Mike Richardson (born June 29, 1950) is an American publisher, writer, and
Emmy
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
-winning producer. In 1986, he founded
Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, and manga publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, Oregon comic book shops known ...
, an award-winning international publishing house located in
Milwaukie, Oregon
Milwaukie is a city mostly in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States; a very small portion of the city extends into Multnomah County. The population was 20,291 at the 2010 census. Founded in 1847 on the banks of the Willamette River, the city ...
. Richardson is also the founder and President of the Things From Another World retail chain and president of
Dark Horse Entertainment
Dark Horse Entertainment is a motion picture and television production arm of American comic book publishing company Dark Horse Comics, founded in 1992. They also have a sub-label, Dark Horse Indie. They have their headquarters in Milwaukie, Oreg ...
, which has developed and produced numerous projects for film and television based on Dark Horse properties or licensed properties.
In addition, he has written numerous graphic novels and comics series, including ''
The Secret'', ''
Living with the Dead'', and ''
Cut
Cut may refer to:
Common uses
* The act of cutting, the separation of an object into two through acutely-directed force
** A type of wound
** Cut (archaeology), a hole dug in the past
** Cut (clothing), the style or shape of a garment
** Cut (ea ...
'' as well as co-authoring two non-fiction books: ''
Comics Between the Panels'' and ''
Blast Off!''.
Early life
Mike Richardson was born June 29, 1950, in Portland, Oregon. His family moved to Milwaukie, a suburb of Portland, in 1955. He is a graduate of
Portland State University
Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the following two decades ...
, where he majored in art and played for the university basketball team.
Career
While in college, Richardson built a list of clients as a freelance artist and had planned on starting an art agency under the nam
Dark Horse Graphics In 1980, Richardson quit his job producing art and designing products for a furniture company located in Portland and moved to Bend, Oregon with his wife, Karie, and their newborn daughter, Michelle. He used a credit card with a $2,500.00 limit to open a small, pop culture retail store. The store’s name, Pegasus Fantasy Books, was chosen off a list of twenty suggestions he submitted to the State of Oregon when applying for a DBA registration. The store opened for business on January 1, 1980. After a name change to Things From Another World in 1993, the original store grew into a chain with as many as eleven locations in three states, including Universal Studio’s CityWalk in Los Angeles and Sony’s Metreon in San Francisco. The success of the on-line TFAW retail site led to a decision to limit expansion plans and, reduce the number of brick-and-mortar locations, in favor of increased emphasis toward online sales.
Dark Horse Comics
Richardson frequently hosted writers and artists at signings in his retail stores. He repeatedly heard these creators complain that they did not own or control the characters they created, a general practice continued from the industry’s earliest days. An idea began to form in his mind about creating a comics publishing company that offered ownership to those creating intellectual properties. Dark Horse Comics was born focusing on the rights of comics creators, and with the help of friend and writer Randy Stradley, released its first publication, Dark Horse Presents #1, in July 1986. Richardson paid 100% of the book’s profits to the creators featured in the book. Hoping to sell 10,000 copies in order to break even, DHP #1 topped the 50,000 sales mark. The company quickly grew from there. Paul Chadwick’s Concrete graduated from the pages of DHP into its own title and became a critical, as well as financial, success. Many of the titles and characters created in the early days of Dark Horse were created, written, or plotted by Richardson and Stradley.
Over the years, Dark Horse grew behind creator-owned projects such as Frank Miller and Geof Darrow’s Hard Boiled, Miller’s Sin City and 300, Mike Mignola's Hellboy, and Eric Powell’s The Goon. Richardson’s interest in Japanese pop culture led to Dark Horse’s early entry into the American
manga
Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...
scene. The company achieved success with major Japanese titles, including
Kazuo Koike
was a prolific Japanese manga writer ( gensakusha), novelist, screenwriter, lyricist and entrepreneur. He is best known for his violent, artful ''seinen'' manga, notably ''Lone Wolf and Cub'' (with Goseki Kojima, 1970–6), '' Lady Snowblood'' ...
and
Goseki Kojima
was a Japanese manga artist. He is known for his collaborations with manga writer Kazuo Koike, the most famous of them being ''Lone Wolf and Cub''.
Biography
Kojima was born in Yokkaichi, Mie, on the same day as Osamu Tezuka. After getting out ...
's ''
Lone Wolf and Cub
is a Japanese manga series created by writer Kazuo Koike and artist Goseki Kojima. First published in 1970, the story was adapted into six films starring Tomisaburo Wakayama, four plays, a television series starring Kinnosuke Yorozuya, and i ...
'',
Katsuhiro Otomo
is a Japanese manga artist, screenwriter, animator and film director. He is best known as the creator of '' Akira'', in terms of both the original 1982 manga series and the 1988 animated film adaptation. He was decorated a ''Chevalier'' of th ...
's ''
Akira'', and
Masamune Shirow
, better known by his pen name , is a Japanese manga artist. Shirow is best known for the manga '' Ghost in the Shell'', which has since been turned into three theatrical anime films, two anime television series, an anime television movie, an a ...
's ''
Ghost in the Shell
''Ghost in the Shell'' is a Japanese cyberpunk media franchise based on the seinen manga series of the same name written and illustrated by Masamune Shirow. The manga, first serialized in 1989 under the subtitle of ''The Ghost in the Shell'' ...
''. Following these successes, Dark Horse imported
Hiroaki Samura
is a Japanese manga artist, known for ''Blade of the Immortal'', as well as several other short works. He has also done various illustrations for magazines and ero guro work.
Education
Samura says that he always wanted to be a manga artist. How ...
's ''
Blade of the Immortal
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hiroaki Samura. The series is set in Japan during the mid- Tokugawa Shogunate period and follows the cursed samurai Manji, who has to kill 1,000 evil men in order to regain his mortal ...
'' and
Kosuke Fujishima's ''
Oh My Goddess!
, or ''Ah! My Goddess!'' in some releases, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kōsuke Fujishima. It was serialized in Kodansha's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''Monthly Afternoon'' from September 1988 to April 2014, ...
'' to the United States, where the series' have become two of the longest running Japanese manga titles in the country.
In 1988, Dark Horse introduced a series based on the James Cameron film ''
Aliens
Alien primarily refers to:
* Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country
** Enemy alien, the above in times of war
* Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth
** Specifically, intelligent extrate ...
''. Breaking from comics’ tradition, the series was presented as a direct sequel, continuing the adventures of the film's main characters and related directly to the film’s plot. This approach was repeated by Dark Horse in subsequent series based on films such as ''Terminator'', ''Predator'', ''Star Wars'', and ''Aliens vs. Predator''. This approach to film properties has become standard in the comics industry. Dark Horse is currently the largest privately owned comics company in North America.
Along with his other activities, Richardson continues to write comics. In 2014, his collaboration with Stan Sakai, ''47 Ronin'', was placed on the American Libraries Teen reading List.
Dark Horse Entertainment
Early on, Dark Horse Comics received attention from the film industry, with producers and studios attempting to option the publisher's titles. From the beginning, Richardson’s goal was to keep Dark Horse and its creators as involved in the development of its titles for entertainment as possible. It quickly became apparent that the only way to assure involvement was to act as a producer on those projects. In 1989, Richardson met producer Larry Gordon, who had heard about the company through his creative executive, Lloyd Levin. Gordon offered him the chance to get involved with a small horror film he was developing, As a result, Richardson set up Dark Horse Productions, later to become Dark Horse Entertainment, and received a co-producer credit on Many Cota’s Dr. Giggles. Two of Richardson’s own creations, The Mask, and Timecop followed in 1994 and both topped the box office charts. In 2008, Richardson received an Emmy as Producer of the John Landis directed documentary, Mr. Warmth, The Don Rickles Project. Richardson and DHE have been involved in producing more than 30 film and television projects since 1992.
Personal life
Richardson is married with children. He names
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...
and
James Ellroy
Lee Earle "James" Ellroy (born March 4, 1948) is an American crime fiction writer and essayist. Ellroy has become known for a telegrammatic prose style in his most recent work, wherein he frequently omits connecting words and uses only short, sta ...
as his favorite writers, and
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
' ''
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' as his favorite album. He is also fond of basketball, guitars and fine wine.
['']Comics Buyer's Guide
''Comics Buyer's Guide'' (''CBG''; ), established in 1971, was the longest-running English-language periodical reporting on the American comic book industry. It awarded its annual Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Awards from 1983 to circa 2010. The public ...
'' #1669, September 2010, Page 82. He resides in
Lake Oswego, Oregon
Lake Oswego () is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon, primarily in Clackamas County, with small portions extending into neighboring Multnomah and Washington counties. Located about south of Portland and surrounding the Oswego Lake, the town was ...
.
Nominations and awards
*1997
Razzie
The Golden Raspberry Awards (also known as the Razzies and Razzie Awards) is a parody award show honoring the worst of cinematic under-achievements. Co-founded by UCLA film graduates and film industry veterans John J. B. Wilson and Mo Murphy, ...
Nomination for ''
Barb Wire
Barb Wire may refer to:
* Barb wire, a fencing material
* Barb Wire (character), a comic book superhero published by Dark Horse Comics
* ''Barb Wire'' (1996 film), starring Pamela Anderson, based on the comic book
* ''Barb Wire'' (pinball), pinb ...
''
*1999
Eisner Awards
The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books, sometimes referred to as the comics industry's equivalent of the Academy Awards. They are named in ...
Nominated Best Comics-Related Book –
Comics Between the Panels – (author with
Steve Duin)
*2007
Emmy
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
Nomination for ''
Hellboy: Sword of Storms''
*2008
Emmy Award
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
Won for Best Variety, Music, or Comedy Special –
Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project (producer)
*2010
Overstreet Hall of Fame For contributions to comic book art.
*2010 Governors' Gold Award – State of Oregon for Contribution to the Arts
*2012
Eisner Awards
The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books, sometimes referred to as the comics industry's equivalent of the Academy Awards. They are named in ...
: Won for Best Anthology –
Dark Horse Presents
''Dark Horse Presents'' was a comic book published by American company Dark Horse Comics from 1986. Their first published series, it was their flagship title until its September 2000 cancellation. The second incarnation was published on MySpace, r ...
(editor)
*2012
Harvey Awards
The Harvey Awards are given for achievement in comic books. Named for writer-artist Harvey Kurtzman, the Harvey Awards were founded by Gary Groth in 1988, president of the publisher Fantagraphics, to be the successor to the Kirby Awards that were ...
: Won for Best Anthology –
Dark Horse Presents
''Dark Horse Presents'' was a comic book published by American company Dark Horse Comics from 1986. Their first published series, it was their flagship title until its September 2000 cancellation. The second incarnation was published on MySpace, r ...
(editor)
*2013
Eisner Awards
The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books, sometimes referred to as the comics industry's equivalent of the Academy Awards. They are named in ...
: Won for Best Anthology –
Dark Horse Presents
''Dark Horse Presents'' was a comic book published by American company Dark Horse Comics from 1986. Their first published series, it was their flagship title until its September 2000 cancellation. The second incarnation was published on MySpace, r ...
(editor)
*2013
Harvey Awards
The Harvey Awards are given for achievement in comic books. Named for writer-artist Harvey Kurtzman, the Harvey Awards were founded by Gary Groth in 1988, president of the publisher Fantagraphics, to be the successor to the Kirby Awards that were ...
: Won for Best Anthology –
Dark Horse Presents
''Dark Horse Presents'' was a comic book published by American company Dark Horse Comics from 1986. Their first published series, it was their flagship title until its September 2000 cancellation. The second incarnation was published on MySpace, r ...
(editor)
*2014
Eisner Awards
The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books, sometimes referred to as the comics industry's equivalent of the Academy Awards. They are named in ...
: Won for Best Anthology –
Dark Horse Presents
''Dark Horse Presents'' was a comic book published by American company Dark Horse Comics from 1986. Their first published series, it was their flagship title until its September 2000 cancellation. The second incarnation was published on MySpace, r ...
(editor)
*2012
Harvey Awards
The Harvey Awards are given for achievement in comic books. Named for writer-artist Harvey Kurtzman, the Harvey Awards were founded by Gary Groth in 1988, president of the publisher Fantagraphics, to be the successor to the Kirby Awards that were ...
: Won for Best Anthology –
Dark Horse Presents
''Dark Horse Presents'' was a comic book published by American company Dark Horse Comics from 1986. Their first published series, it was their flagship title until its September 2000 cancellation. The second incarnation was published on MySpace, r ...
(editor)
*2014
Eisner Awards
The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books, sometimes referred to as the comics industry's equivalent of the Academy Awards. They are named in ...
: Nominated for Best Limited Series –
47 Ronin
47, 47 or forty-seven may refer to:
*47 (number)
*47 BC
* AD 47
*1947
* 2047
*'47 (brand), an American clothing brand
* ''47'' (magazine), an American publication
* 47 (song), a song by Sidhu Moose Wala
*47, a song by New Found Glory from the alb ...
(writer)
*2015
American Library Association
The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members a ...
named Richardson's
47 Ronin
47, 47 or forty-seven may refer to:
*47 (number)
*47 BC
* AD 47
*1947
* 2047
*'47 (brand), an American clothing brand
* ''47'' (magazine), an American publication
* 47 (song), a song by Sidhu Moose Wala
*47, a song by New Found Glory from the alb ...
to its Great Graphic Novels for Teens list
Bibliography
Comics
Editor
*''
Cheval Noir'' (#1 – 23 1989)
*''
Aqua Blue: The Blue Planet (1990)
*''
The Adventures of Luther'' (#1 – 9, 1990, )
*''
Indiana Jones & The Fate'' (#1 – 4, 1991)
*''
Andrew Vachss’ Hard Looks'' (#1 – 10, 1992, 1-56971-209-2)
*''Andrew Vachss' Hard Looks'' (1996)
*''
Dark Horse Presents
''Dark Horse Presents'' was a comic book published by American company Dark Horse Comics from 1986. Their first published series, it was their flagship title until its September 2000 cancellation. The second incarnation was published on MySpace, r ...
'' (volume 2, #1 - 30, 2011)
*''Dark Horse Presents'' (volume 3, #1 – 15, 2014)
Writer
*''
Boris the Bear'' (#1-12, 1986)
*''
Wacky Squirrel'' (#1-4, 1987)
*''Wacky Squirrel Halloween Special'' (1987)
*''Wacky Squirrel Summer Fun Special'' (#1, 1987)
*''
The Mark'' (1987)
*''
Godzilla
is a fictional monster, or '' kaiju'', originating from a series of Japanese films. The character first appeared in the 1954 film ''Godzilla'' and became a worldwide pop culture icon, appearing in various media, including 32 films produc ...
'' (#1 -6, 1988)
*''Insane'' (#1-2, 1988)
*''
Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
''Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis'' is a point-and-click adventure game developed and published by LucasArts and originally released on June 1, 1992 for Amiga, DOS and Macintosh. Almost a year later, it was reissued on CD-ROM as an enhance ...
'' (#4, 1991, )
*''
Aliens: Countdown'' (1991)
*''
Predator: The Bloody Sands'' (story, 1992)
*''
Aliens: Newt's Tale'' (1992)
*''
Comics Greatest World'' (#1 – 4, 1993)
*''
Will to Power
The will to power (german: der Wille zur Macht) is a concept in the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche. The will to power describes what Nietzsche may have believed to be the main driving force in humans. However, the concept was never systematic ...
'' (#1 - 12, 1994, )
*''
The Mask: The Official Movie Adaptation'' (1994)
*''
Star Wars: Crimson Empire'' (1998, )
*''
Terror of Godzilla'' (1999)
*''
Star Wars: Crimson Empire II: Council of Blood''
*''
Star Wars: Crimson Empire: Council'' (1999, )
*''
Aliens: Genocide'' (story, 2000)
*''
The Dark Horse Book of Hauntings: Gone'' (2003)
*''
Adventures of the Yellow Jacket'' (''
Monarch of the Moon'' DVD insert comic)
*''
Cravan: Mystery Man of the 20th Century (2005, )
*''
Living With The Dead'' (2007, )
*''
The Secret'' (#1-4, 2007, )
*''Cut'' (2008, )
*''
Return of the Gremlins'' (2008, )
*''
The Occultist'' (2012, )
*''
Star Wars: Crimson Empire'' (2012, )
*''
47 Ronin
47, 47 or forty-seven may refer to:
*47 (number)
*47 BC
* AD 47
*1947
* 2047
*'47 (brand), an American clothing brand
* ''47'' (magazine), an American publication
* 47 (song), a song by Sidhu Moose Wala
*47, a song by New Found Glory from the alb ...
'' (2013, )
*''
The Atomic Legion'' (2014, )
*''Father's Day'' (2014, )
*''Underground'' (2014, )
*''
Deep Gravity
Deep or The Deep may refer to:
Places United States
* Deep Creek (Appomattox River tributary), Virginia
* Deep Creek (Great Salt Lake), Idaho and Utah
* Deep Creek (Mahantango Creek tributary), Pennsylvania
* Deep Creek (Mojave River tributary), C ...
'' (2015, )
*''Echoes'' (2016)
*''
51 Deep 51 may refer to:
* 51 (number)
* The year
** 51 BC
** AD 51
** 1951
** 2051
* ''51'' (film), a 2011 American horror film directed by Jason Connery
* "Fifty-One
"Fifty-One" is the fourth episode of the fifth season of the American television crim ...
'' (2016)
Books
*''
Comics: Between the Panels'' ()
*''
Blast Off: Rockets, Rayguns, Robots and Rarities'' ()
Filmography
Film
Television
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Richardson, Mike
Dark Horse Comics
People from Milwaukie, Oregon
1950 births
Living people
American publishers (people)
Film producers from Oregon