| WildStorm | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Type | Comic publisher |
| Founded | 1992 |
| Founder | Jim Lee |
| Headquarters | Los Angeles |
| Key people | Jim Lee |
| Industry | Comics |
| Website | WildStorm |
WildStorm Productions, or simply WildStorm, is a publishing imprint and studio of American comic book publisher DC Comics. Events January February March April May Namor the Sub-Mariner, issue 26 (May cover date - An entrepreneur is a person who has possession over a company enterprise, or Venture, and assumes significant accountability for the inherent risks and the outcome Jim Lee (born August 11, 1964) is a Korean-American Comic book Artist, Creator and Publisher. Los Angeles (lɑˈsændʒələs los ˈaŋxeles in Spanish) is the largest City in the state of California and the American West Jim Lee (born August 11, 1964) is a Korean-American Comic book Artist, Creator and Publisher. For other uses of this term see Industry (disambiguation An industry (from Latin industrius, "diligent industrious" Comics (via Latin from the Greek "" kōmikos, of or pertaining to "comedy" from kōmos "revel" A website (alternatively web site or Web site, a back-construction from the Proper noun World Wide Web) is a collection of Web pages In the Publishing Industry, an imprint can refer to two different things It can mean a Brand name under which a work is published The United States of America —commonly referred to as the A comic book (often shortened to simply comic and sometimes called a comic paper or comic magazine) is a Magazine or Book of narrative DC Comics is an American comic book and related media company
WildStorm originated in 1992 as comics creator Jim Lee's personal company, Aegis Entertainment, in the partnership making up Image Comics. Events January February March April May Namor the Sub-Mariner, issue 26 (May cover date - Jim Lee (born August 11, 1964) is a Korean-American Comic book Artist, Creator and Publisher. Image Comics is an American Comic book publisher It was founded in 1992 by seven high-profile illustrators as a venue where creators could publish their After the sale to DC in 1999, Lee remained as WildStorm's Editorial Director, a position he continues to hold. US publications -->==Events and publications== January February March April The VP/General Manager is Hank Kanalz and the Senior Editor is Ben Abernathy. Ben Abernathy is the senior editor at WildStorm Productions a Comic book company that also acts as an Imprint of DC Comics. The WildStorm imprint is editorially separate from its DC parent, with its main studio located on the West Coast. The " West Coast " " Western Seaboard " or " Pacific Seaboard " are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the Western United States Additional editorial staff includes Scott Peterson, Jim Chadwick, Kristy Quinn, Sarah Farber, and Michael McCalister. The imprint takes its name from the combining the titles of the Jim Lee comic series WildC.A.T.S. and Stormwatch. Wildcats, sometimes rendered WildCats or WildCATs, is the name of multiple incarnations of a Superhero team created by the American Comic Stormwatch is a Fictional
Contents |
Titles
Throughout most of its history the studio has published many comic book titles in continuity with each other (the Wildstorm Universe) as well as a wide variety of unrelated titles such as Ex Machina, Kurt Busiek's Astro City and Alan Moore's America's Best Comics line. The Wildstorm Universe is the main fictional Shared universe where a core of stories published by Wildstorm take place Ex Machina is an American creator-owned Comic book series created by Brian K Kurt Busiek (born September 16, 1960) is a Comic book Writer. Kurt Busiek's Astro City is a Comic book series centered around a fictional American city of that name Alan Moore (born November 18 1953 in Northampton) is an English Writer most famous for his influential work in Comics, including the acclaimed America's Best Comics is a Comic book publishing brand It was set up by Alan Moore in 1999 as an Imprint of Wildstorm,
Major WildStorm Universe titles include WildC.A.T.s, Wetworks, Stormwatch (later to evolve into The Authority), and Gen¹³. Wildcats, sometimes rendered WildCats or WildCATs, is the name of multiple incarnations of a Superhero team created by the American Comic Wetworks is an American Comic book series created by Comic book artist Whilce Portacio and writer Brandon Choi Stormwatch is a Fictional The Authority is a Superhero Comic book published by DC Comics under the Wildstorm imprint Gen¹³ is a fictional Superhero team and Comic book series originally written by Jim Lee and Brandon Choi and illustrated by
Following a few years as a mature-readers-only superhero imprint Eye of the Storm, in September 2006 WildStorm rebooted its Universe in the WorldStorm event. The Wildstorm Universe is the main fictional Shared universe where a core of stories published by Wildstorm take place
History
The Image years
WildStorm was one of the founding studios that joined together in 1992 to form Image Comics. Image Comics is an American Comic book publisher It was founded in 1992 by seven high-profile illustrators as a venue where creators could publish their It grew out of Homage Studios which was founded by artists Scott Williams, Whilce Portacio, Jim Lee, and Joe Chiodo in San Diego, California. Homage Comics was a Comic book publishing Imprint, a subdivision of Wildstorm. Whilce Portacio (born July 8, 1963) is a Filipino-American Comic book artist. Jim Lee (born August 11, 1964) is a Korean-American Comic book Artist, Creator and Publisher. Joe Chiodo is a colorist who has worked in the comics industry Lee, Williams, and Portacio had gained notoriety from their work on various X-Men titles at Marvel Comics. The X-Men is a team of fictional Superhero characters in Comic books published by Marvel Comics. Marvel Comics is an American comic book company owned by Marvel Publishing Inc
In late 1992 penciler Marc Silvestri joined the studio to work on the first issue of Cyberforce. Marc Silvestri (born March 29, 1958) is an American Comic book artist, creator and publisher Cyberforce is an Image Comics Super-hero team created by artist Marc Silvestri and writer Eric Silvestri in 1992. Although he worked at the studio, his projects were to debut as a new Image imprint named Top Cow. Top Cow Productions ( TCP) is an American comics publisher a partner studio of Image Comics founded by Marc Silvestri in 1992. Silvestri continued to work out of WildStorm's studio for about two years, then moved his staff up to Santa Monica so that he could be closer to Hollywood. Although there was some thought of grabbing talent from the "Big Two", (Marvel and DC) such as John Romita Jr. Marvel Comics is an American comic book company owned by Marvel Publishing Inc DC Comics is an American comic book and related media company , Lee decided instead to find new talent.
Lee's talent search yielded Brett Booth in 1992, and then J. Scott Campbell in 1993. Jeffrey Scott Campbell (born April 12, 1973, East Tawas Michigan Apart from McFarlane's Spawn, WildStorm produced the most consistently commercially successful comics from Image, including Lee's own titles WildC.A.T.s and the teen hero title Gen¹³, illustrated by J. Spawn is a fictional Comic book character created by Todd McFarlane. Wildcats, sometimes rendered WildCats or WildCATs, is the name of multiple incarnations of a Superhero team created by the American Comic Gen¹³ is a fictional Superhero team and Comic book series originally written by Jim Lee and Brandon Choi and illustrated by Scott Campbell. Like many other Image titles, some of the WildStorm titles were plagued with inconsistent completion and shipping, resulting in "monthly" comics coming out every few months. This era, however, produced a number of titles of varying popularity including the afformentioned Gen¹³ and WildC. A. T. s, Stormwatch, Deathblow, Cybernary, and Whilce Portacio's Wetworks. Stormwatch is a Fictional Deathblow is a fictional Comic book character created by Jim Lee and Brandon Choi from the Wildstorm Universe. Cybernary is a Comic book series created by Comic book artist Nick Manabat with writer Steve Gerber and published by Wildstorm Wetworks is an American Comic book series created by Comic book artist Whilce Portacio and writer Brandon Choi
Attempts to get his studio's characters into other media were disappointing. A Saturday morning cartoon series of the WildC. A. T. s suffered from poor production values, and lasted only a single season, while a full-length animated version of Gen¹³ was produced but never released. Disney, who had acquired the distribution rights, later released the film only in a few foreign markets, leaving Jim Lee frustrated. Toys from both titles were less successful than those made by Todd McFarlane, partly due to bad marketing and partly because the McFarlane toys were targeted for a more mature audience. However, they had a big success copying Wizards of the Coast's Magic: The Gathering with their introduction of the Superhero card game, Wildstorms, which later spun off into a crossover set of cards with Marvel. Wizards of the Coast (often referred to as WotC or simply Wizards) is an American publisher of Games primarily based on Fantasy and This article is somewhat over-complete Please do not add significant new content without first discussing it on the talk page In Comic books, an intercompany crossover (also called cross-company or company crossover) is a comic or series of comics where characters published by The crossover was the swan song for the Wildstorms game though, as Marvel's merchandising clout was able to push Wildstorms out of the spotlight. Wildstorms is a Collectible card game (CCG that was developed under the Image Comics Brand and published through Wildstorm under the helm of Although the timing was right with their card game, they were too early by a year with a Pog game which used the Wildcats characters that they released in 1993. For other uses see POG. Pogs is a children's Game that was popular from the early to late 1990s in what was known as the Pog The Wildcat ( Felis silvestris) sometimes Wild Cat or Wild-cat, is a small felid native to Europe, the western part of Asia
In 1995, WildStorm created an imprint named Homage Comics, centered around more writer-driven books. Homage Comics was a Comic book publishing Imprint, a subdivision of Wildstorm. The imprint was started with Kurt Busiek's Astro City and The Wizard's Tale, James Robinson's Leave It to Chance (with Paul Smith) and Jeff Mariotte's Desperadoes (with John Cassaday). Kurt Busiek (born September 16, 1960) is a Comic book Writer. Kurt Busiek's Astro City is a Comic book series centered around a fictional American city of that name Leave it to Chance was an American Comic book series written by James Robinson, illustrated by penciler Paul Smith and published Jeff Mariotte is an Author who currently lives in Arizona with his wife author Maryelizabeth Hart and family Desperadoes is a Weird West -style Comic book series written by Jeff Mariotte. John Cassaday (born 1971 is an American Comic book artist and writer More recently, the imprint has featured works by Sam Kieth, including The Maxx, Zero Girl and Four Women, and three of Warren Ellis' pop-comics mini-series, Mek, Red and Reload. Sam Kieth (born January 11, 1963) is an American Comics writer and illustrator and film director best known as the creator of The The Maxx is an American Comic book and Character created by Sam Kieth and published by Image Comics. Zero Girl is a five-issue Comic book written and illustrated by Sam Kieth, published by Homage Comics. for the Nina Simone song see Four Women (song Four Women is an American five-part limited series published by Warren Ellis (born February 16, 1968) is a British author of Comics Novels and Television, well known for sociocultural
In 1997, Cliffhanger debuted a line of creator-owned comic books which included such popular works as J. Cliffhanger was an Imprint of Wildstorm, publishing creator-owned Comic books. Creator ownership is an arrangement in which the creator or creators of a work of fiction retain full ownership of the material regardless of whether it is self-published or Scott Campbell's Danger Girl, Joe Madureira's Battle Chasers, Humberto Ramos' Crimson and Out There, Joe Kelly & Chris Bachalo's Steampunk, Kurt Busiek & Carlos Pacheco's Arrowsmith and Warren Ellis's Two-Step and Tokyo Storm Warning. Danger Girl is an American Comic book series created by J Scott Campbell and Andy Hartnell. Battle Chasers is an American Fantasy Comic book series by Joe Madureira, launched in April 1998 Humberto Ramos (born 27 November 1970) is a Mexican Comic book Penciller, best known for his work on American comic books Crimson is a Fantasy / horror Comic book series created by Artist Humberto Ramos and scripter Brian Augustyn Joseph "Joey" Kelly is an American Comic book Writer who has written such titles as Uncanny X-Men, Action Comics Chris Bachalo (born August 23, 1965) is an American Comic book illustrator known for his quirky cartoon-like style Steampunk was a steampunk/fantasypunk Comic book series by artist Chris Bachalo and writer Joe Kelly, published by Wildstorm Kurt Busiek (born September 16, 1960) is a Comic book Writer. Carlos Pacheco (born November 14, 1961) is a Spanish Comic book Artist and Penciller Arrowsmith is a Fantasy Comic book by Writer Kurt Busiek and Penciller Carlos Pacheco, published by Wildstorm
This year also saw a huge revamp of all the WildStorm Universe titles, including such prominent comic book names as Alan Moore, Warren Ellis, Adam Warren, Sean Phillips and Joe Casey. Alan Moore (born November 18 1953 in Northampton) is an English Writer most famous for his influential work in Comics, including the acclaimed Warren Ellis (born February 16, 1968) is a British author of Comics Novels and Television, well known for sociocultural Adam Warren (born 1967) is an American comic book illustrator and writer who is most famous for his adaptation of the characters known as Dirty Pair Sean Phillips is a British Comic book Artist, Inker, and Penciller. Joe Casey is an American Comic book writer He has worked on titles such as Wildcats 3 After this revamp the new Wildcats series, Stormwatch and DV8 took the places of the most popular and most commercially successful comics of the WildStorm Universe. DV8 is a comic book published by Wildstorm. The premise is similar to Gen¹³, also published by Wildstorm and most of the characters made their
The DC years
As sales of comic books had been declining since 1993, Jim Lee started to look for a buyer in the mid-1990s. The result was the 1998 acquisition of Wildstorm by DC Comics (effective January 1999). DC Comics is an American comic book and related media company According to DC, this was meant to "strengthen both Wildstorm's ability to expand its editorial goals and diversifying DC's output. "[1] Jim Lee said that he was lucky that it was DC and not Marvel that bought him out, with consideration to Marvel Comics' bankruptcy during the same period. Marvel Comics is an American comic book company owned by Marvel Publishing Inc DC's acquisition of WildStorm allowed the two universes to interact with each other, and the result was that characters from each universe would soon make appearances in each other's titles.
1999
1999 would be a hallmark year for Wildstorm. Several titles were launched, including The Authority, a dark, violent, superhero comic, whose heroes had total disregard about things such as honorable battle or not killing their opponents. The Authority is a Superhero Comic book published by DC Comics under the Wildstorm imprint A superhero (sometimes rendered super-hero or super hero) is a Fictional character "of unprecedented physical prowess dedicated to acts of derring-do Its goal was only in making the world a better place. Warren Ellis created The Authority from the ashes of Stormwatch. Warren Ellis (born February 16, 1968) is a British author of Comics Novels and Television, well known for sociocultural The Authority is a Superhero Comic book published by DC Comics under the Wildstorm imprint Stormwatch is a Fictional He would write its first 12 issues before handing the series over to Mark Millar. Mark Millar (born December 24 1969 is an award-winning Scottish Graphic novelist born in Coatbridge. The Authority fused the hope and strivings of the Silver Age superheroes with a cynical look at humanity. The Silver Age of Comic Books was a period of artistic advancement and commercial success in mainstream American comic books predominantly those featuring the Superhero The fight between the heroes and the corrupt parts of humanity would lead the series into the 2004 Wildstorm crossover, Coup d'Etat, where the Authority would take control of the United States of America. Coup d'Etat was a company-wide crossover event published by Wildstorm Comics in 2004. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Ellis and artist John Cassaday would create Planetary, a story about explorers of the strange. John Cassaday (born 1971 is an American Comic book artist and writer Planetary is an American Comic book series created by Warren Ellis (writer and John Cassaday (artist published by the Wildstorm This would be an experiment in intermeshing a look at pop culture, comic book history and literature with Cassaday's unique artwork.
Around this time WildStorm would launch a new imprint titled, America's Best Comics. America's Best Comics is a Comic book publishing brand It was set up by Alan Moore in 1999 as an Imprint of Wildstorm, This was specifically to allow Alan Moore to create a number of comics based on his own ideas. Alan Moore (born November 18 1953 in Northampton) is an English Writer most famous for his influential work in Comics, including the acclaimed The line has been widely lauded and awarded, giving life to titles such as Promethea, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Tomorrow Stories, Tom Strong and Top 10. Promethea is a Comic book series created by Alan Moore and JH The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is a Comic book series written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Kevin O'Neill. Tomorrow Stories was an American comic book series created by Alan Moore for his America's Best Comics (ABC line published by Wildstorm Tom Strong is a Comic book created by writer Alan Moore and artist Chris Sprouse initially published bi-monthly by America's Best Comics
Experimental Phase
"Eye of the Storm" was launched in 2001 as an experiment. Most of the Wildstorm imprint was remade into mature readers superhero comics. Joe Casey kept writing Wildcats, although it became Wildcats 3. 0. The new version would be penciled by Dustin Nguyen. Gen 13 was relaunched with a new first issue but its spin-off 21 Down remained an all-ages comic. The former was written by X-Men's Chris Claremont, and the latter by Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Grey. After Point Blank, a mini-series starring Grifter, Ed Brubaker carried on with the same ideas and launched critically acclaimed Sleeper was set in the Wildstorm universe. Ed Brubaker (born November 17 1966 is an Eisner Award -winning American Cartoonist and Writer. The year was also the start of Warren Ellis's Global Frequency. Warren Ellis (born February 16, 1968) is a British author of Comics Novels and Television, well known for sociocultural Global Frequency is an American comic book published by Wildstorm Productions, created and written by Warren Ellis. The rights for Global Frequency were bought by Warner Brothers in 2004, and a pilot for a TV series for the WB network was made but the show was not picked up. Warner Bros Entertainment Inc (or Warner Bros, Warner Bros Pictures) is one of the world's largest producers of Film and The pilot, however, was later leaked to the internet.
The Authority was relegated to Robbie Morrison starred in a one-shot called "Scorched Earth" after which an initial story was published as back-up in all of "Eye of the Storm" titles, finally receiving a new ongoing series. It was that series that featured a storyline that stretched into the Coup D'État crossover between "Eye of the Storm" books Authority, Sleeper, Stormwatch: Team Achilles and Wildcats v. 3. Stormwatch was remade into Stormwatch: Team Achilles, an anti-superhero book featuring Black Razors-leader Ben Santini and his group of soldiers marking humans stand in the Wildstorm Universe.
Two anthology "Winter special" books were also published as part of imprint, but sales floundered despite critical acclaim. Some titles were taken down early on, like Gen 13 and 21 Down, which was left without a promised second season. Thus, except for Sleeper that got its Second season published with a definite ending, most of the line was canceled two years after its foundation. Wildcats v. 3 was the title fans most derided DC for canceling, considering writer Joe Casey stated that he planned an organic ending in #40. Even though canceled, Stormwatch: Team Achilles last issue never came out due to writer Mikah Wright lying to the publishers about his military history leading to him being blacklisted since.
Current direction
To this day, WildStorm has been varying its publishing with licensed properties, such as A Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and World of Warcraft, and with original graphic novels from the pens of such famous writers as Kevin J. Anderson, John Ridley, and David Brin. A Nightmare on Elm Street is an American horror franchise that consists of eight Slasher films a television show, Friday the 13th is an American horror franchise that consists of eleven Slasher films a television show, Novels World of Warcraft (commonly acronymed as WoW) is a Massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG Kevin J Anderson (born March 27, 1962) is an American Science fiction Author. John Ridley is an American film director actor and writer Ridley got his start as a Stand-up comedian. Glen David Brin, PhD (born October 6, 1950) is an American scientist and award-winning author of Science fiction.
In 2004, WildStorm revamped its system of sub-imprints. Events February February 6: Marvel Enterprises and Electronic Arts announce a multi-year agreement in which EA The company properties fell under the Wildstorm Universe imprint, the creator-owned properties fell under the WildStorm Signature Series imprint, and all the licensed properties fell under the WildStorm imprint. The Wildstorm Universe is the main fictional Shared universe where a core of stories published by Wildstorm take place
In the post-Eye of the Storm state, WildStorm published less titles centered around its Wildstorm universe titles, including Majestic, whose series grew out of his spotlight in Superman titles, and Wildcats: Nemesis. Mister Majestic is a Fictional character, a Wildstorm Productions Superhero created by H Nemesis is a fictional Comic book character owned by DC Comics / Wildstorm Comics.
In August 2006, WildStorm consolidated all its output under a single "WildStorm" label to simplify the imprint for consumers and retailers. Events January January 1 2006: Newsweek offer a look back at 2005 through editorial cartoons
In 2007 the Wildstorm universe became Earth-50 of the new multiverse in the DC universe. Events January January 10: Superman & Batman vs Aliens & Predator released
In May 2008, it was announced that the events of Wildstorm: Revelations. Events January January 9: Teen Titans The Lost Annual, delayed since 2003, is published Wildstorm Revelations Comic book Limited series, written by Scott Beatty and Christos Gage with art by Wes Craig. Wildstorm: Armageddon, and Number of the Beast will segue into Wildstorm: World's End, a post-apocalyptic crossover storyline. Wildstorm Armageddon was crossover event in the Wildstorm Universe, written by Christos Gage and drawn by various artists Number of the Beast is a Comic book Limited series, written by Scott Beatty, with art by Chris Sprouse. The Wildstorm Universe is the main fictional Shared universe where a core of stories published by Wildstorm take place
See also
Notes
References
- Wildstorm at the Comic Book DB
- Wild at Heart: Ben Abernathy, Newsarama, May 19, 2008
External links
Wildstorm started publishing comics in 1992 Since then they have published an increasing number of titles both in the Wildstorm Fictional universe and in various creator-owned Wildstorm ABC Newsarama is an American Website that publishes News, Interviews and Essays about the American comic book MySpace is a popular social networking Website offering an interactive user-submitted network of friends personal profiles blogs groups photos music andDapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic