Lightning Comics was an American independent comic publisher headquartered in Oakland County, Michigan, that operated from 1993 to 1998.
Founders Joseph and Steve Zyskowski wanted to make comic books unlike the ones they had read before. They believed the newest comics "seemed to lack substance."[citation needed]
The first comic published by Lightning Comics, Bloodfire #1, sold 50,000 comics.[citation needed] The company's idea was to make each issue a limited printing to enhance collectability. Also, after that first book, Greg Weed was hired to move the company from marker to airbrush.[citation needed]Bloodfire eventually ran 13 issues. Other long-running titles for Lightning Comics were Judgement Day and Perg, which ran 8 issues each. Trent Kaniuga's Creed appeared in a number of titles, one-shots, and crossovers, including one with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Similar, Hellina appeared in more than 15 separate specials, crossovers, and one-shots.
Lightning Comics later became the first of several publishers to capitalize on the "Bad Girl" trend in comics[citation needed] by offering limited "nude cover" variations of comics featuring Hellina, Catfight, and its other female heroines.
Artists associated with Lightning Comics were Julius Jackson, Paul Abrams, Terral Lawrence, Karl Kerschl, and Eric Pence.
During its six years of existence, Lightning Comics headquarters changed locations many times, mostly within Oakland County. Various headquarters included Dearborn Heights, Farmington Hills, Novi, Southfield, and Wixom.
Vertigo Comics was an imprint of American comic book publisher DC Comics started by editor Karen Berger in 1993. Vertigo's purpose was to publish comics with adult content, such as nudity, drug use, profanity, and graphic violence, that did not fit the restrictions of DC's main line, thus allowing more creative freedom. Its titles consisted of company-owned comics set in the DC Universe, such as The Sandman and Hellblazer, and creator-owned works, such as Preacher, Y: The Last Man and Fables.
Image Comics is an American comic book publisher and is the third largest direct market comic book and graphic novel publisher in the industry by market share. Its best-known publications include Spawn, The Walking Dead, Kick-Ass, Invincible, Jupiter's Legacy, Witchblade, The Maxx, Savage Dragon, Bone, Saga, Radiant Black and Stray Dogs.
Wildstorm Productions is an American comic book imprint. Originally founded as an independent company established by Jim Lee under the name "Aegis Entertainment" and expanded in subsequent years by other creators, Wildstorm became a publishing imprint of DC Comics in 1998. Until it was shut down in 2010, the Wildstorm imprint remained editorially separate from DC Comics, with its main studio located in California. The imprint took its name from a portmanteau of the titles of the Jim Lee comic series WildC.A.T.S. and Stormwatch.
Marc Silvestri is an American comic book artist, creator and publisher. He is CEO of Top Cow Productions and Image Comics.
Slave Labor Graphics (SLG) is an American independent comic book publisher, well known for publishing darkly humorous, offbeat adult comics. Creators associated with SLG over the years include Evan Dorkin, Roman Dirge, Sarah Dyer, Woodrow Phoenix, Jhonen Vasquez, and Andi Watson.
Malibu Comics Entertainment, Inc. was an American comic book publisher active in the late 1980s and early 1990s, best known for its Ultraverse line of superhero titles. Notable titles published by Malibu included The Men in Black, Ultraforce, and Night Man.
Milestone Media Company LLC is a media company best known for creating Milestone Comics, which were published and distributed by DC Comics. Milestone Media is also best known for the Static Shock animated series that was based off of their most popular comic property. The company was founded in 1993 by a coalition of African-American artists and writers, consisting of Dwayne McDuffie, Denys Cowan, Michael Davis, Derek T. Dingle and Christopher Priest. The founders felt that minorities were severely underrepresented in American comics and wished to address this.
Bongo Comics Group was a comic book publishing company founded in 1993 by Matt Groening along with Steve & Cindy Vance and Bill Morrison. It published comics related to the animated television series The Simpsons and Futurama, as well as the SpongeBob SquarePants comics, along with original material. The company was named after Bongo, a rabbit character in Groening's comic strip Life in Hell.
Youngblood is a superhero team that starred in their self-titled comic book series, created by writer/artist Rob Liefeld. The team made its debut as a backup feature in RAMM #1 before the next month appearing in the one-shot Megaton Explosion #1 before later appearing in April 1992 in its own ongoing series as the flagship publication for Image Comics and the wider Image Universe. Youngblood was originally published by Image Comics, and later by Awesome Entertainment. Upon Rob Liefeld's return to Image Comics, it was revived in 2008, 2012, and 2017. In 2019, Liefeld revealed that he has not owned the rights to Youngblood for several years.
Jim Valentino is an American writer, penciler, editor and publisher of comic books, best known for his 1990–1992 work on Guardians of the Galaxy for Marvel Comics, and for co-founding Image Comics, a company publishing creator-owned comics.
Defiant Comics was a comic book publishing imprint of Enlightened Entertainment Partners, LP. Defiant was established in 1993 by former Marvel Comics and Valiant Comics editor-in-chief Jim Shooter.
Charles Dixon is an American comic book writer, best known for his work on the Marvel Comics character the Punisher and on the DC Comics characters Batman, Nightwing, and Robin in the 1990s and early 2000s.
Cully Hamner is an American comic book artist, known for his work on such books as Green Lantern: Mosaic, Blue Beetle, Black Lightning: Year One, and Detective Comics. He is the co-creator and illustrator of the 2003 graphic novel Red, which was adapted into a 2010 feature film of the same name starring Bruce Willis, as well as a 2013 sequel. He is also the co-creator of Jaime Reyes, the DC Comics character at the center of the 2023 feature film Blue Beetle.
Topps Comics was a division of Topps Company, Inc. that published comic books from 1993 to 1998, beginning its existence during a short comics-industry boom that attracted many investors and new companies. It was based in New York City, at 254 36th Street, Brooklyn, and at One Whitehall Street, in Manhattan.
Robotech comics first officially appeared in print in 1985, though Comico published the first issue of its license from Harmony Gold USA under the Macross name.
Hall of Heroes was an American independent comic book company that existed in the mid-to-late 1990s. Based in Elkhart, Indiana, Hall of Heroes operated from 1993 to 1999.
Millennium Publications was an American independent comic book publishing company active in the 1990s.
Event Comics was an American independent comic book publisher founded by veteran artists Jimmy Palmiotti and Joe Quesada. The company published during the years 1994 to 1999. In 1998, it was contracted to form the Marvel Knights imprint for Marvel Comics.
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