence Miles
• The Pro by Garth Ennis, Jimmy Palmiotti, and Amanda Conner
• Noble Causes by Jay Faerber
• Ministry of Space by Warren Ellis and Chris Weston
• Fell by Warren Ellis and Ben Templesmith
• Godland by Joe Casey and Tom Scioli
• Elephantmen by Richard Starkings
• Phonogram by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie
• The Sword by the Luna Brothers

2010s

• Chew by John Layman and Rob Guillory
• Morning Glories by Nick Spencer and Joe Eisma
• Fatale by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips
• The Manhattan Projects by Jonathan Hickman and Nick Pitarra
• Saga by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples
• Bitch Planet by Kelly Sue DeConnick and Valentine De Landro
• Carbon Grey by Hoang Nguyen
• Deadly Class by Rick Remender, Wes Craig, Jason Wordie, and Rus Wooton
• Descender by Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen
• The Fade Out by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips
• I Hate Fairyland by Skottie Young
• A Voice in the Dark by Larime Taylor
• Rat Queens by Kurtis J. Wiebe and Roc Upchurch
• Paper Girls by Brian K. Vaughan and Cliff Chiang
• Monstress by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda
• The Wicked + The Divine by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie
• The Old Guard by Greg Rucka and Leandro Fernández

2020s

• Birthright by Joshua Williamson and Andrei Bressan
• Ordinary Gods by Kyle Higgins and Felipe Watanabe

Notable Graphic Novels

• The Five Fists of Science (by Matt Fraction and Steven Sanders, 2006)
• Flight (2004; comics anthology currently running to 7 volumes)
• Four-Letter Worlds (comics anthology, March 2005)
• Gear (by Doug TenNapel, 1999)
• Iron West (by Doug TenNapel, July 2006)
• Popgun (edited by Mark Andrew Smith and Joe Keatinge, 2007; comics anthology currently running to 4 volumes)
• Tales From the Bully Pulpit (by Benito Cereno and illustrated by Graeme MacDonald, August 2004)

Imprints

Image sponsors a number of smaller comics imprints, largely created by artists to showcase their own work, before and after Image's creation.

Current

Image Comics Imprints

Imprint	Genre	Founder	Year	Titles
12-Gauge Comics	crime and action/adventure	Keven Gardner	circa 2004	The Ride, Body Bags, The Occult Crimes Taskforce, The Boondock Saints, Luke McBain, 25 To Life, Magus, R.P.M., Anti, Sherwood, Texas, Nick Travers, Loose Ends, The Hard Place, Matador, Skull One-Six.
Arancia Studio		unknown	2010	Morgan Lost, Mirka Andolfo's Mercy, Mirka Andolfo's Un/Sacred, The Devil's Cut, Sweet Paprika (animation), Hexware
Black Market Narrative	superheroes, science fiction and action/adventure	Kyle Higgins	2014	The Massive-Verse: Radiant Black, Rogue Sun, The Dead Lucky, No/One, Radiant Red, Inferno Girl Red, Radiant Pink and Cowl. Deep Cuts, Ordinary Gods, Last Flight Out.
Giant Generator	superheroes, crime, science fiction and action/adventure	Rick Remender	2016	Black Science, Deadly Class, Death or Glory, Fear Agent, Gigantic, Last Days of America Crime, Low, Night Mary, A Righteous Thirst for Vengeance, The Scumbag, Seven to Eternity, Strange Girl, Tokyo Ghost
Highbrow Entertainment	superheroes and action/adventure	Erik Larsen	1994	Savage Dragon, Freak Force, Vanguard, The Deadly Duo and Superpatriot, Star
Millarworld	superheroes and action/adventure	Mark Millar	2004-2017	Wanted, Chosen, The Unfunnies, Kick-Ass, War Heroes, Nemesis, Jupiter's Legacy, The Magic Order, Starlight, Superior.
Syzygy Publishing	horror	Chris Ryall and Ashley Wood	2021	Zombies v Robots, Unnamed, Onyx, Rain, The Hollows, Hitomi, 7174 Presents Haunted Universus, 7174 Annual, 3 Keys

Former

• Devil's Due Publishing - founded by Joshua Blaylock in 1999; merged with First Comics in 2015; published G.I. Joe, Dragonlance Chronicles, Forgotten Realms, Hack/Slash, Micronauts, Zen: Intergalactic Ninja and others. See the list of Devil's Due Publications.
• Dreamwave Productions - founded by Pat Lee and Roger Lee in 1996, closed down in 2005; published Arkanium, Darkminds, Echo, Fate of the Blade, Limbo City, NecroWar, Neon Cyber, Sandscape, Shidima, Warlands plus licensed properties Custom Robo, Duel Masters, Devil May Cry, Killzone, Maximo, Mega Man, Metroid Prime, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1—7,Transformers and Xevoz.
• Extreme Studios - founded by Rob Liefeld in 1992; was merged with Liefeld's Maximum Press and became Awesome Comics after Liefeld left Image in 1996; published Youngblood, Badrock, Bloodstrike, Brigade, Team Youngblood, Youngblood Strikefile, Glory, Prophet, Supreme, Troll and New Men.
• Gorilla Comics - founded by Kurt Busiek, Tom Grummett, Stuart Immonen, Karl Kesel, Barry Kitson, George Pérez, Mark Waid, and Mike Wieringo in 2000, closed in 2001 due to funding difficulties; titles included:
  • Crimson Plague by George Pérez
  • Empire by Mark Waid and Barry Kitson (later completed through DC Comics)
  • Section Zero by Karl Kesel and Tom Grummett
  • Shockrockets by Kurt Busiek and Stuart Immonen
  • Superstar by Kurt Busiek and Stuart Immonen
  • Tellos by Todd Dezago and Mike Wieringo
• Wildstorm - founded by Jim Lee in 1992, became part of DC Comics in 1998. See individual page for details and post-Image information. While with Image, Wildstorm also included the following sub-imprints:
  • Homage Comics - founded by Jim Lee in 1997; published Astro City, Strangers in Paradise by Terry Moore, Leave it to Chance by James Robinson and Paul Smith, Red by Warren Ellis and Cory Hamner among others..
  • Cliffhanger - founded by Joe Madureira, J. Scott Campbell and Humberto Ramos in 1997, merged with Homage in 2004 to create Wildstorm Signature; published Danger Girl by J. Scott Campbell, Battle Chasers by Joe Madureira and Crimson by Humberto Ramos.
• Desperado Publishing - founded by Joe Pruett in 2005, it relocated to IDW Publishing in 2007; published Flaming Carrot by Bob Burden, Freak Show by Bernie Wrightson and Bruce Jones. and Negative Burn a comic anthology edited by Pruett.

Fandom

Due to the myriad of sub-imprints and comic lines, "Image Fandom" is much like "Marvel Fandom" or "DC Fandom" - there are multiple individual fandoms for the various individual properties. However, there are archives and websites which have an Image Comics section collecting the various individual properties.

Fanworks

Awards

• CBFFAs

• 1999 - Best Image/Wildstorm: "The Doomed Generation," by Skyrocket

• 2001 - Best Image/Wildstorm Story/Series award: "Antibodies" by DuAnn
• 2003 - Best Independent (nominees)
  • "Cigarettes" by Gen X (Darkminds)
  • "Lucy's Drowning" by Amanda Sichter (Lazarus Churchyard)
  • "Trick" by WGSarah (Powers)

Resources

• Wikipedia - Image Comics
• List of unproduced Image Comics projects
• List of television series and films based on Image Comics publications
• Image Comics on Twitter
• Image Comics Fandom Database
• Image Comics (@imagecomics) - Instagram