Alternative 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. Alternative comic books span a wide range of genres, artistic styles, and subjects.
Slave Labor Graphics (SLG) is an independent American comic book publisher, well known for publishing darkly humorous, offbeat comics. Creators associated with SLG over the years include Evan Dorkin, Roman Dirge, Sarah Dyer, Woodrow Phoenix, Jhonen Vasquez, and Andi Watson.
David John Mazzucchelli is an American comics artist and writer, known for his work on seminal superhero comic book storylines Daredevil: Born Again and Batman: Year One, as well as for graphic novels in other genres, such as Asterios Polyp and City of Glass: The Graphic Novel. He is also an instructor who teaches comic book storytelling at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan.
Evan Dorkin is an American comics artist and cartoonist. His best known works are the comic books Milk and Cheese and Dork. His comics often poke fun at fandom, even while making it clear that Dorkin is a fan himself.
Deadline was a British comics magazine published between 1988 and 1995.
Michael Dalton Allred is an American comic book artist and writer most famous for his independent comics creations, Madman and iZombie. His style is often compared to pop art, as well as commercial and comic art of the 1950s and 1960s.
Boris the Bear is a fictional comic book character featured in several comic book titles published between 1986 and 2008. The series began as a response to the popularity of the wave of anthropomorphic animal titles that began with the publishing of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in 1984. That title, itself a parody of popular comic books at the time such as Daredevil, inspired numerous knock-offs and parodies like Adolescent Radioactive Black Belt Hamsters, Pre-Teen Dirty-Gene Kung-Fu Kangaroos, Mildy Microwaved Pre-Pubescent Kung Fu Gophers and Geriatric Gangrene Jujitsu Gerbils which led to what many refer to as the Black-and-White Boom of the mid-1980s. The Boris character started as bear who was tired of these comic books and decides to kill them in a hyper-violent style reminiscent of 1980s films such as Rambo. After the first issue, Boris the Bear continued to fight parodies of the Transformers, Marvel Comics, Swamp Thing, and Elfquest before moving on to more character-driven stories.
Andrew Watson is a British cartoonist and illustrator best known for the graphic novels Breakfast After Noon, Slow News Day and his series Skeleton Key and Love Fights, published by Oni Press and Slave Labor Graphics.
Daniel Alan Brereton is an American writer and illustrator who has produced notable work in the comic book field.
Bill & Ted's Excellent Comic Book was a twelve-issue comic book series published in 1991–1992 and based on the Bill & Ted franchise. The series was nominated for a 1992 Eisner Award in the category of Best Humor Comic.
Woodrow Phoenix is a British comics artist, writer, editorial illustrator, graphic designer, font designer and author of children's books.
Chris Warner is an American comic book writer, artist, and editor for Dark Horse Comics. He worked extensively on their mid-1990s line of Comics' Greatest World and Dark Horse Heroes. Warner has also worked sporadically for other companies, such as DC Comics and Marvel Comics.
Eternity Comics was a California-based 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.
Greed Magazine was a music, comics, and culture periodical published in Washington, D.C., by Kurt Sayenga from 1986 to 1989. It lasted six issues, and included interviews with Robyn Hitchcock, Los Bros Hernandez, Sonic Youth, Bob Burden, Rites of Spring, and Chester Brown. The magazine also published the first appearance of Evan Dorkin's popular creations Milk and Cheese, which spawned a comic as well as T-shirts, lunch boxes, and refrigerator magnets.
Beasts of Burden is a comic book series created by writer Evan Dorkin and artist Jill Thompson, and published by American company Dark Horse Comics. The title centers on an eponymous team of intelligent animals that investigate different paranormal events that occur in their small neighborhood of Burden Hill. The initial group consists of five dogs and a cat. They are often seen consulting with "Wise Dogs", local shamanic elders of their community.
Eltingville is the name given to a series of comics created by Evan Dorkin. The series ran in his comic books Dork and House of Fun before it received a two-issue run through Dark Horse Comics in 2014. Eltingville was adapted into a pilot for Cartoon Network's Adult Swim programming block in 2002, but was not picked up for an official series. The series has won three Eisner Awards, beginning with the 1995 story Bring Me the Head of Boba Fett. Of the series' title, Dorkin chose to name the series Eltingville after Eltingville, Staten Island, where he worked off and on in a comic book store for six years.
The Jam, formally known as the Jammer, is a fictional costumed hero, created by writer-artist Bernie Mireault, who originally appeared in Canadian comic books published by Matrix Graphics Series. The Jammer made his first appearance in New Triumph Featuring Northguard #2 (1985).
Stephen DeStefano is an American comics artist, animator and storyboard artist best known as the co-creator of 'Mazing Man and Hero Hotline with writer Bob Rozakis.
