The Image Universe (IU) is a
fictional universe in which some stories published by
Image Comics take place. It was introduced in the early years of the publisher, shared by the various creators who formed the Image partnership. The independent, creator-owned nature of their work led to limited interaction between their characters, and little coordination of the Image Universe as a shared setting. Instead it has mainly served as the ostensible setting of occasional
crossovers
Crossover may refer to:
Entertainment
Albums and songs
* ''Cross Over'' (Dan Peek album)
* ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987
* ''Crossover'' (Intrigue album)
* ''Crossover'' (Hitomi Shimatani album)
* ''Crossover'' (Yoshino ...
between different series, including ''
Deathmate
''Deathmate'' was a six-part comic book crossover between Valiant Comics and Image Comics published in 1993 and 1994.
Background
Designated by color rather than issue numbers (namely Yellow, Blue, Black, and Red) plus two book-end issues, ''Dea ...
'', ''
Image United
''Image United'' is an incomplete comic book limited series published by Image Comics. The intent of the series was to re-unite the founders of Image Comics on a joint project, serving as a crossover between various Image Comics and Image Universe ...
'', and ''
The Invincible War''.
Publication history
The Image Universe began with the founding of Image Comics in 1992, launching with series such as ''
The Savage Dragon'', ''
Spawn
Spawn or spawning may refer to:
* Spawn (biology), the eggs and sperm of aquatic animals
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Spawn (character), a fictional character in the comic series of the same name and in the associated franchise
** '' Spawn: ...
'', ''
Youngblood,'' and ''
WildC.A.T.s
Wildcats, sometimes rendered WildCats or WildC.A.T.s, is a superhero team created by the American comic book artist Jim Lee and writer Brandon Choi.
Publication history
The team first appeared in August 1992 in the first issue of their epon ...
''.
Image Comics' nature of allowing comic creators to retain the rights to the characters they publish with Image has led to many characters entering or exiting the Image Universe as the creators move from or to other publishers. Image co-founder and ''Savage Dragon'' creator Erik Larsen generally treats the Image Universe continuity as though each title exists in its own universe, and any crossovers between different creators' characters are events that occur simultaneously in each respective characters' universes.
When Jim Lee was an Image partner, his
WildStorm
Wildstorm Productions, (stylized as WildStorm), is an American comic book imprint. Originally founded as an independent company established by Jim Lee under the name "Aegis Entertainment" and expanded in subsequent years by other creators, Wild ...
properties such as ''
WildC.A.T.s
Wildcats, sometimes rendered WildCats or WildC.A.T.s, is a superhero team created by the American comic book artist Jim Lee and writer Brandon Choi.
Publication history
The team first appeared in August 1992 in the first issue of their epon ...
'', ''
Stormwatch'', ''
Gen¹³
''Gen¹³'' is a superhero team and comic book series originally written by Jim Lee and Brandon Choi and illustrated by J. Scott Campbell. It was published by WildStorm under the Image Comics banner, which went on to become an imprint for DC ...
'', ''Union'', ''
Deathblow'', ''
Wetworks
Wetwork ( rus, мокрое дело, mokroye delo) is a euphemism for murder or assassination that alludes to spilling blood. The expression and the similar ''wet job'', ''wet affair'', or ''wet operation'' are all calques of Russian terms for su ...
'', and ''
Backlash
Backlash may refer to:
Literature
* '' Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women'', a 1991 book by Susan Faludi
* ''Backlash'' (Star Wars novel), a 2010 novel by Aaron Allston
* Backlash (Marc Slayton), comic book character
* ''Backla ...
'' regularly crossed over with other Image characters, but when he sold his studio to
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 ...
, this ceased.
In June 1996,
Erik Larsen
Erik J. Larsen (born December 8, 1962) is an American comic book artist, writer, and publisher. He currently acts as the chief financial officer of Image Comics. He gained attention in the early 1990s with his art on Spider-Man series for Marvel ...
relaunched the
original ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' series by
Mirage Studios
Mirage Studios was an American comic book company founded in 1983 by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird in Dover, New Hampshire. The company was best known for the ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' (''TMNT'') comic book series and the subsequent franc ...
with a third volume under the
Image Comics banner, featuring supporting characters from other series and various crossovers with ''The Savage Dragon'' and ''Spawn''. The series ceased publication on a cliffhanger in 1999. After its cancellation, the series remained in publication limbo for nearly two decades, with no reprints or collected volumes. In 2018,
IDW Publishing, which publishes
their own ''TMNT'' comic series, began to reproduce the existing 23 issues in a colored version, as well as officially conclude the Image series with a final three-issue story arc, with Carlson and Fosco again taking part in this project.
There were several Image crossover mini-series in the 1990s, such as ''Shattered Image'', ''Altered Image'', ''Big Bruisers'', ''Badrock & Company'', ''
Deathmate
''Deathmate'' was a six-part comic book crossover between Valiant Comics and Image Comics published in 1993 and 1994.
Background
Designated by color rather than issue numbers (namely Yellow, Blue, Black, and Red) plus two book-end issues, ''Dea ...
'', ''
Darker Image
''Darker Image'' was an American comic book published by Image Comics. The series was intended as 4-issue miniseries, serving as an introduction to three "grim and gritty" characters. The series, however, only had one published issue, published i ...
,'' and ''Splitting Image'', along with the Eclipse Comics satire ''Spittin' Image''. But only ''
Mars Attacks
''Mars Attacks'' is a science fiction-themed trading card series released in 1962 by Topps. The cards feature artwork by science fiction artists Wally Wood and Norman Saunders. The cards form a story arc, which tells of the invasion of Earth by ...
Image'' had any direct impact on the titles represented, as the Martians' attack was also shown and referenced many times in the ''Savage Dragon'' series.
In 2009, the Image Universe had its first major crossover in several years with ''
Image United
''Image United'' is an incomplete comic book limited series published by Image Comics. The intent of the series was to re-unite the founders of Image Comics on a joint project, serving as a crossover between various Image Comics and Image Universe ...
''. However, it was canceled, with ''Youngblood'' being sold to Terrific Productions.
''The Pact'', a crossover between ''
Invincible
Invincible may refer to:
Film and television
* ''Invincible'' (2001 drama film), a drama by Werner Herzog about Jewish cabaret during the rise of Nazism
* ''Invincible'' (2001 TV film), a fantasy / martial arts TV movie starring Billy Zane
...
'', ''
ShadowHawk
ShadowHawk is a fictional antihero created by Jim Valentino.
He was first advertised in the ''Malibu Sun'' free promotional magazine in May of 1992. His official Image Comics debut was in the second issue of Rob Liefeld's '' Youngblood'' serie ...
'', ''
Noble Causes'', and ''
Firebreather'', was also produced.
In 2021,
Todd McFarlane
Todd McFarlane (; born March 16, 1961) is a Canadian comic book creator, artist, writer, filmmaker and entrepreneur, best known for his work as the artist on ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' and as the creator, writer, and artist on the superhero horro ...
announced the mainline ''Spawn'' series to be expanded into its own shared universe, with ''King Spawn'', ''Gunslinger Spawn'' and ''The Scorched''.
He would also like 12 more titles for Spawn's expanded universe.
Later on in 2021, following the success of
Kyle Higgins
Kyle Higgins (born June 12, 1985) is an American comic book writer and film director. He is best known for his work on the ''Batman'' franchise at DC Comics, namely writing the miniseries '' Batman: Gates of Gotham'' and for the ''Nightwing'' and ...
' ''
Radiant Black'', it was announced that it would expand into its own universe of books dubbed "
The Massive-Verse". It all started with a one-shot crossover entitled ''Supermassive'', written by Higgins, Ryan Parrott, and Mat Groom with art by Francesco Manna and Simone Ragazzoni. The comic served as a crossover between Radiant Black, Inferno Girl Red, and Rogue Sun, with the comic marking the first appearances of the latter two. ''Rogue Sun'' would later launch as an ongoing in March 2022 written by Parrott and drawn by Abel, while ''Inferno Girl Red'' would launch as an
original graphic novel
A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...
, with Groom as writer and Erica D'Urso as artist in late 2022. Radiant Black would later get a spin-off of its own with ''Radiant Red'', a 5 issue miniseries written by Cherish Chen and art by
David Lafuente
David Lafuente is a Spanish-born comic book artist known for his work on books such as '' Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man''. He currently resides in London.[Crossover
Crossover may refer to:
Entertainment
Albums and songs
* ''Cross Over'' (Dan Peek album)
* ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987
* ''Crossover'' (Intrigue album)
* ''Crossover'' (Hitomi Shimatani album)
* ''Crossover'' (Yoshino ...]
''
* ''
Invincible
Invincible may refer to:
Film and television
* ''Invincible'' (2001 drama film), a drama by Werner Herzog about Jewish cabaret during the rise of Nazism
* ''Invincible'' (2001 TV film), a fantasy / martial arts TV movie starring Billy Zane
...
'' universe (
Skybound Entertainment
Skybound Entertainment is an American multiplatform entertainment company founded by Robert Kirkman and David Alpert.
History
Skybound Entertainment is the company behind the long-running comic, '' The Walking Dead'', created by Robert Kirkman. ...
)
*
Massive-Verse
The Massive-Verse is a shared universe, created by Kyle Higgins, which spans a line of comic books published by Image Comics.
Publication history
In November 2020, it was announced that Higgins was writing another creator-owned book for Image C ...
(
Black Market Narrative)
*
''Spawn's Universe'' (
Todd McFarlane Productions
Todd McFarlane (; born March 16, 1961) is a Canadian comic book creator, artist, writer, filmmaker and entrepreneur, best known for his work as the artist on ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' and as the creator, writer, and artist on the superhero horro ...
)
* Top Cow Universe (
Top Cow Productions
Top Cow Productions is an American comics publisher, an imprint of Image Comics founded by Marc Silvestri in 1992.
History
During the early years of Image Comics, which was founded in 1992, co-founder Marc Silvestri shared a studio with Jim L ...
)
* Wildstorm Universe (
WildStorm
Wildstorm Productions, (stylized as WildStorm), is an American comic book imprint. Originally founded as an independent company established by Jim Lee under the name "Aegis Entertainment" and expanded in subsequent years by other creators, Wild ...
, currently owned by DC Comics)
* Highbrow universe (owned by Erik Lareson)
References
External links
Erik Larsen's explanation of how the Image Universe works
Fictional universes
Canons (fiction)
Continuity (fiction)
{{Image Comics