[Se]
an
/ref> Though this 1980s incarnation featured Rich Buckler
Rich may refer to:
Common uses
* Rich, an entity possessing wealth
* Rich, an intense flavor, color, sound, texture, or feeling
** Rich (wine), a descriptor in wine tasting
Places United States
* Rich, Mississippi, an unincorporated commun ...
's work prominently, it also featured contributions from others, including artists Jim Steranko
James F. Steranko (; born November 5, 1938) is an American graphic artist, comic book writer/artist, comics historian, magician, publisher and film production illustrator.
His most famous comic book work was with the 1960s superspy feature " ...
, Alex Toth
Alexander Toth (June 25, 1928 – May 27, 2006) was an American cartoonist active from the 1940s through the 1980s. Toth's work began in the American comic book industry, but he is also known for his animation designs for Hanna-Barbera throughout ...
, Steve Ditko
Stephen John Ditko Page contains two reproductions from school yearbooks. A 1943 Garfield Junior High School yearbook excerpt lists "Stephen Ditko". A 1945 Johnstown High School yearbook excerpt lists "Stephen J. Ditko" under extracurricular act ...
, Rudy Nebres
Rodolfo D. Nebres (born January 14, 1937) is a Filipino comics artist who has worked mostly as an inker in the American comic book industry. Known for his lush, detailed inklines, Nebres' most prolific period was in the late 1970s and the 1980s. ...
, Alan Weiss, Carmine Infantino
Carmine Michael Infantino (; May 24, 1925 – April 4, 2013) was an American comics artist and editing, editor, primarily for DC Comics, during the late 1950s and early 1960s period known as the Silver Age of Comic Books. Among his character creat ...
, Dick Ayers
Richard Bache Ayers (; April 28, 1924 – May 4, 2014) 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 s ...
, John Severin
John Powers Severin (; December 26, 1921 – February 12, 2012) was an American comics artist noted for his distinctive work with EC Comics, primarily on the war comics ''Two-Fisted Tales'' and ''Frontline Combat''; for Marvel Comics, esp ...
and Pat Boyette
Aaron P. "Pat" Boyette (July 27, 1923 – January 14, 2000) was an American broadcasting personality and news producer, and later a comic book artist best known for two decades of work for Charlton Comics, where he co-created the character the Pe ...
.
Archie Adventure Series revival
With the February 1984 issues, the Red Circle line was renamed the Archie Adventure Series,[ reviving the name from the company's superhero line of the early 1960s. During this period, the company published, as either Red Circle or Archie Adventure, a comic-book tie-in to ]Remco
Remco Industries, Inc. was a toy company in the United States founded in the 1940s. It was best known for toys marketed and sold in the late 1950s and early 1960s, like the 'Johnny Reb Cannon', 'Mighty Matilda Atomic Aircraft Carrier', 'Remco Voi ...
's ''ManTech Robot Warriors'' toy line (two issues, Sept.-Dec. 1984), a Katy Keene
Katy Keene is a character created by Bill Woggon that has appeared in several comic book series published by Archie Comics since 1945. She is a model/actress/singer marketed by the publisher as "America's Queen of Pin-Ups and Fashions". In the bo ...
Special (Sept. 1983), and an issue of ''Thunder Bunny
Thunderbunny is a comic book about a boy who transforms into a superhero resembling a large pink humanoid rabbit. It was created by Martin Greim.
Publication history
Thunderbunny's first appearance published by a major company was '' Charlton Bull ...
'' (Jan. 1984).[ By September 1985, the entire line that originated with Red Circle had been cancelled.][
In 1988, however, with Archie's acquisition of the '']Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' is an American media franchise created by the comic book artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It follows Leonardo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Leonardo, Michelangelo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Miche ...
'' license, the Archie Adventure Series returned as the imprint behind ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures
''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures'' is a comic book series published from August 1988 to October 1995 by Archie Comics, based on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles characters created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It is mainly based on t ...
'', which ran 72 issues until October 1995. In the late 1980s, Archie Adventure Series published '' The Adventures of Bayou Billy'', based on a popular video game, and in the early 1990s the imprint published ''Mighty Mutanimals
''Mighty Mutanimals'' is a superhero team spin-off comic in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise. The team first appeared in the comic books series ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures'', where they formed as a team of mutant animals ...
'', a superhero team comic spun off from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Spectrum Comics
Archie planned to begin publishing superheroes again in the late 1980s with an imprint called Spectrum Comics, featuring a number of high-profile talents, including Steve Englehart
Steve Englehart (; born April 22, 1947) is an American writer of comic books and novels. He is best known for his work at Marvel Comics and DC Comics in the 1970s and 1980s. His pseudonyms have included John Harkness and Cliff Garnett.
Early li ...
, Jim Valentino
Jim Valentino (born October 28, 1952) is an American writer, penciler, editor and publisher of comic books, best known for his 1990–1992 work on ''Guardians of the Galaxy'' for Marvel Comics, and for co-founding Image Comics, a company publis ...
, Marv Wolfman
Marvin Arthur Wolfman (born May 13, 1946) is an American comic book and novelization writer. He worked on Marvel Comics's ''The Tomb of Dracula'', for which he and artist Gene Colan created the vampire-slayer Blade, and DC Comics's '' The New Te ...
, Michael Bair
Michael A. Hernandez is an American comics artist also known by the pen name Michael Bair, who is best known for his work as an inker. His work includes Marvel Comics' ''Alpha Flight'', and DC Comics' ''Hawkman''. He is best known for inking Rags ...
, Kelley Jones
Kelley Jones (born July 23, 1962) is an American comics artist best known for his work on ''Batman'' with writer Doug Moench and on '' The Sandman'' with writer Neil Gaiman.
Early life
Kelley Jones was born in Sacramento, California and grew up ...
, and Rob Liefeld
Robert Liefeld (; born October 3, 1967) is an American comic book creator. A prominent writer and artist in the 1990s, he is known for co-creating the character Cable (comics), Cable with writer Louise Simonson and the character Deadpool with wri ...
. Planned Spectrum titles included '' The Fly'', '' The Fox'', '' Hangman'', ''Jaguar
The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus '' Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the th ...
'', '' Mister Justice'', and ''The Shield
''The Shield'' is an American crime drama television series starring Michael Chiklis that premiered on March 12, 2002, on FX in the United States, and concluded on November 25, 2008, after seven seasons. Known for its portrayal of corrupt poli ...
''. Ultimately, Archie cancelled Spectrum Comics before publishing a single issue.
DC Comics licensing
Impact Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery.
DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...
licensed the Red Circle characters and revamped them for publishing under the Impact Comics
Impact Comics was an imprint of DC Comics that was aimed at younger audiences. It began in 1991 and ended in 1993. The initial "I" in the logo was stylized as an exclamation point, but the official name of the imprint was not ''!mpact''.
Impact ...
imprint from 1991 to 1992. This attempt also included a super team, called simply "The Crusaders".[ The stories in the line were set their own shared universe, unrelated to previous incarnations of the characters or to DC's own fictional universe.]
Red Circle line
DC was granted the license to the Red Circle characters in 2008. DC planned to inject the characters into the DC Universe
The DC Universe (DCU) is the fictional shared universe where most stories in American comic book titles published by DC Comics take place. Superheroes such as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Robin, Martian Manhunter, The Flash, Green Lant ...
and tapped writer J. Michael Straczynski
Joseph Michael Straczynski (; born July 17, 1954) is an American filmmaker and comic book writer. He is the founder of Synthetic Worlds Ltd. and Studio JMS and is best known as the creator of the science fiction television series ''Babylon 5'' ( ...
. The line
Line most often refers to:
* Line (geometry), object with zero thickness and curvature that stretches to infinity
* Telephone line, a single-user circuit on a telephone communication system
Line, lines, The Line, or LINE may also refer to:
Arts ...
folded in late 2010. In July 2011, it was revealed that DC no longer had the rights to them.
Red Circle digital imprint
Archie Comics announced at the New York Comic Con in October 2011 that its superhero line will return as an all-digital line under a subscription model with back issues archive access. This was announced as the Red Circle line starting with the New Crusader comic in 2012. The Red Circle Comics app provides readers access to a new chapter of the ''New Crusaders'' comic, as well as the Red Circle library of comics from the previous 70 years for a 99 cent weekly subscription price.[Keily, Karl (July 25, 2012)]
"CCI: 'New Crusaders' Rule Archie's Red Circle Comics Panel"
Comic Book Resources.
In 2012, New Crusaders was followed up with ''Lost Crusade: Prelude'', a free one-shot focusing on the lives of the original Mighty Crusaders which debuted on August 29 through the Red Circle Comics app at RedCircleComics.com. Ian Flynn had pitched the idea as "I was really excited by all the prospective stories to be told between the end of the '80s series and our relaunch... There were so many open endings when the '80s era series wrapped up that it's hard to choose. What happened to Darkling? Who was the traitor? Did Black Hood figure it out or just make things worse? Did anyone mourn Doc Reeves?" The first arc of New Crusaders was also printed.[Phegley, Kiel (August 29, 2012)]
"Ian Flynn Launches Red Circle's 'Lost Crusade'"
Comic Book Resources.
Chuck Dixon
Charles Dixon (born April 14, 1954) is an American comic book writer, best known for his work on the Marvel Comics character the Punisher and on the DC Comics characters Batman, Nightwing, and Robin in the 1990s and early 2000s.
Early life
D ...
was announced as writing the second story arc of ''Lost Crusade'' and ''New Crusaders: Dark Tomorrow'' was announced for May 2013, but neither was released.
A five-issue ''The Fox'' miniseries by Mark Waid
Mark Waid (; born March 21, 1962) is an American comic book writer best known for his work on DC Comics titles ''The Flash'', '' Kingdom Come'' and '' Superman: Birthright'' as well as his work on ''Captain America'', ''Fantastic Four'' and '' Dar ...
and Dean Haspiel
Dean Edmund Haspiel (born May 31, 1967 in New York City) is an American comic book artist, writer, and playwright. He is known for creating Billy Dogma, The Red Hook, and for his collaborations with writer Harvey Pekar on his '' American Splendor ...
began in October 2013, with ''The Shield'' back-up strips by J.M. DeMatteis (who co-wrote ''Fox'' #5 instead of Waid).
Dark Circle Comics
In July 2014, Archie Comics announced that the Red Circle Comics imprint would be relaunched as Dark Circle Comics in early 2015 with the past continuity removed. Tales will be self-contained, five-issue story arcs in ongoing series. ''Black Hood
The Black Hood is a fictional character created by MLJ Comics (later known as Archie Comics) during the period known as the "Golden Age of Comic Books". The Black Hood first appeared in ''Top-Notch Comics #9'', October 1940 and became one of MLJ ...
'' debuted in February 2015, followed by ''The Fox'', continuing from the digital Red Circle line in April 2015, with ''The Shield'' debuting in September 2015 after being delayed. A digital exclusive, ''Sam Hill: In The Crosshairs'', was released in October 2015 featuring former NYPD detective Sam Hill. A fourth series, '' The Hangman'', debuted in November 2015. In July 2015, the publisher announced a revamped version of its 1940s character the Web would debut the following year.The announced series never materialised.
Characters
As of 2016
* Black Hood (Greg Hettinger)
* The Fox (Paul Patton Jr.)
* Shield (Victoria Adams)
* The Hangman
* The Web (Jane Raymond)
Former
* Black Hood (Matthew Burland)
*Black Jack
*Captain Commando
* The Comet
*Fireball
*Firefly
The Lampyridae are a family of elateroid beetles with more than 2,000 described species, many of which are light-emitting. They are soft-bodied beetles commonly called fireflies, lightning bugs, or glowworms for their conspicuous production ...
* The Fly/Fly-Man
* Flygirl
* The Fox
* The Jaguar
*Mighty Crusaders
The Mighty Crusaders is a fictional superhero team published by Archie Comics. The team originally appeared in ''Fly-Man'' No. 31, #32 and No. 33 before being launched in its own title, ''Mighty Crusaders''. Written by Superman co-creator Jerry ...
* Mister Justice
* Sam Hill
* Shield (Joe Higgins)
* Shield (Lancelot Strong)
* Steel Sterling
* The Web (John Raymond)
* Wizard
* Doc Reeves
Titles
Titles in publication as of 2016
* ''The Shield
''The Shield'' is an American crime drama television series starring Michael Chiklis that premiered on March 12, 2002, on FX in the United States, and concluded on November 25, 2008, after seven seasons. Known for its portrayal of corrupt poli ...
'' (October 2015–)
* '' The Hangman'' (November 2015–)
* '' The Black Hood: Season 2'' (October 2016–)
See also
* List of Archie Comics imprint publications
References
External links
*
Mighty Crusaders Network
{{Comic book publishers in North America navbox
Archie Comics imprints
Comic book publishing companies of the United States