Independent Comics

Fandom
Name:	Independent Comics, Alternative Comics
Abbreviation(s):	Indie Comics, Alt Comics
Creator:	Various
Date(s):	1980s onwards
Medium:	print
Country of Origin:	U.S. adn United Kingdom
External Links:	Wikipedia
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

Independent or Alternative comics are comics published outside of the mainstream superhero comics of "The Big Two" comics publishers, aka Marvel Comics and DC. Alternative comic books span a wide range of genres, artistic styles, and subjects and are often published in small numbers with less regard for regular distribution schedules.

History

The independent comic movement began in the 1980s with the decline of underground comics and the demand by readers and creators for something else to fill the gaps left by the monopoly of the two traditional publishers and the requirements of the Comics Code. Former underground comix artist Art Spiegelman and his wife created the anthology magazine RAW in 1980 while the infamous Robert Crumb started Weirdo in 1981. The format and content of these magazines differed from the underground comix publications (which had become stereotyped as "dealing only with sex, dope and cheap thrills", to quote Spiegelman) and attracted a wider range of artists - RAW, for example, featured many European artists - and the emphasis was less on revolution and more on developing the craft of comics drawing and storytelling. Spiegelman's award-winning MAUS was first serialised in RAW.

Notable Publishers and Comics

• Fantagraphics Books (later Fantagraphics) (1976)
  • Magazines
    • The Comics Journal (1977-ongoing - initially an adzine called The Nostalgia Journal, now a comics news and criticism magazine)
  • Comics (for a full list, see the Wikipedia article linked above)
    • The Agency by Katie Skelly
    • Angry Youth Comix by Johnny Ryan
    • Black Hole by Charles Burns
    • Eightball, by Daniel Clowes (filmed as Ghost World)
    • Good Girls by Carol Lay
    • Hip Hop Family Tree Vol. 1-4 by Ed Piskor
    • Love and Rockets by the Hernandez Brothers
    • Stinz by Donna Barr
    • Usagi Yojimbo (up to volume 7) by Stan Sakai
• Aardvark-Vanaheim Inc. (1977)
  • Cerebus the Aardvark by Dave Sim
• WaRP Graphics (1977)
  • Elfquest by Wendy and Richard Pini
  • MythAdventures by Robert Asprin
  • Thunder Bunny by Martin Greim
  • A Distant Soil by Colleen Doran
• Mirage Studios (1983)
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird
• Dark Horse (1986)
  • Sin City, Hellboy, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 300, Ninja Gaiden, Star Wars, Usagi Yojimbo and The Umbrella Academy. See individual Dark Horse page for details.
• Valiant Comics (1989, founded by former Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Jim Shooter and lawyer and businessman Steven Massarsky)
  • Magnus, Robot Fighter; Solar, Man of the Atom; Rai, Unity, Archer and Armstrong, Quantum and Woody, Ninjak and X-O Manowar.

• Tundra Publishing (1990-1993, founded by Kevin Eastman as one of the first creator-owned publishers)
  • Taboo, edited by Steve Bissette – horror anthology where portions of Alan Moore's From Hell (with Eddie Campbell) and Lost Girls (with Melinda Gebbie), as well as Neil Gaiman's unfinished Sweeney Todd (with Michael Zulli), were first serialized; Tundra also released the first From Hell collections; Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud (1993)
  • Tundra UK - Lazarus Churchyard by Warren Ellis and D'Israeli (1992)

• Cartoon Books (1991)
  • Bone by Jeff Smith
• Image Comics (1992)
  • Spawn, Savage Dragon, Witchblade, The Walking Dead, Invincible, Saga, Kick-Ass, Stray Dogs, The Wicked + The Divine. See individual Image page for details.
• Oni Press (1997)
  • Queen & Country by Greg Rucka
  • Wasteland by Antony Johnston and Christopher Mitten
  • Scott Pilgrim by Bryan Lee O'Malley
  • Aggretsuko by Daniel Barnes and D.J. Kirkland
• IDW Publishing (1999)
  • 30 Days of Night, The Crow, Danger Girl, Judge Dredd, Locke and Key, Mars Attacks, Samurai Jack, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Usagi Yojimbo, Wake the Dead, Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse plus various titles based on other media. See individual IDW Publishing page for details.
• Boom!Studios (2005)
  • The Dark Crystal - The Power of the Dark Crystal (sequel) by Annette Duffy, David Odell, Simon Spurrier and Kelly and Nichole Matthews
  • Lumberjanes from ND Stevenson, Grace Ellis, editor Shannon Watters, and artist Gus Allen
  • Senior Year (Clueless graphic novel) by Amber Benson & Sarah Kuhn and illustrated by Siobhan Keenan.
  • Power Rangers by Kyle Higgins, Steve Orlando, Mairghread Scott, Hendry Prasetya and Daniel Bayliss

Fandom

Independent comics provided a more female-friendly venue for women creators and readers than the mainstream comics or the underground comix movement, Works such as Elquest amassed large female fanbases (as well as male) and the creative freedom encouraged more women artists and writers, which in turn encouraged more female comics fans.