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79-559: During the early years of Image Comics , founder Marc Silvestri shared a studio with Jim Lee . In this studio, he created his first creator-owned comic book , Cyberforce , as part of Image's initial line-up. After setting up his own studio, Top Cow Productions, he expanded into other comics, launching Codename: Strykeforce , a new Cyberforce series and various spin-offs. Top Cow attracted several professionals including artist Brandon Peterson , writer Garth Ennis and former Marvel staffer David Wohl . The company also helped launch

158-400: A Comics Retailer interview, McFarlane blamed the industry downturn on greed, saying he hoped that retailers who over-ordered popular titles, including Spawn, went bankrupt. Based on public orders and shipping data, The Comics Journal and Thompson concluded that because Image titles accounted for such a large percentage of both late books and dollars spent, the company was more culpable for

237-480: A television series based on the comic book series in 2001 . The series was directed by Ralph Hemecker and written by Marc Silvestri and J.D. Zeik. Yancy Butler starred as Sara Pezzini. Although critically acclaimed and popular with audiences, it was canceled in September 2002. The cancellation was announced as a production decision, but there was widespread speculation that the true reason for its cancellation

316-434: A 1930s feel with Batman looking like a villain who "had been a bad guy and so was now catching other bad guys in order to be a good guy again". As she grew up, she also drew on characters' depictions in video games and books she obtained through relatives and others and continued to dip in and out of comics while juggling academic study and other commitments as she grew up and moved into college. Bennett states she developed

395-778: A corporation. Many Image series quickly fell behind their intended publishing schedule (See " Controversies " below). In response, retailers cut orders to reduce their risk. In August 1993, Image cut back its line, citing lateness and a desire to focus on books by the founders. The company announced it had canceled Shaman's Tears , Stupid , Trencher , and Tribe and that several mini-series including 1963 and Pitt would not become ongoing series. Moore's Enemies of Mankind and Frank Miller's Big Guy were "indefinitely postponed." In late 1993, Image hired Larry Marder , an independent cartoonist and former marketer for Chicago comics retail chain Moondog, to act as "executive director" for

474-499: A creator-owned title by Liefeld in 1991. In July that year he announced plans to publish an independent comic called Youngblood and in September advertised a title called The Executioners to be published by "Image Comics." Although Liefeld shelved plans for The Executioners after Marvel threatened to both sue him and fire him from X-Force (the characters later appeared in Youngblood and their own title as "The Berzerkers"),

553-578: A deal with Zannel to license their comics as mobile comics . In 2022, Top Cow Productions reprinted the early issues of Cyberforce for the first time since 1994 in a 30th anniversary commemorative hardcover edition The project was funded through Kickstarter, and the commemorative edition was exclusively available through the platform. The book collected Cyberforce #0, Tin Men of War #1-4, WildCATS #5-7, Cyberforce volume 2 #1-13, Origins #1 ( Cyblade ) and #2 ( Stryker ), and Cyberforce Annual #1. Later in

632-474: A deep appreciation from an early age of how text and art work together in comics and how they enable storytelling to take risks and developed powerful stories which leave "lasting impressions on readers". She currently lives in Los Angeles. She has stated that Batwoman is her favorite DC character, Quasimodo is her favorite literary character, Belle is her favorite Disney character, and The Fall

711-433: A flat fee of $ 2,000 to Image and $ 500 to Shadowline for administrative costs and kept all other proceeds from their sales, as well as all intellectual property rights. After Marder left Image in 1999 to help run McFarlane Toys , Valentino was named the company's publisher. He later said he saw his time as publisher as an extension of what he had been doing with Shadowline. He is often credited for making Image Comics into

790-699: A new Masters of the Universe series in 2002, Udon Entertainment began publishing a series based on the Street Fighter video game franchise in 2003, and the imprint DB Productions began publishing an adaptation of George R. R. Martin 's The Hedge Knight , also in 2003. Image Comics hired Eric Stephenson , who had worked as an editor and writer for Liefeld's Extreme Studios in the early days of Image, as marketing director in 2002. In 2003, Image published Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore 's zombie comic The Walking Dead , which went on to become one of

869-712: A new sub-imprint called Homage Comics under his WildStorm Studios label. Described as a "home for creator-owned material as well as a safe haven from an increasingly challenging comic book market," the initial line-up consisted of Astro City , Terry Moore's previously self-published Strangers in Paradise , and a new title called Leave it to Chance by James Robinson and Paul Smith . The Image founders also continued to produce new top-selling series, such as Gen from WildStorm Studios in 1994, and Witchblade and The Darkness from Silvestri's Top Cow Productions in 1995 and 1996 respectively. In 1998, WildStorm launched

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948-407: A non-returnable basis. Late books create cash flow issues for retailers, and in many cases, fans lost interest in late books by the time they shipped. Retailers estimated that late shipping could affect sales by as much as 60%, according to The Comics Journal . Late books also make it harder for retailers to plan purchases, because they have to order the next issues in a series before they see how well

1027-673: A sequel series in fall 2017, Bombshells United , focusing on the same core cast in an alternative World War II history. In addition to her work on the character in Bombshells , Bennett wrote the Batwoman character in Detective Comics issues 948 and 949 in 2017 as part of the DC Rebirth relaunch, co-writing with James Tynion IV with art by Steve Epting , followed by a regular Batwoman series. She describes working on

1106-399: A seven-disc collectors set including the original made-for-TV movie, all 23 episodes of the series, and special features — was released July 29, 2008. In January 2017, NBC announced that it would be developing a Witchblade reboot, with Carol Mendelsohn and Caroline Dries serving as executive producers. An American superhero film based on the series was announced in 2008. The film

1185-467: A story she contributed to Rachel Deering's 2014 anthology In The Dark , Bennett describes it as erotic horror involving a pair of lovers, with insectoid transformations and body horror themes. It is set during Victorian times, a period she states she is preoccupied and fascinated with, albeit without a love of the period. The series is ongoing and has multiple arcs planned. Bennett's second creator owned work, Animosity , launched in 2016. It explores

1264-461: A subsequent manga adaptation. The anime version is considered controversial by some, because GONZO has announced that the main character of the anime is of Japanese ethnicity but is not Itagaki , one of the previous bearers of the Witchblade. Instead the main character is a new character named Masane. Although this series centers around all new characters and tells a new story not contained in

1343-518: A three-issue series featuring Red Sonja and Jungle Girl . She then wrote the first six-issue arc of Red Sonja in 2016, entitled "The Falcon Throne". As part of Archie Comics ' New Riverdale relaunch, she wrote the second volume of Josie and the Pussycats with Cameron DeOrdio with artist Audrey Mok. Bennett admires how all versions of those character emphasise their friendship as the "foundation of their journey, music, and story". Following

1422-566: A time for its "house style" (standardized elements of illustration across multiple titles produced by Top Cow), though former publisher Filip Sablik has argued that the company never truly had a house style. In addition to its company-owned properties, Top Cow has worked with creators to develop creator-owned properties. These properties have included Michael Turner's Fathom (which eventually ended up at Aspen Comics ), and Joe's Comics , created exclusively for J. Michael Straczynski , which included Rising Stars and Midnight Nation . Top Cow

1501-497: Is also known for bringing Tomb Raider ' s Lara Croft to comics. In 2006, Top Cow made a business agreement with Marvel Comics to publish crossovers such as Darkness/Wolverine and Witchblade/Punisher . As part of this agreement, several Top Cow artists also provided art chores on various Marvel series. Tyler Kirkham worked on Phoenix: Warsong and New Avengers/Transformers ; Mike Choi worked on X-23: Target X ; and Silvestri himself worked on X-Men: Messiah Complex . At

1580-544: Is an American comic book writer. She has worked on Bombshells , Angela , Josie and the Pussycats , and her creator-owned books InSeXts and Animosity . Her work has been recognised for her depiction of female relationships, and her representation of LGBTQ stories and characters earned nominations for a GLAAD Media Award in 2016 and 2017. Marguerite Bennett was born October 21, 1988, in Virginia , and graduated Maggie L. Walker Governor's School in 2006,

1659-436: Is an employee of that publisher. Its output was originally dominated by superhero and fantasy titles from the studios of the founding Image partners, but now includes comics in many genres by numerous independent creators. In the early 1990s, artists Todd McFarlane , Rob Liefeld , and Jim Lee broke successive modern sales records at Marvel Comics with Spider-Man #1, X-Force #1, and X-Men #1 respectively. However,

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1738-495: Is her favorite movie. While at Sarah Lawrence College, she took Scott Snyder 's graphic novel writing course during her second semester in 2013. This led to her debut in comics, after being approached by Snyder to ask if she wanted to work with him on a Batman Annual . After completing this, while finishing her MFA and working two jobs, she continued to work with DC and wrote single issue stories for Lobo , Batgirl and Talon in 2013 and 2014. This led to being part of

1817-646: Is set in an alternate history around World War II. Bennett explored traditional genres and mediums of the 1940s such as radio shows and propaganda films to provide a realistic history for the Bombshells franchise. Key to the characters is that none of the women are derived from a male version or counterpart and states that she wanted a cast representing the experiences of all women – "queer characters, women of color, women of different faiths, women of different nations, women of all ages and from all places in life" – but without overt or tokenistic labelling. Acknowledging

1896-574: The Luna Brothers . In 2007, Liefeld returned to Image as a creator, as opposed to partner, to publish a new Youngblood series written by Joe Casey with art by Derec Donovan and Val Staples. Liefeld credited Kirkman for bringing him back to Image. Larsen stepped down as publisher to focus more on The Savage Dragon in July 2008 and Stephenson was promoted to the position. In 2008, shortly after Stephenson's appointment, Image added Kirkman as

1975-480: The University of Mary Washington in 2010, and Sarah Lawrence College , completing a two-year MFA writing program, where her work included working on prose, including children's literature and horror and left with a "couple of finished novels and a collection of short stories". Her first exposure to comics was through Batman: The Animated Series which she saw in daycare, aged around 6, and recalls it had

2054-409: The 2007 San Diego Comic-Con , an announcement was made by Marvel Comics extending the deal into 2008. At the 2007 New York Comic Con Top Cow announced that they would be one of the first major comics publishers to offer online distribution, through a partnership with IGN . The initial titles offered included Tomb Raider , The Darkness , and Witchblade , at $ 1.99 per issue. They also announced

2133-649: The Comics Industry Person of the Year in 2012 for what editor-in-chief Heidi MacDonald described as Stephenson's "creative revitalization" of Image. MacDonald cited the publication of Saga and other new titles from popular creators like Grant Morrison, Jonathan Hickman and Ed Brubaker, along with "homegrown hits" from Image like Chew , Mornings Glories , and Thief of Thieves and Stephenson's own Nowhere Men among his accomplishments. Saga creator Brian K. Vaughan explained that while he loved

2212-491: The EU, the game was released for Xbox 360 on June 29, 2007, and for PS3 on July 20 of the same year. To promote the video game, a five-issue mini-series was released, with each issue chronicled a chapter of the game. In June 2007, the mini-series was collected into a trade paperback . In February 2012, a sequel to the video game, entitled The Darkness II , was released for PC , Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 . The script for

2291-611: The Eisner Awards, Hugo Awards, Russ Manning Awards, The Edgar Awards, Bram Stoker Awards, Young Adult Library Association's Great Graphic Novels for Teens and more. Image Comics' title list includes domestic and international bestsellers with regular appearances on The New York Times bestseller list, The Washington Post ' s bestseller list, USA Today ' s bestseller list, the Amazon.com bestseller list and more. Marguerite Bennett Marguerite Bennett (born 1988)

2370-554: The Marvel/DC crossover The Uncanny X-Men and The New Teen Titans was published in 1982. Some of the founders' studios came to resemble separate publishers, each with several ongoing series set in a shared universe . The use of freelancers to write or illustrate series that were owned by the Image partners led to criticism that some of them had reproduced the very system they had rebelled against, but with them in charge instead of

2449-479: The North American comics market share thanks to Image, briefly exceeding that of industry giant DC Comics . In early 1993 Image left Malibu and established itself as an independent company, hiring Tony Lobito as full-time publisher. Image became the first publishing company to challenge Marvel and DC's dominance since the establishment of the direct market . Portacio was the only founder not to deliver

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2528-461: The Year three years in a row between 2013 and 2015. By the company's 25th anniversary in 2017, the majority of titles Image published in a given month were not affiliated with the founding partners. Meanwhile, McFarlane's Spawn and related titles, his McFarlane Toys line, Silvestri's Top Cow imprint and Kirkman's various series remained a substantial segment of Image's total sales. As of 2020 , McFarlane's Spawn and Larsen's Savage Dragon were

2607-405: The careers of various writers and artists, such as Christina Z , Joe Benitez , Michael Turner and David Finch . Benitez, Turner and Finch have since worked for DC and Marvel Comics . In 1996, Top Cow briefly parted ways with Image during a power struggle with Image associate Rob Liefeld . Liefeld left the company shortly after Top Cow's departure, and Top Cow returned to the partnership. At

2686-626: The character as a "literal dream come true", describing her as her favourite heroine. As well as the ongoing Bombshells and Batwoman , Bennett has written one-shot stories of female characters in the DC universe, including Lois Lane – a character she finds has great "audacity in the face of danger" – and a new version of the Joker's Daughter . Outside of Marvel and DC, Bennett has worked on some well-known characters with other publishers. For Dynamite Comics ' 2015 "Sword of Sorrow" event, Bennett wrote

2765-430: The commercially successful Cliffhanger sub-imprint to showcase created owned titles from a new generation of popular artists, starting with Humberto Ramos , J. Scott Campbell , Joe Madureira . After a peak in early 1993, the comics market experienced a steep downturn as the speculative bubble burst . Around 20% of all comic book stores went out of business in 1993, industry analyst Mel Thompson estimated, compared to

2844-674: The company as a creator, as opposed to partner, in 2007. Jim Lee sold WildStorm and its characters to DC Comics in 1998, citing a desire to exchange his responsibilities as a publisher for the opportunity to do more creative work. Image continued to diversify, adding titles such as Brian Michael Bendis 's Jinx and Matt Wagner 's Mage to the company's line-up in 1997, while Valentino's Shadowline imprint published more than 12 black and white titles, including his own A Touch of Silver , James A. Owen 's Starchild , Zander Cannon 's The Replacement God , Mike Baron 's The Badger , and Michael Avon Oeming 's Ship of Fools . Creators paid

2923-536: The company's first new partner since its founding. Stephenson cited Kirkman's commitment to publishing through Image and his strong vision as reasons for the decision. In 2010, Kirkman founded his own imprint called Skybound . Under Stephenson, Image began to greatly expand both the types of comics it publishes and the types of creators drawn to the publisher, beginning a period of critical acclaim. An influx of Marvel- and DC-associated creators began publishing creator-owned work with them. The Beat named Stephenson

3002-403: The creators became discontented. Liefeld worried that their success actually made their positions at Marvel precarious. "We had become too big for the system," he said in 2000. "Marvel didn't want a star system." McFarlane and Lee, on the other hand, felt undervalued at Marvel, where they were not paid when their art was reused for merchandise such as t-shirts. Malibu Comics agreed to publish

3081-402: The diverse publisher that it is seen as today. Sacks wrote that by the end of 1999, Image had bolstered its reputation "as the place to find the highest quality creator-owned material." In the early 2000s, a number of imprints not owned by the Image partners began publishing licensed material through Image. Devil's Due launched a new G.I. Joe series via Image in 2001, MVCreations launched

3160-553: The earlier issues sold. "When books start shipping late, you end up ordering four, five, six issues before you see sales, and that's where the greater danger is," Hanley's Universe owner Jim Hanley told The Comics Journal in 1994. Todd McFarlane told The Comics Journal that the blame for the market collapse should not be pinned entirely on Image. He argued that the company shared responsibility with other publishers, distributors, and retailers alike, saying that Image shipping books on time wouldn't "stop retailers from being stupid." In

3239-511: The editorial, production, sales and accounting staff formed Comic Book Workers United (CBWU), a trade union affiliated with the Communications Workers of America . The union published nine goals, including salary and workload transparency, improving staff morale, and improving career mobility. Image did not voluntarily recognize the union. The unionization drive was met with praise from many industry professionals. However,

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3318-591: The events in BOOM's Shattered Grid Event in the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers comic, Bennett will be taking over, starting a new series called "Beyond the Grid" featuring a team up of Rangers from different franchises. Bennett has also moved into creator-owned comics work. InSeXts was launched by Aftershock Comics in 2015 and saw Bennett collaborating with artist Ariela Kristantina. Building on

3397-509: The first issue of Liefeld's on-going  Brigade series shipped before the concluding issue of the Brigade limited series, and Spawn #21 shipped before issues #19 and #20. Deathmate Red , Liefeld's portion of the inter-company crossover with Valiant Comics, became emblematic of Image's problems. The book shipped four months late, well after the release of the series epilogue. Retailers typically order comics two months in advance, on

3476-573: The first issue of his own series in 1992. Initially, Portacio was reported to be working on a title called Huntsman with Chris Claremont , but opted instead to create his own title called Wetworks (the Huntsman character later appeared in issues of WildC.A.T.S and CyberForce written by Claremont). However, work on the series was significantly delayed due to the death of Portacio's sister and he decided to resign as an Image partner. In 2022, former Incredible Hulk artist Dale Keown said that he

3555-453: The game was written by comic book writer Paul Jenkins , who previously worked on The Darkness comic series. Unlike the first game, the graphics for The Darkness II were developed using a cel-shading technique , emulating the aesthetic of its graphic novel namesake. The game received positive reviews from critics. Following a pilot film in August 2000, the cable network TNT premiered

3634-653: The importance of these aspects, she explains that "We were able to complete this whole new world that wasn't just one thing because no woman is just one thing. So they each got to have a distinct voice, a distinct personality". The run has been noted for its female core cast, but also the portrayal of LGBT characters and depicting of the nuances of female friendship, family and relationships, rather than stereotypes. She reflects on this, saying "If you write stories that tell folks that queer people can live without shame, they just might grow up believing it". Bombshells will run for 100 "digital first" installments, and be followed by

3713-789: The incident only further motivated him to pursue independent publishing. Liefeld soon invited Amazing Spider-Man artist Erik Larsen , Guardians of the Galaxy artist Jim Valentino , and McFarlane to join Image Comics. McFarlane then recruited Jim Lee at the Sotheby's auction in New York in December 1991. Wolverine artist Marc Silvestri, who was also in town for the event, was also invited. Lee invited Uncanny X-Men artist Whilce Portacio shortly after. These seven creators became

3792-414: The largest-selling African-American-created comic, with more than one million copies sold to comic shops. Moore went on to work on several Image series, including Spawn , WildC.A.T.S , The Maxx , and Supreme . Also in 1993, Image and Valiant Comics began publishing the inter-company crossover Deathmate , which comics historian Jason Sacks described it as the first major comic universe crossover since

3871-553: The longest-running creator-owned titles published by Image, with over 300 and 250 issues, respectively. The company's headquarters moved from Berkeley, California to Portland, Oregon in 2017. The following year, Stephenson became an Image partner, board member, and chief creative officer. Prior to Berkeley, its headquarters was located first in Anaheim, California and then in Oakland, California . In November 2021, members of

3950-667: The mid-2000s as the imprints Devil's Due, Dreamwave Productions , MVCreations, Udon Entertainment, and DB Productions departed the company and Dark Horse Comics surpassed Image to become the third largest comic book publisher. Larsen took over as publisher in 2004, intending to publish more mainstream comics. Valentino returned to running the Shadowline imprint. Titles launched during Larsen's tenure include Ellis and Ben Templesmith 's Fell ; Casey and Tom Scioli 's Godland ; Richard Starkings 's Elephantmen ; Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie 's Phonogram ; and The Sword by

4029-477: The original founding partners of Image Comics. Image's organizing charter had two key provisions: The founders' initial titles were produced under the Image name, but published through Malibu Comics , which provided administrative, production, distribution and marketing support. The first Image comic published was Liefeld's Youngblood #1 in April 1992. Pre-orders for the book reached 930,000 copies, beating

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4108-403: The other companies he had worked with, he wanted to maintain 100% control over the series to ensure there would be no content restrictions or interference and Image may have been the only publisher that still offered a fully creator-owned contract. Image's sales grew significantly during this period to a market share of around 10% in 2015. Image was voted Diamond Comic Distributors' Publisher of

4187-481: The previous record for both the top selling creator-owned comic and top selling independent comic of all time. The second Image title, McFarlane's Spawn #1, debuted with a print run of 1.7 million copies in May 1992. Larsen's The Savage Dragon , Lee's WildC.A.T.S , Valentino's ShadowHawk , and Silvestri's CyberForce followed, all with strong sales to comic shops. Within a few months, Malibu had almost 10% of

4266-500: The publisher, ranking above Lobito and reporting directly to the partners. McFarlane told The Comics Journal that the founders had ignored Lobito's advice in the past, even when he was correct, because they didn't have confidence in his guidance due to his age and relative inexperience. Despite the scaleback in 1993, Image continued to publish creator-owned comics by a variety of creators. Though many Image titles sold more than 500,000 copies per issue in 1992 and 1993, by mid-1994 only

4345-519: The request was not an effort to dictate the content of Image publications, but to create a process to ensure a safe working environment. The union was certified by a vote in January 2022, becoming the first of its kind in the American comics industry. Prior to the vote, most Image comics, apart from those published by Todd McFarlane Studios, included the names of Image staffers in the credits. After

4424-587: The return of Superman less than six months after the Death of Superman , as the moment the speculative bubble burst. Khoury concluded that everyone in the industry was to blame for the comics market crash, including publishers, speculators, readers, retailers, creators, and editors. "Many consider Deathmate the comic book that singlehandedly put an end to the industry's prosperous times and the biggest reason why so many comic book stores closed its doors for good," comics historian Jason Sacks wrote in 2018. "In truth, there

4503-407: The same character, one of which was in the 1602 Universe as part of the " Secret Wars " storyline. Also tying in with that story, Bennett wrote the five-issue limited series Years of Future Past with artist Mike Norton . Bennett worked with writer G. Willow Wilson and artist Jorge Molina to launch A-Force in 2015, featuring Marvel's first all-female team of Avengers . Bennett said there

4582-404: The same time, Top Cow was moving more into the fantasy genre with new properties Witchblade and The Darkness . Thanks to the success of Witchblade , Top Cow was able to expand, adding new titles to its lineup including The Darkness , Magdalena , Aphrodite IX , and others. Silvestri was heavily involved in training and developing new talent through the studio and Top Cow was known for

4661-411: The same year the book was reprinted in a trade paperback with the same contents. In 2024, the company announced a new Witchblade series written by Marguerite Bennett and drawn by Giuseppe Cafaro . In December 2004, Dimension Films paid an undisclosed six-figure sum to develop a movie based on the comic, possibly for release in 2008. The film was pitched as a movie similar to The Crow , which

4740-484: The situation than the Image partners were willing to admit. In 2007, comics journalist George Khoury wrote that Marvel's decision to distribute its product exclusively through its own distribution subsidiary beginning in 1995 had a bigger long-term impact on the comics industry than Image's business practices. Diamond Distributors founder Steve Gepp told Khoury that Image helped expand the market for comic books, and Mile High Comics proprietor Chuck Rozanski pointed to

4819-578: The source material, it is set in the same continuity as the comic book. The anime series began broadcast during April 2006 and ran for 24 episodes. Image Comics 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 . It

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4898-543: The summer of 1996, shortly after the incident with Turner and Hawkins, Silvestri announced that he would leave Image Comics, citing irreconcilable differences with a then-unnamed Image partner. Liefeld resigned from Image Comics in September 1996 shortly before a vote to force him out of the company. Silvestri reversed his plans to leave Image shortly after. Liefeld filed suit against Image in October 1997 for wrongful termination and breach of contract for money he claimed

4977-685: The top-selling comics on the market. Valentino originally rejected the title, fearing the premise was too familiar. Kirkman lied and said he planned to reveal that the aliens were behind the zombies, a premise Stephenson found interesting enough to encourage Valentino to accept. Kirkman later admitted that he never planned to include aliens in the comic. Other titles published during Valentino's tenure include Kirkman and Cory Walker 's Invincible ; Bendis's Powers ; Garth Ennis , Jimmy Palmiotti , and Amanda Conner 's The Pro ; Jay Faerber 's Noble Causes , and Warren Ellis and Chris Weston 's Ministry of Space . Image's market share declined in

5056-535: The top-selling titles reached 250,000 in sales. Marder determined that Image needed to publish at least 30 comic books per month to stay in business. "And if the partners did not provide those books, I had to get those books wherever I could find them," Marder explained in 2007. Titles added in the mid-1990s included Hellshock by Jae Lee , Groo by Sergio Aragonés , Bone by Jeff Smith, A Distant Soil by Colleen Doran , and Astro City by Kurt Busiek , Brent Anderson and Alex Ross . In 1996, Lee founded

5135-537: The typical attrition rate of around 10% in prior years. Many comics industry professionals blamed speculators for the market downturn, but many retailers cited Image's erratic publishing record as a key cause of fiscal strain for stores. Every single Image comic scheduled to ship in the first quarter of 1993 shipped late. In April 1993, only 15.3% of the company's titles shipped on time, compared with 90.1% shipped on time by DC, 79.2% by Marvel, and 100% by Valiant. Some titles ended up shipping out of sequence. For example,

5214-472: The union's ninth goal of establishing "a collective voting option to immediately cancel publication of any title whose creator(s) have been found to have engaged in abuse, sexual assault, racism and xenophobia, homophobia, transphobia, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, ableism, etc.” proved controversial. Vice reported that this goal was "read as a demand for a censorious panel to ensure that upcoming comics adhere to diktats of political correctness." CBWU told Vice that

5293-914: The vote, those names were removed from titles published under Valentino's Shadowline imprint. CBWU filed suit against Image Comics in February 2022, alleging retaliation against union members and interference with bargaining efforts. CBWU ratified their first union contract with Image Comics in March 2023. The union filed an additional lawsuit against Image Comics in May 2023, alleging further "anti-union discrimination." This list also includes studios and partners. Image considers these studios as separate publishing companies that operate in concert with Image and each studio as fully autonomous from Image Central . Image Comics titles have garnered both comics and mainstream critical acclaim. Image Comics titles boast multiple award nominations and wins across all categories in

5372-570: The writing team for the 26-issue weekly Earth 2: World's End , starting at the end of 2014, with Daniel H. Wilson and Mike Johnson, with art by Ardian Syaf , Danny Miki, and Jorge Jimenez . At Marvel Comics , Bennett completed single stories in the Amazing X-Men Annual , the Death of Wolverine series, and Nightcrawler . Her first ongoing series was Angela: Asgard's Assassin in 2015, followed by two limited series starring

5451-425: Was Butler's alcohol addiction; Butler was ordered to enter rehab for alcohol addiction a year later, after being arrested for wandering intoxicated amidst traffic. Witchblade ran for two 12–episode seasons on TNT. The first episode aired on June 12, 2001, and the last episode aired on August 26, 2002. On April 1, 2008, Warner Home Video announced a long-anticipated DVD release. Witchblade: The Complete Series —

5530-525: Was also produced by Dimension . There have been no further developments. In March 2005, The Darkness was licensed by Majesco Entertainment for a console game to be developed by Starbreeze Studios . 2K Games later obtained the rights to the game, and a first-person shooter adaptation was released for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 console systems on June 25, 2007, in the United States . In

5609-418: Was announced to begin in September 2008, with China and Australia among the possible locations being considered for filming. Megan Fox was approached for the role of Sara Pezzini at the 2008 San Diego Comic-Con . The film's website and teaser poster were released in May 2008, but the project was later cancelled. In 2004 Japanese animation studio GONZO announced an anime version of Witchblade , with

5688-426: Was announced, he had described it as an imprint for non-superhero titles, such as the science fantasy Warchild . Liefeld proposed a merger between his Extreme Studios imprint and Silvestri's Top Cow imprint in 1996, according to Matt Hawkins, who worked for Liefeld's studios from 1993 until 1998 and has been president of Silvestri's Top Cow Productions since 1998. Hawkins said that when Liefeld realized that Silvestri

5767-785: Was approached in 1992 about taking Portacio's place, but declined because his criminal record made it difficult to travel outside his home country of Canada. Keown still became the first non-founder to publish a creator-owned title with Image. The first issue of his series Pitt sold more than one million copies to comic shops. It was originally scheduled for November 1992 but shipped several months late. Image continued to expand in 1993 with new titles from both founders, such as Liefeld's Bloodstrike and Lee's StormWatch , and non-founders, including Sam Kieth 's The Maxx , Larry Stroman 's Tribe , Keith Giffen 's Trencher , and Mike Grell 's Shaman's Tears , and 1963 by Alan Moore , Steve Bissette , and Rick Vietch . Tribe became

5846-409: Was founded in 1992 by several high-profile illustrators as a venue for creator-owned properties, in which comics creators could publish material of their own creation without giving up the copyrights to those properties. Normally this is not the case in the work-for-hire -dominated American comics industry, where the legal author is a publisher, such as Marvel Comics or DC Comics , and the creator

5925-411: Was going to reject his offer, he decided instead to try to recruit some of Top Cow's artists, including Witchblade artist Mike Turner. At one point Hawkins called Turner about working on an Avengelyne project for Maximum Press, but Silvestri took the phone and yelled at Hawkins. Meanwhile, Liefeld moved some of his titles from Image Comics to Maximum Press, escalating tensions within the company. In

6004-504: Was no validation or event as to how the women were in charge, but that "they were the best fit for these roles and demands of their world". Back at DC, Bennett was a vocal fan of the DC Bombshells character designs – and following the positive reaction to the 2014 variant covers used across DC titles, she was approached by editor Jim Chadwick about the possibility of making a comic. The resulting series, DC Comics Bombshells ,

6083-413: Was owed to him. Image countersued, claiming Liefeld had misused Image funds and staff resources for his Maximum Press titles and failed to repay an overpayment made by the company. The suits were settled in February 1997. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed, but Marder and Valentino claimed Liefeld repaid the company the money he owed. Liefeld later reconciled with the Image partners and returned to

6162-421: Was plenty of blame to go around." There were tensions between the Image Comics founders from the very beginning, according to Liefeld, as the founders competed with each other for sales and talent. Liefeld founded his own separate company, Maximum Press , in late 1994 largely in response to those tensions and a realization that he wouldn't always be a part of Image, he told CBR in 2001. At the time Maximum Press

6241-684: Was to be directed by Michael Rymer , who directed the 2002 film Queen of the Damned and several episodes of Battlestar Galactica , and was to be written by Everett De Roche . The film was one of the two being produced and financed back-to-back by Platinum Studios , IDG Films and Relativity Media . The film was to be produced by Arclight's Gary Hamilton and Nigel Odell , Platinum Studios' Scott Mitchell Rosenberg , and Steve Squillante of Havenwood Media. Top Cow's Marc Silvestri and Matt Hawkins were to be executive producers with Platinum Studios' Rich Marincic and Greenberg Group's Randy Greenberg. Filming

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