Industry | Publishing |
---|---|
Genre | Science fiction, horror, adventure |
Founded | March 1992 [1] |
Defunct | 1998[2] |
Headquarters | , U.S. |
Key people | Jim Salicrup (EIC) [1] |
Products | Comic books [1] |
Parent | Topps Company, Inc. [1] |
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.
The company specialized in licensed titles, particularly movie and television series tie-ins, such The X-Files , based on the Fox TV show, and the films Bram Stoker's Dracula and Jurassic Park . It also licensed such literary properties as Zorro, and published a smattering of original series, including Cadillacs and Dinosaurs and several based on concepts by then-retired industry legend Jack Kirby.
In March 1992, Topps Company, Inc. announced the formation of Topps Comics, to be headed by Jim Salicrup, with plans to start publishing in October 1992. [1] [3] The company's first title [4] was Bram Stoker's Dracula, a four-issue series (Oct. 1992—Jan. 1993), along with 100 collectible cards, based on the movie, with art provided by Mike Mignola and a full script provided by Roy Thomas, using dialogue derived almost entirely from the film's script. [5] [6]
In April 1993, Topps launched a superhero line, "The Kirbyverse", based on Jack Kirby drawings and concepts, with four one-shot titles. [7] [8]
Topps entered the comic book market as the number of publishers was increasing, with at least nine other companies joining the field from 1990 to 1992. This coincided with an increase in comic-book market-speculation that created inflated sales and an eventual collapse of the market. Topps Comics closed in 1998. [2]
The editor-in-chief and associate publisher was Jim Salicrup. [1] Editors included Len Brown (co-creator of Topps' 1962 Mars Attacks cards), Howard Zimmerman, and Dwight Jon Zimmerman. The company's sales and promotions manager Charles S. Novinskie is listed as, additionally, a Topps Comics editor in his capsule biography at Non-Sport Update magazine. [9] The company's design director, Brian Boerner, is listed as Reprint Editor (along with Charles S. Novinskie) in the Xena trade paperbacks' credits.
Veteran comic-book scripter Tony Isabella, writing about difficulties with The X-Files creator Chris Carter over the Topps Comics' series, said in a 2000 interview:
[W]hoever was approving the comics over in Chris Carter Land were the poster kids for anal retentiveness. Although it's possible that they were so picky because they never wanted the comics out there in the first place. The main reason the comics fell behind schedule was because it took so long to satisfy the X-Files people. They went over everything with a fine-tooth comb, including the letters columns. . . . I rarely ran negative letters in these columns because the [Topps] editors were afraid that the X-Files people would want even more changes in the material. Almost from the start, there were never enough usable letters for our needs. That's why I started including the 'Deep Postage' news items — and making up letters completely. I also wrote the Xena letters columns, but those were a lot easier to produce. [10]
The "Kirbyverse" comics, launched simultaneously with April 1993 cover-dates, [11] stemmed from character designs and story concepts that the prolific Kirby, at this very late point in his life, had in his files of unrealized projects and preliminary sketches (some for Pacific Comics, which went defunct in the 1980s). Topps licensed them for an eight-title, interrelated mythos based around what became Jack Kirby's Secret City Saga . [12] That flagship title was written by former Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Roy Thomas, with an issue #0 prequel drawn by artist Walt Simonson and the remainder of the series by Spider-Man co-creator Steve Ditko.
Kirby himself wrote and drew eight pages of the Satan's Six premiere, interlaced with story pages by writer Tony Isabella, penciler John Cleary and inker Armando Gil. Kirby's contribution may have been drawn in the 1970s, as one historian wrote: "The 1970s was the flowering of Jack's interest in the paranormal. Freed from the restraints of more conservative collaborators, Jack delved into these themes with gusto. ... [He] developed 'Satan's Six' around this time, although it didn't see the light of day until the Topps Kirbyverse campaign in the 1990s". [13] As well, the covers of the Bombast, Captain Glory, and NightGlider [14] one-shot comics noted below were built around preexisting Kirby character designs.
Along with Secret City Saga and Satan's Six, the Kirbyverse titles were:
Kurt Busiek, in an undated interview, gave some background on the comics line:
Silver Star is a Jack Kirby character, originally done as a miniseries for Pacific [Comics]. Back when I was writing for the Topps Kirbyverse, I started two miniseries that were never completed, Victory and Silver Star, both of which got one issue published before the line collapsed. Victory was a crossover, bringing together all the established Kirbyverse characters and reintroducing Captain Victory [of the 1981–84 Pacific Comics series Captain Victory and the Galactic Rangers ]... but Silver Star was a standalone project, one that was completely plotted and mostly scripted. [15]
In 2000, the Kirby estate said Dark Horse Entertainment had optioned Satan's Six as a film property. [16]
In 2011, Dynamite Entertainment published a comic book series titled Kirby: Genesis that represented a reboot of the Kirbyverse. [17]
Note: Most, but not all, were designed as limited series.
Xena: Warrior Princess is an American fantasy television series filmed in New Zealand, which aired in first-run syndication from September 4, 1995, to June 23, 2001.
Roy William Thomas Jr. is an American comic book writer and editor. He was Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics and possibly best known for introducing the pulp magazine hero Conan the Barbarian to American comics. Thomas is also known for his championing of Golden Age comic-book heroes – particularly the 1940s superhero team the Justice Society of America – and for lengthy writing stints on Marvel's X-Men and The Avengers, and DC Comics' All-Star Squadron, among other titles.
Kurt Busiek is an American comic book writer. His work includes the Marvels limited series, his own series titled Astro City, a four-year run on The Avengers, Thunderbolts, and Superman.
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.
Secret City Saga is a concept and collection of various comic book titles created by American writer and artist Jack Kirby, and published by the short-lived Topps Comics, an offshoot of the Topps Trading Card company. Beginning in April 1993, the Secret City Saga books consisted of three four-issue miniseries and three one-shot specials, which were all preceded by the one-shot promotional giveaway, Jack Kirby's Secret City Saga #0.
Chris Batista is an American comic book artist, known for his work on a number of titles for Marvel Comics and DC Comics, including Steel, Spaceknights and Thunderbolts.
Ronald Lim is an American comic book artist living in Sacramento, California. He is best known for his work for Marvel Comics on their various "cosmic" titles, most particularly the Silver Surfer series.
Captain Victory is a comic book originally created, written and drawn by Jack Kirby. It was first published by American comic book publisher Pacific Comics in 1981. Kirby agreed to create a comic for the fledgling publisher because Pacific promised him full creative control, and ownership of the characters.
Yanick Paquette is a Canadian comic book artist. He has worked for Antarctic Press, Topps, Marvel, and DC Comics and since 1994.
Xena: Warrior Princess is a series of comic books based on the television series of the same name. Topps Comics and Dark Horse Comics created a series of comics tying into the property. In 2007, Dynamite Entertainment acquired the rights to the series.
Satan, in comics, may refer to:
The Words & Pictures Museum of Fine Sequential Art was an art museum in Northampton, Massachusetts, devoted to exhibitions of narrative art, cartoons, comic books, and graphic novels. Open to the public from 1992 to 1999, the museum's collection at one point numbered 20,000 original works from hundreds of artists including Simon Bisley, Vaughn Bodē, Robert Crumb, Richard Corben, Frank Frazetta, Jaime Hernandez, Jack Kirby, George Pratt, Dave McKean, Frank Miller, Jon J Muth, Bill Sienkiewicz, and Gilbert Shelton.
The X-Files was a spin-off from the television series of the same name, originally published by Topps Comics and, most recently, DC Comics imprint Wildstorm.
The Compuserve Comics and Animation Forum's Don Thompson Awards were given for achievement in comic books, comic strips, and animation. Initiated in 1992, they were originally known as the Compuserve Comics and Animation Forum Awards for the CompuServe forum that created and gave out the award. In 1994, after the death of long-time comics enthusiast and publisher Don Thompson, the awards were renamed in Thompson's honor. The final awards were presented in 1998.
Joyce Chin is an American comic book artist. She has created content under the Marvel Comics, DC Comics, Dynamite Comics, Image Comics, Dark Horse Comics, and IDW Publishing labels. A large portion of Chin's work has been in creating comic book covers.
James Van Hise is an American popular culture historian and comic book author. He had a long connection with the popular fanzine Rocket's Blast Comicollector (RBCC), and was its editor/publisher from 1974 to 1983. He also had a lengthy association with Hal Schuster, owner of New Media Publishing and Pioneer Books. Van Hise is the author of more than ten books, many of them published by Pioneer Books.
Davidé Fabbri is an Italian comic book artist. He has worked mainly for Dark Horse Comics on various Star Wars series. He also worked for Dynamite and recently for DC Comics. In 2010, he worked on Victorian Undead, written by Ian Edginton for WildStorm. This series pitted Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson against a legion of undead zombies. It was nominated for a Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards in 2010.