TwoMorrows Publishing

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TwoMorrows Publishing
Founded1994;29 years ago (1994)
FounderJohn Morrow
Pam Morrow
Country of originUnited States
Headquarters location Raleigh, North Carolina
Distribution Diamond Book Distributors [1]
Publication typesMagazines, books, DVDs
Official website twomorrows.com

TwoMorrows Publishing is a publisher of magazines about comic books, founded in 1994 by John and Pam Morrow out of their small advertising agency in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Its products also include books and DVDs.

Contents

List of magazines

TwoMorrows publishes the following magazines:

Defunct magazines include

History

Jack Kirby Collector

After the death of comics creator Jack Kirby, lifelong Kirby fan John Morrow and his wife Pam contacted Roz Kirby, the artist's widow, about an ongoing magazine devoted to her husband's work and legacy. She gave it her authorization.

Jack Kirby Collector was first published in limited quantities as a small, black-and-white magazine focusing on Kirby artwork and articles by Morrow and a few fellow collectors and fans. As each issue grew in size, it began to include rare or previously unpublished Kirby art, as well as uninked pencil versions of published art. Soon the magazine was being published on better paper, with glossy color covers. New and veteran comics artists were given the chance to ink reproductions of Kirby's original pencil work. Each issue carried the notation "Fully Authorized by the Kirby Estate". The magazine went on to be nominated for several awards. First issue was published September 5, 1994.[ citation needed ]

The Morrows launched fundraiser projects to fund the preservation of the thermostatic [ clarification needed ] copies of Kirby's uninked pencils by scanning over 5,000 pages and cleaning them for future researchers and readers.[ citation needed ]

Other magazines

Jack Kirby Collector contributor Jon B. Cooke approached the two Morrows about launching another magazine that would cover the comics of the 1960s and 1970s. This magazine, Comic Book Artist , launched under the TwoMorrows imprint in 1998 and would go on to win several Eisner Awards. TwoMorrows also picked up Comicology, a magazine devoted to current comics, and which lasted four issues.

TwoMorrows expanded again with a revival of former Marvel editor-in-chief Roy Thomas 1960s fanzine, Alter Ego — initially as a flip book with Comic Book Artist, then in 1999 as a standalone publication.

In 2001, TwoMorrows launched Draw! a magazine edited by animation and comics artist Mike Manley that centered on how-to and related articles for cartoonists and animators. At the same time, comics author and editor Danny Fingeroth started Write Now, a magazine of how to write comics and animation. In 2003, Jon B. Cooke left TwoMorrows to take Comic Book Artist to another publisher, Top Shelf Productions. The Morrows hired former comics writer and editor Michael Eury, author of the book Captain Action , to launch a successor publication. The new title, Back Issue! , debuted in 2003. [3] [4] Rough Stuff magazine, a spin-off of Back Issue!, focusing on previously unpublished penciled pages, preliminary sketches, detailed layouts and unused inked artwork debuted in July 2006.

Books and DVDs

TwoMorrows has also published several books devoted to comics and comic history. The first was the Eisner Award-winning trade paperback Streetwise, a collection of autobiographical stories by such creators as Jack Kirby, Sergio Aragones, Sam Glanzman, Murphy Anderson, and Nick Cardy. Others include The Warren Companion and The Fawcett Companion, chronicling the histories of the defunct publishers; Kimota! The Miracleman Companion, about the British comic book character; G-Force Animated: The Official Battle of the Planets book, detailing the animated TV series; and three The All Star Companions by Roy Thomas, The Legion Companion, and The Justice League Companion, and several other books devoted to Golden Age and Silver Age of comic books titles and heroes.

Along with books devoted to such artists as Murphy Anderson, Dick Giordano, George Tuska, Gene Colan, Wally Wood, and Kurt Schaffenberger, as well as to writer Alan Moore, TwoMorrows has published books about how comics are created, such as Panel Discussions, Comics Above Ground, and Acting with a Pencil. Additionally, the company has published three collections of columns on comics by writer Mark Evanier; checklists of the works of Kirby and Wood; and the "Modern Masters" series by writer-editor Eric Nolan-Weathington.

In 2006, TwoMorrows expanded into DVDs by producing an art-instruction video, and a DVD version of the company's George Pérez Modern Masters book.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Kirby</span> American comic book artist (1917–1994)

Jack Kirby was an American comic book artist, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He grew up in New York City and learned to draw cartoon figures by tracing characters from comic strips and editorial cartoons. He entered the nascent comics industry in the 1930s, drawing various comics features under different pen names, including Jack Curtiss, before ultimately settling on Jack Kirby. In 1940, he and writer-editor Joe Simon created the highly successful superhero character Captain America for Timely Comics, predecessor of Marvel Comics. During the 1940s, Kirby regularly teamed with Simon, creating numerous characters for that company and for National Comics Publications, later to become DC Comics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Simon</span> American comic book writer, artist, editor, and publisher (1913-2011)

Joseph Henry Simon was an American comic book writer, artist, editor, and publisher. Simon created or co-created many important characters in the 1930s–1940s Golden Age of Comic Books and served as the first editor of Timely Comics, the company that would evolve into Marvel Comics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wally Wood</span> American comic strip cartoonist and illustrator (1927–1981)

Wallace Allan Wood was an American comic book writer, artist and independent publisher, widely known for his work on EC Comics's titles such as Weird Science, Weird Fantasy, and MAD Magazine from its inception in 1952 until 1964, as well as for T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, and work for Warren Publishing's Creepy. He drew a few early issues of Marvel's Daredevil and established the title character's distinctive red costume. Wood created and owned the long-running characters Sally Forth and Cannon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Cassaday</span>

John Cassaday is an American comic book artist, writer, and television director. He is best known for his work on the critically acclaimed Planetary with writer Warren Ellis, Astonishing X-Men with Joss Whedon, Captain America with John Ney Rieber, and Star Wars with Jason Aaron.

<i>witzend</i>

witzend, published on an irregular schedule spanning decades, is an underground comic showcasing contributions by comic book professionals, leading illustrators and new artists. witzend was launched in 1966 by the writer-artist Wallace Wood, who handed the reins to Bill Pearson from 1968 to 1985. The title was printed in lower-case.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">P. Craig Russell</span> Comic creator

Philip Craig Russell is an American comics artist, writer, and illustrator. His work has won multiple Harvey and Eisner Awards. Russell was the first mainstream comic book creator to come out as openly gay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Al Williamson</span> American cartoonist (1931–2010)

Alfonso Williamson was an American cartoonist, comic book artist and illustrator specializing in adventure, Western, science fiction and fantasy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dick Ayers</span> American cartoonist

Richard Bache Ayers was an American comic book artist and cartoonist best known for his work as one of Jack Kirby's inkers during the late-1950s and 1960s period known as the Silver Age of Comics, including on some of the earliest issues of Marvel Comics' The Fantastic Four. He is the signature penciler of Marvel's World War II comic Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos, drawing it for a 10-year run, and he co-created Magazine Enterprises' 1950s Western-horror character the Ghost Rider, a version of which he would draw for Marvel in the 1960s.

Comic Book Artist was an American magazine founded by Jon B. Cooke devoted to anecdotal histories of American comic books, with emphasis on comics published since the 1960s. It was published by TwoMorrows Publishing and later Top Shelf Productions from 1998–2005. Its sequel is Comic Book Creator magazine which started publishing in 2013 and is also published by TwoMorrows.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chic Stone</span> American comic book artist (1923-2000)

Charles Eber "Chic" Stone was an American comic book artist best known as one of Jack Kirby's Silver Age inkers, including his landmark run of Fantastic Four.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vince Colletta</span> American comic book artist

Vincenzo Colletta was an American comic book artist and art director best known as one of Jack Kirby's frequent inkers during the 1950s-1960s period called the Silver Age of comic books. This included some significant early issues of Marvel Comics' Fantastic Four, and a long, celebrated run on the character Thor in Journey into Mystery and The Mighty Thor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sheldon Mayer</span> American comic creator

Sheldon Mayer was an American comics artist, writer, and editor. One of the earliest employees of Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson's National Allied Publications, Mayer produced almost all of his comics work for the company that would become known as DC Comics.

Sky Masters of the Space Force was an American syndicated newspaper comic strip created on September 8, 1958, by writer/penciler Jack Kirby and writer Dave Wood, featuring the adventures of an American astronaut. The strip stars the titular Major Skylar Masters—an American astronaut—and features his adventures in a fictionalized Space Race, including rocket launches, space stations, Moon landings, and double agents.

"Charles Nicholas" is the pseudonymous house name of three early creators of American comic books for the Fox Feature Syndicate and Fox Comics: Chuck Cuidera (1915–2001), Jack Kirby (1917–1994), and Charles Wojtkoski (1921–1985). The name originated at Eisner & Iger, one of the first comic book packagers that created comics on demand for publishers entering the new medium during the 1930s–1940s Golden Age of comic books. The three creators are listed in order of birth year, below.

<i>Captain Victory and the Galactic Rangers</i>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Topps Comics</span> Defunct American comic book publisher

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crestwood Publications</span> Defunct American publishing company

Crestwood Publications, also known as Feature Publications, was a magazine publisher that also published comic books from the 1940s through the 1960s. Its title Prize Comics contained what is considered the first ongoing horror comic-book feature, Dick Briefer's "Frankenstein". Crestwood is best known for its Prize Group imprint, published in the late 1940s to mid-1950s through packagers Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, who created such historically prominent titles as the horror comic Black Magic, the creator-owned superhero satire Fighting American, and the first romance comic title, Young Romance.

<i>Chamber of Darkness</i>

Chamber of Darkness is a horror/fantasy anthology comic book published by the American company Marvel Comics. Under this and a subsequent name, it ran from 1969 to 1974. It featured work by creators such as writer-editor Stan Lee, writers Gerry Conway, Archie Goodwin, and Roy Thomas, and artists John Buscema, Johnny Craig, Jack Kirby, Tom Sutton, Barry Windsor-Smith, and Bernie Wrightson. Stories were generally hosted by either of the characters Digger, a gravedigger, or Headstone P. Gravely, in undertaker garb, or by one of the artists or writers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Khoury (author)</span> American writer

George Khoury is a writer and interviewer in the field of comic books. Khoury's most notable works focus on the UK comic book writer Alan Moore. Khoury is based in New Jersey.

<i>Young Romance</i> 1947 comic book series

Young Romance is a romantic comic book series created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby for the Crestwood Publications imprint Prize Comics in 1947. Generally considered the first romance comic, the series ran for 124 consecutive issues under Prize imprint, and a further 84 published by DC Comics after Crestwood stopped producing comics.

References

  1. Our Publishers
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 TwoMorrows Publishing website - magazines webpage. Retrieved September 20, 2021.
  3. "TwoMorrows Publishing: About Us". TwoMorrows.com. Retrieved January 30, 2014.
  4. Arndt, Richard J. (January 30, 2013). Horror Comics in Black and White: A History and Catalog, 1964–2004. McFarland & Company. p. 281. ISBN   978-0786470259.