First Comics

Last updated
First Comics
Industry Comics
Founded1983
2011 (relaunched)
FounderKen F. Levin
Mike Gold
Defunct1991
Headquarters Evanston, Illinois (1983–1985)
Chicago, Illinois (1985–1991)
Key people
 Matt and John Yuan (deputy publishers)
Alex Wald (art director) [1]
Kurt Goldzung (sales manager) [2]
Larry Doyle (editor) [3]
Bob Garcia [4]

First Comics is an American comic book publisher that was active from 1983 to 1991 and then from 2011 to present (stylized as 1First Comics), known for titles like American Flagg! , Grimjack , Nexus , Badger , Dreadstar , and Jon Sable . Along with competitors like Pacific Comics and Eclipse Comics, First took early advantage of the growing direct market, attracting a number of writers and artists from DC and Marvel to produce creator-owned titles, which, as they were not subject to the Comics Code, were free to feature more mature content.

Contents

History

Based in Evanston, Illinois, First Comics was co-founded by Ken F. Levin [5] and Mike Gold. It launched in 1983 with a line-up of creators including Frank Brunner, Mike Grell, Howard Chaykin, Joe Staton, Steven Grant, Timothy Truman, and Jim Starlin. In 1984, First acquired all the titles of the short-lived publisher Capital Comics, including Mike Baron's action/superhero/fantasy/comedy series Badger , and Baron and Steve Rude's space-superhero series Nexus .

Among First's best-known titles were Chaykin's satirical futuristic cop series American Flagg ; John Ostrander and Tim Truman's Grimjack ; Baron & Rude's Nexus; Badger; Jim Starlin's space opera series Dreadstar and Mike Grell's Jon Sable , which was briefly adapted for TV.

In 1984, the publisher sued industry giant Marvel Comics, claiming that Marvel flooded the market with new titles in 1983 in order to shut out First and other new companies. In the same lawsuit, First also sued printer World Color Press for anti-competitive activities, claiming the printer undercharged Marvel for its business, and in return overcharged First and its fellow independents. [6] [7] The suit was resolved in the spring of 1988. [8] [9]

The company moved to Chicago in 1985. Mike Gold, one of First's founders, served as the company president until late 1985; [10] Gold soon moved to New York to become a senior editor at DC Comics. [11] Gold later used his First Comics connections to bring Grell, Chaykin, and Truman over to DC, where they created series such as Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters , Blackhawk , and Hawkworld .

From 1985 to 1988, First published Peter B. Gillis and Mike Saenz's digital comic Shatter , the first commercially published all-digital comic book. [12]

In 1986, despite its success with the direct market, First experimented with newsstand distribution. [13] Later that same year, the publisher found itself in the middle of the industry-wide debate about creators' rights. [14] Clashes with DC Comics, First, and other publishers on this issue led in part to the drafting of the Creator's Bill of Rights signed by Scott McCloud, Kevin Eastman, Peter Laird, Dave Sim, Rick Veitch, and other comics creators in late 1988.

First also published a series of comic adaptations of the Eternal Champion books by Michael Moorcock and English translations of the Japanese manga series Lone Wolf and Cub .

The company's final major project was a revival of Classics Illustrated . [15] [16] The company partnered with Berkley Books (then Berkley Publishing Group) to acquire the rights, and Classics Illustrated returned with new adaptations and a line-up of artists that included Kyle Baker, Dean Motter, Mike Ploog, P. Craig Russell, Bill Sienkiewicz, Joe Staton, Rick Geary, and Gahan Wilson. However, the line lasted only a little over a year.

First Comics ceased publishing in 1991, and closed their doors for good in early 1992. [17]

Rebirth

At the San Diego Comic-Con International 2011, First co-founder Levin announced that the company would resume publishing new material in late 2011. [5] Two years later, Mike Baron announced a new project on his Facebook page: "HOWL! coming next year from First Comics. Shane Oakley is the artist". [18] Publishing resumed in June 2014. [19]

First Comics and Devil's Due Publishing merged to form Devil's Due/1First Comics LLC in June 2015. In addition to reprinting older properties, Devil's Due/1First Comics launched five new ongoing series. Despite the merge and emphasis on creator owned properties, both 1First Comics and Devil's Due intend to maintain editorial independence. [20]

First Comics and Devil's Due parted ways and by September of 2019, First Comics was publishing titles under their own banner.

Since 2019, First Comics has continued publishing creator-owned titles, including Inspector Oh and Love Town by Matt and John Yuan, Night Stalker by Orlando Harding, and the Dogwitch Omnibus by Dan Schaeffer.

In December of 2020, First Comics launched its board game division, First Games (aka 1First Games) with a board game adaptation of the Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson series The Boys.

In February of 2022, Matt and John Yuan were named Deputy Publishers. [21]

Awards

The company picked up many industry awards, including a 1985 Kirby Award for Best Graphic Album for Beowulf .

Legacy/collected editions

Dark Horse Comics would later reprint the Lone Wolf and Cub series in English, and finally complete it in 2002. In 2005, IDW Publishing revived Jon Sable and Grimjack with new miniseries and reprint collections of the First Comics issues, and would also publish a complete collection of Mars. In 2007 IDW also started reprinting Badger as well as starting a new series. [22] IDW also reprinted the four Oz stories by Eric Shanower originally published as issues of First Graphic Novel as Adventures in Oz. First Graphic Novel also featured colorized reprints of early issues of the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series.

Titles

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim Starlin</span> American comics artist and writer

James P. Starlin is an American comics artist and writer. Beginning his career in the early 1970s, he is best known for space opera stories, for revamping the Marvel Comics characters Captain Marvel and Adam Warlock, and for creating or co-creating the Marvel characters Thanos, Drax the Destroyer, Gamora, Nebula, and Shang-Chi, as well as writing the acclaimed miniseries The Infinity Gauntlet and its many sequels including The Infinity War and The Infinity Crusade, all detailing Thanos' pursuit of the Infinity Gems to court Mistress Death by annihilating half of all life in the cosmos, before coming into conflict with the Avengers, X-Men, Fantastic Four, the Elders of the Universe, joined by the Silver Surfer, Doctor Strange, Gamora, Nebula, and Drax.

<i>Nexus</i> (comics) Comic book series

Nexus is an American comic book series created by writer Mike Baron and penciler Steve Rude in 1981. The series is a combination of the superhero and science fiction genres, set 500 years in the future.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Grell</span> American comic book writer and artist (born 1947)

Mike Grell is an American comic book writer and artist, known for his work on books such as Green Lantern/Green Arrow, The Warlord, and Jon Sable Freelance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">IDW Publishing</span> American comic book publishing company

IDW Publishing is an American publisher of comic books, graphic novels, art books, and comic strip collections. It was founded in 1999 as the publishing division of Idea and Design Works, LLC (IDW) and is recognized as the fifth-largest comic book publisher in the United States, behind Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, and Image Comics, ahead of other comic book publishers such as Archie, Boom!, Dynamite, Valiant, and Oni Press. The company is known for its licensed comic book adaptations of films, television shows, video games, and cartoons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Badger (comics)</span> Independently released Superhero comic books

Badger is a superhero in American comic books publisher by the short-lived Capital Comics company and then First Comics. He was created by writer Mike Baron in 1983 and published through the early 1990s in a titular series that ended when First Comics also ceased all publications. Since the ongoing series ended in 1991, new Badger titles have been released sporadically through Dark Horse Comics, Image Comics, IDW Publishing, and Devil's Due Publishing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pacific Comics</span> Defunct comic book distributor and publisher

Pacific Comics was a comic book distributor and publisher active from the 1971 to the 1984. The company began as a San Diego, California, comic book shop owned by brothers Bill and Steve Schanes, later moving into comics distribution and then publishing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Howard Chaykin</span> American comic book artist and writer (born 1950)

Howard Victor Chaykin is an American comic book artist and writer. Chaykin's influences include his one-time employer and mentor, Gil Kane, and the mid-20th century illustrators Robert Fawcett and Al Parker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Modern Age of Comic Books</span> Mid-1980s to present era of American superhero comic books

The Modern Age of Comic Books is a period in the history of American superhero comic books which began in the mid-1980s and continues through the present day. During approximately the first 15 years of this period, many comic book characters were redesigned, creators gained prominence in the industry, independent comics flourished, and larger publishing houses became more commercialized.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Rude</span> American comics artist

Steve Rude is an American comics artist. He is best known as the co-creator of Nexus.

Luke McDonnell is an American artist whose early career was spent specialising in comic books.

Mike Baron is an American comic book writer. He is the creator of Badger and the co-creator of Nexus with Steve Rude. He is currently working on Leviathan, Florida Man vs. Hogzilla, and Goodyng: The Polymath for Rippaverse Comics.

<i>Starslayer</i>

Starslayer: The Log of the Jolly Roger was an American comic book series created by Mike Grell.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caliber Comics</span> Comic book publisher

Caliber Comics or Caliber Press is an American comic book publisher founded in 1989 by Gary Reed. Featuring primarily creator-owned comics, Caliber published over 1,300 comics in the decade following its inception and is ranked as one of America's leading independent publishers. Caliber ceased publishing in 2000, but resumed operations in 2015, and continued after Reed died in 2016.

Steven Grant is an American comic book writer best known for his 1985–1986 Marvel Comics mini-series The Punisher with artist Mike Zeck and for his creator-owned character Whisper.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jon Sable</span> Comics character

Jon Sable Freelance is an American comic book series, one of the first series created for the fledgling publisher First Comics in 1983. It was written and drawn by Mike Grell and was a fully creator-owned title. The comic was one of the first of the independent and dark superhero stories of the 1980s and "helped usher in the grim and gritty sensibility that came to define the genre. Beginning in November 2007, it was published as an online comic series by ComicMix.

<i>Dreadstar</i> Comic book series

Dreadstar was the first comic-book series published by American publisher Epic Comics, an imprint of Marvel Comics, in 1982. It was centered on Vanth Dreadstar, sole survivor of the entire Milky Way galaxy, and an ensemble cast of crewmates, including cyborg sorcerer Syzygy Darklock, and their struggle to end an ancient war between two powerful, evil empires: The Church of The Instrumentality, run by the Lord Papal; and the Monarchy, administered by a puppet king.

Notable events of 1983 in comics.

Epic Comics was an imprint of American publishing company Marvel Comics, active from 1982 to 1996. A spin-off of the publisher's Epic Illustrated magazine, it published creator-owned work unconnected to Marvel's superhero universe, and without the restrictions of the Comics Code. The name was revived by Marvel in the mid-2000s for a short-lived program inviting new writers to pitch series proposals to the publisher.

Michael Gold is an American comics writer, editor and publisher, known for his work as the former media coordinator for the defense for the Chicago Conspiracy Trial, Group Editor and Director of Editorial Development at DC Comics, co-founder of First Comics, and the co-founder and director of communication National Runaway Switchboard as well as a disk jockey in Chicago in the 1970s.

References

  1. ↑ Alex Wald interview, David Anthony Kraft's Comics Interview #52 (1987).
  2. ↑ Kurt Goldzung interview, David Anthony Kraft's Comics Interview #52 (1987).
  3. ↑ "First", The Comics Journal #124 (August 1988), p. 19.
  4. ↑ "Bob Garcia Joins First Comics", The Comics Journal #126 (January 1989), p. 34.
  5. 1 2 Phegley, Kiel. "CBR News: EXCLUSIVE: Levin On Relaunching First Comics", Comic Book Resource (July 14, 2011).
  6. ↑ "First Comics Sues Marvel Comics for Anti-Competitive Activities", The Comics Journal #89 (May 1984), p. 8.
  7. ↑ Goodrich, Chris. "Captain America, Get a Lawyer!: An upstart comic book publisher sues mighty Marvel Comics", San Francisco Chronicle (01 June 1986), p. 9.
  8. ↑ "First vs. Marvel and World Color", The Comics Journal #102 (September 1985), pp. 11-14.
  9. ↑ "First Awaits Court Verdict", The Comics Journal #121 (April 1988), p. 8: lawsuit involving First Comics, Marvel Comics, and printing of comics, and World Color Press.
  10. ↑ "Mike Gold Leaves First Presidential Post" The Comics Journal #103 (November 1985), pp. 14-15.
  11. ↑ "Mike Gold Leaves First Comics to Become Senior Editor at DC", The Comics Journal #105 (February 1986), p. 27.
  12. ↑ Staff writer (17 July 2006). "Shatter". Publishers Weekly .
  13. ↑ "Editorial: First Comics to Experiment with Newsstand Distribution this Spring", The Comics Journal #107 (April 1986), pp. 14-15.
  14. ↑ "First Comics Pays Up", The Comics Journal #110 (August 1986), pp. 9-10: On creators' rights.
  15. ↑ "First Comics Revives Classics Illustrated", The Comics Journal #120 (March 1988), p. 12.
  16. ↑ "First Comics Revives Classics Illustrated in January", The Comics Journal #132 (November 1989), p. 23.
  17. ↑ "Newswatch: First Closes Offices," The Comics Journal #148 (February 1992), p. 27.
  18. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/michael.a.baron.7 [ user-generated source ]
  19. ↑ "1First Comics on Facebook". Facebook . Archived from the original on 2022-04-27.[ user-generated source ]
  20. ↑ "Devil's Due and 1First Comics Merge to Form Mini-Major Comics Publisher". 16 June 2015.
  21. ↑ "1First Comics Official Announcement Matt and John Yuan as Deputy Publishers". 28 February 2022.
  22. ↑ Mike Baron's "Badger" is Back Archived 2007-09-02 at the Wayback Machine , Comic Book Resources, August 29, 2007
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.