Antarctic Press is a San Antonio-based comic bookpublishing company which publishes "Amerimanga"[2] style comic books. The company also produces "how-to" and "you can" comics, instructing on areas of comic book creation and craft.
Beginning in 1985,[3] Antarctic Press has published over 850 titles with a total circulation of over 5 million.[citation needed] Befitting the company name, Antarctic's self-proclaimed mission is to "publish the coolestcreator-owned comics on Earth".[3] Co-founder Ben Dunn's brother Joe Dunn is the company's publisher.
Antarctic Press was founded by Ben Dunn and Marc Ripley in late 1984 to publish the anthology Mangazine,[2] one of North America's first publications of original English-language manga. Local San Antonio creators Fred Perry, Joseph Wight, and Rod Espinosa were early contributors to Mangazine; later all of them had their own Antarctic Press titles.[2]Mangazine eventually ran for 120 issues in three volumes over a 20-year period.
Another early title was Extremely Silly Comics.
The company's first hit was Dunn's Amerimanga Ninja High School, which debuted as a limited series with Antarctic in 1987.[2] Originally intended as a miniseries, the comic hit such a boom of popularity that it became a full series, currently totaling over 160 issues (as well as two miniseries, Ninja High School V2 and Quagmire USA, and the color limited series The Prom Formula).
Co-founder Ripley left the company in 1989 and Dunn brought on his brother Joeming ("Joe") Dunn to help manage the business.[2]
Fred Perry's Gold Digger, which debuted in limited series form in 1992, is still being published by Antarctic Press.[2]
In the 1990s, the company also published furry comics and erotic comics — from 1994 to 1998 the company operated an erotic imprint, Venus Comics.
In late 1996, however, looking to cut costs and focus more on more mainstream properties, Antarctic discontinued publishing all translated manga, anthropomorphic, and adults-only titles.[citation needed] As a result, two Antarctic Press employees, Elin Winkler-Suarez and Pat Duke, left the company to form Radio Comix. Furrlough and Genus, both long-running anthology titles, were taken over by Radio Comix.
Many of Antarctic's staple characters, from titles including Warrior Nun Areala,[2]Ninja High School, Gold Digger, The Courageous Princess, and Dragons Arms, came together in the 2005 How to Break into Comics, which also featured their creators in the narrative.
In April 2006, the popular title Warrior Nun Areala was re-launched as Warrior Nun Lazarus and began to include computer coloring.
In 2007, David Hutchison's Final Girl limited series gave readers the choice as to which characters lived and which ones died.[citation needed]
In August 2016, the company began publication of Rochelle, from creator and writer John E. Crowther and artist Dell Barras.[citation needed]
In 2018 Antarctic more than doubled its monthly publishing schedule to 15 titles. It also branched into distribution, taking on the comics of the all-ages San Antonio small-press publisher Guardian Knight Comics.[2]
In the spring of 2018 Antarctic announced it was publishing controversial creator Richard C. Meyer's Jawbreakers: Lost Souls (crowdfunded on Indiegogo). After a backlash and threat of a retailer boycott, however, on May 11, Antarctic decided not to publish the title.[4][5][2] Meyer filed a civil suit against fellow creator Mark Waid for "tortious interference with contract, defamation, and exemplary damages" for working to keep his book from being published by Antarctic; on December 23, 2020, the parties released a joint statement announcing that "Mr. Meyer has decided to voluntarily dismiss the lawsuit".[6][7][8][9]
In 2019 they launched Exciting Comics and the start of their "Superverse".
Titles
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Wild Life, a humorous slice-of-life anthology edited by Elin Winkler-Suarez which ran February 1993-April 1995 for twelve issues. It included Joe Rosales' Wildlifers and John Nunnemacher's Buffalo Wings.
Underground comix are small press or self-published comic books that are often socially relevant or satirical in nature. They differ from mainstream comics in depicting content forbidden to mainstream publications by the Comics Code Authority, including explicit drug use, sexuality, and violence. They were most popular in the United States in the late 1960s and 1970s, and in the United Kingdom in the 1970s.
Alternative comics or independent comics cover a range of American comics that have appeared since the 1980s, following the underground comix movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Alternative comics present an alternative to mainstream superhero comics which in the past have dominated the American comic book industry. They span across a wide range of genres, artistic styles, and subjects.
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.
Furrlough is a furry comic book originally published by Antarctic Press and continued by Radio Comix. It is edited by Elin Winkler and is nicknamed (dubbed) "Your Funny Animal Anthology".
Kevin Brooks Eastman is an American comic book writer and artist best known for co-creating the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with Peter Laird. Eastman was also formerly the editor and publisher of the magazine Heavy Metal.
An original English-language manga or OEL manga is a comic book or graphic novel drawn in the style of manga and originally published in English. The term "international manga", as used by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, encompasses all foreign comics which draw inspiration from the "form of presentation and expression" found in Japanese manga. This may also apply to manga-inspired comics made in other languages.
Ninja High School is a comic book series created, written, and illustrated by Ben Dunn, published by Antarctic Press. On occasion other artists and writers have contributed to the series, including Katie Bair, Fred Perry, Robby Bevard, Carlos Castro, and Fabian Doles.
Gold Digger is a comic book series, written and drawn by Fred Perry, and published by Antarctic Press. Counting all the regular series issues, in addition to all the connected limited series, annuals, special issues, and handbooks produced by the author, Gold Digger is the most extensive, long-running, self-contained North American comic book in history that has been consistently written and drawn by the original creator.
Radio Comix is an alternative comic book publishing company based in San Antonio, Texas, United States. Founded in 1996 by former Antarctic Press employees Elin Winkler and Pat Duke, Radio Comix has published hundreds of comics from many genres, from both American-created and translated Japanese manga to anthropomorphic to adults-only books under their Sin Factory imprint. Their Furrlough title is the longest-running comic anthology in the US.
Ben Dunn is an American comic book artist and publisher.
Rod Espinosa is a Filipino comics creator, writer, and illustrator.
Warrior Nun Areala is a manga-style American comic book character created by Ben Dunn and published by Antarctic Press, first appearing in Ninja High School #37 in March 1993 as Shanna Masters.
Warrior Nun is an American media franchise, consisting of a fantasy action-drama streaming television and film series which follow the members of the Order of the Cruciform Sword, a fictional military order of Warrior Nuns and Magic Priests in the service of the Catholic Church. Based on the comic book series of the same name by Ben Dunn, originally published by Antarctic Press.
Lee Marrs is an American cartoonist and animator, and one of the first female underground comix creators. She is best known for her comic book series The Further Fattening Adventures of Pudge, Girl Blimp, which lasted from 1973 to 1977.
Eternity Comics was an American comic book publisher active from 1986 to 1994, first as an independent publisher, then as an imprint of Malibu Comics. Eternity published creator-owned comics of an offbeat, independent flavor, as well as some licensed properties. One of its most notable titles was Ex-Mutants. Eternity was also notable for reprinting foreign titles, and introducing Cat Claw, The Jackaroo, and the Southern Squadron to the U.S. market.
Fred Perry is an American comic book artist and writer, currently working at Antarctic Press.
Dave Sheridan was an American cartoonist and underground comix artist. He was the creator of Dealer McDope and collaborated with Gilbert Shelton and Paul Mavrides on The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers. As creative partner with fellow underground creator Fred Schrier, using the name "Overland Vegetable Stagecoach," they worked on Mother's Oats Funnies, published by Rip Off Press from 1970 to 1976.
Richard Edward "Grass" Green was an African American cartoonist notable for being the first black participant in both the 1960s fan art movement and the 1970s underground comics movement. In the 1960s, Green's Harvey Kurtzman-like zany, action-packed, humorous comics parodies appeared in numerous fanzines. His "outrageous" 1970s and 1980s underground work used searing humor to expose America's racism and bigotry.
Comicsgate is an alt-right campaign in opposition to diversity and progressivism in the North American superhero comic book industry. Its proponents target the creators hired, the characters depicted, and the stories told, and argue that these elements have led to a decline in both quality and sales. The name is derived from Gamergate, a similar movement related to video games. Its members present it as a consumer protest, primarily advocating their views on social media; some have produced books intended to reflect the group's values. It is part of the alt-right movement, and has been described by commentators as a harassment campaign which "targets women, people of color, and LGBT folk in the comic book industry". Threats of violence and the vandalism of one store have been attributed to the campaign.
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