Image
Image Comics was founded in 1992 by a group of high-profile comic book writers and artists, as a way to publish stories owned by creators rather than the company itself. They are now one of the largest comic book publishers in the United States.
Founders
- Erik Larsen owner of Highbrow Entertainment
- Jim Lee owner of WildStorm Productions
- Jim Valentino owner of ShadowLine
- Marc Silvestri owner of Top Cow Productions
- Rob Liefeld owner of Extreme Studios
- Todd McFarlane owner of Todd McFarlane Productions
- Whilce Portacio
Partners added as of 2000
- Pat Lee owner of Dreamwave Productions
- Josh Blaylock owner of Devil's Due
Partner added as of 2010
- Robert Kirkman owner of Skybound
History
A company founded by seven legendary freelance illustrators and writers of comic books on the idea that comics are owned by the creator rather than the company itself. Seven very popular and famous creators at Marvel Comics were unhappy that their artwork and even characters that they had created were being heavily marketed and exploited while they, themselves received little to no financial restitution in exchange.
Apparently they approached the company about this and when denied, they chose to leave and form Image Comics instead.
Image itself owns no intellectual property except the company trademarks: it's name and logo. Each Image partner would founded his own studio (Whilce Portacio published his Wetworks title through Jim Lee's Wildstorm imprint due to personal issues involving an illness in the family), which published under the Image banner but was autonomous from any central editorial control.
Initially, the comics were produced through Malibu Comics; a small but established publishing company that was sympathetic with Image's position on creator ownership. Malibu provided administrative, production, distribution, and marketing support until 1993.
While originally highly popular and generating sales numbers that surpassed anything that Marvel Comics, DC, or Valiant were able to achieve since the 1970s, few of the creators were able to keep to a strict publishing schedule due to their inexperience in business, management, and marketing fields causing titles to be shipped weeks to even months late.
The concept of creator owned comic books with no editorial control did result in a number of other comic book artists and writers to begin using Image to publish their own series such as Sam Kieth (The Maxx), Dale Keown (Pitt), Jae Lee (Hellshock), and the team of Kurt Busiek, Brent Anderson, and Alex Ross (Astro City) and a number of established self-published comic book series such as Jeff Smith's Bone and Colleen Doran's A Distant Soil also began using the company to publish their work.
While some studios have left Image (Wildstorm Productions and Extreme Studios) the company has grown to include a partnership with Robert Kirkman, the first partner to be added since the founding of Image.
Image has risen to challenge Dark Horse Comics and IDW Publishing for the position of the third largest publisher after Marvel and DC. Currently, most Image titles are non-studio productions.
Image's best-known titles include Spawn, The Savage Dragon, The Darkness, Witchblade, and The Walking Dead.
Imprints/Lines
Current:
- Avalon Studios
- Gorilla Comics
- Joe's Comics
- Shadowline
- Silverhawk Productions
- Skybound
- Top Cow
Former:
- Dreamwave (Left Image in 2002)
- Devil's Due (Left Image in 2004)
- Extreme Studios
- Wildstorm (Moved to DC in 1999)
