Next Man

Comico: The Comic Company was an American comic book publisher headquartered in Norristown, Pennsylvania. Its best-known comics include the '' Robotech'' adaptations, the '' Jonny Quest'' continuation written by co-creator Doug Wildey, and Matt Wagner's '' Mage: The Hero Discovered'' and ''Grendel''. Once considered a major contender on the American market, Comico went into bankruptcy in 1990, although it continued to sporadically publish books until 1997. In 2009, two of Comico's original founders launched an original webcomics site called CO Comics, which they explained was the reincarnation of Comico.

History

Origins

Comico was founded in 1982 by a group of artists and publishers who had previously printed a local school paper called ''Duckwork'' in the Norristown area. Their first book, ''Primer'' #1, attempted to establish a large black-and-white line, featuring the premiere stories of Victor, Slaughterman, Az, Mr. Justice and Skrog. Slaughterman, Az, and Skrog made it out of the pages of ''Primer'' #1 and into their own brief titles, while Victor would continue to appear in each issue of ''Comico Primer''.

''Primer'' #2 would premiere what would be Comico's flagship title for most of its existence: ''Grendel''. Matt Wagner's ''Grendel'' quickly leaped from ''Primer'' into three issues of its own black-and white-series before Comico ended its black-and-white titles in 1984 with ''Primer'' #6. Sam Kieth's character The Maxx—later to have his own Image Comics title—was first seen in ''Primer'' #5. Chuck Dixon's Evangeline debuted in ''Primer'' #6 and thereafter received its own standalone title.

The move to color

In March 1984 Comico introduced its color line of comics with:
*''Mage: The Hero Discovered'' (hand-painted pages)
*'' Evangeline'' – Chuck Dixon's first comic writing venture with co-creator Judith Hunt's pencils and hand-painting, and Ricardo Villagran's inks
*'' Elementals'' by Bill Willingham (in flat color).

Although an ownership dispute led to ''Evangeline'' moving to First Comics to be continued for two more years,"Changes at Comico: ''Evangeline'' and ''Next Man'' Out, ''Elementals'' In", ''The Comics Journal'' #103 (November 1985), pp. 11–12. Comico landed a major license in '' Robotech'', with 1984 seeing the debut of '' Macross'', which continued in 1985 as ''Robotech: The Macross Saga'', along with the debut of two additional ''Robotech'' series, ''Robotech Masters'' (adapting ''Southern Cross'') and ''Robotech: The Next Generation'' (adapting '' MOSPEADA''). The three series produced a schedule that released a ''Robotech'' comic book once every two weeks, until the license for ''Robotech'' moved to Eternity Comics in 1988. '' Next Man'' debuted in 1984 and '' Justice Machine'' in 1986. Another ownership dispute led to ''Next Man'' moving to another publisher, but this was offset by Comico's acquiring '' Elementals'' from the defunct Texas Comics.

The company continued to pick up other licenses, producing a '' Jonny Quest'' series (and ''Jezebel Jade'' spin-off), a ''Star Blazers'' series, and a planned '' Max Headroom 3-D'' issue (unpublished). Ken Steacy illustrated a Harlan Ellison graphic novel. Dave Stevens's ''The Rocketeer'' and '' Space Ghost'' also made the line-up.

Other series included ''The Maze Agency'' and ''Ginger Fox''.

Bankruptcy

While Comico had proven to be a serious contender as a major independent comic company, a mid-1986 decision to distribute to the newsstand market doomed the company. The direction significantly raised the number of prints for each issue, but also increased the number of issues being sent back that did not sell. Refunds for those returned issues ate into the publisher's budget very quickly (and, among other things, they had trouble paying their printing bills). In response to this, Comico began to push out a number of new titles, aimed at spreading out the number of returned comics between various titles. In 1988 they began distributing their titles to the bookstore market, and in 1989 partnered with DC Comics to distribute their comics to a wider market.

Despite these measures, however, and with the end of the ''Mage'', ''Grendel'' and ''Robotech'' series, much of the reliable revenue for the company dried up. Many of the company's long-time artists and publishers jumped ship and, by 1989, Comico had cancelled half its titles and was deep into bankruptcy. ''Fish Police'' and ''Trollords'' were picked up by Apple Comics, while ''The Trouble with Girls'' was acquired by Malibu Comics and '' Justice Machine'' and ''The Maze Agency'' went to Innovation Comics. Comico suspended operations in 1990, with ''E-Man'' #3.

Andrew Rev

In 1990, the owners of the company sold Comico to Andrew Rev, who released the rest of the original staff and began working on relaunching the company. With the planned relaunch, Rev held onto as many of the original Comico series he could.

Most significantly hit were Matt Wagner's creations ''Mage'' and ''Grendel''. ''Mage II: The Hero Defined'', expected out in 1989, was not published until the late 1990s. Both Comico and Wagner had jointly copyrighted ''Mage'' and ''Grendel'', and with Comico in bankruptcy, that half of the copyright was claimed as a company asset. A two-part Batman/Grendel crossover, ''Devil's Riddle'' and ''Devil's Masque'', was written and drawn by Wagner and colored at the time of the Comico series, but was delayed by Comico's bankruptcy. It was eventually published by DC in 1993. Wagner regained sole copyright of ''Grendel'' that same year, and, much later, ''Mage'', publishing the series through Dark Horse Comics and Image Comics respectively.

While losing Wagner's characters, Rev did manage to buy ''Elementals'' for his restart. Comico began printing again in 1992 with various ''Elementals''-related comics, and in 1993 flooded the market with various one-shot ''Elementals'' specials. They also created the Northstar imprint, which published material from 1991–1995. Budgetary problems and conflicts with creators over payments led to the company's presses going silent again until 1995, with yet another ''Elementals'' title (running three issues), and various ''Elementals'' spin-offs never making it past their first or second issues. Comico's line ended in 1997 with ''Elementals Sex Special'' vol. 2, #2, illustrated by Frank Quitely and ''Elementals: The Vampires Revenge'' #2, the second installment of a four-issue limited series starring the spin-off character Ratman, illustrated by Kelly McQuain.

CO Comics

In July 2009, Comico co-founders Gerry Giovinco and Bill Cucinotta announced the launch of the webcomics site CO₂ Comics. The site hosted several of the comics from the ''Comico Primer'', including work by Reggie Byers, Bernie Mireault, Rich Rankin, and Neil Vokes.

As of May 2022, the website is no longer online.

Titles published

Original titles

* '' Comico Christmas Special'' (1988), #1
* ''Comico Primer'' (1982–1984), #1–6
*'' Elementals''
** v1 (1984–1988), #1–29 (continued from Texas Comics)
** v2 (1989–1993), #1–26
** v3 (1995–1996), #1–3
** ''Elementals Sex Special'' v1 (1991–1993), #1–4
** ''Elementals Sex Special'' v2 (1996–1997), #1–2
** ''Elementals: Ghost of a Chance'' (1995), #1
** ''Elementals: How the War was Won'' (1996), #1–2
** ''Elementals: The Natural Order'' (1988), TPB (collects ''Justice Machine Annual'' #1 from Texas Comics and v1 #1–5)
** ''Elementals: The Vampires Revenge'' (1996), #1–2
** ''Elementals: Vortex'' (1991–1992), #1–2
*'' Evangeline'' (1984), #1–2 (continued at First Comics)
*''Grendel''
** v1 (1984–1984), #1–3
** v2 (1986–1990), #1–40
*'' Mage: The Hero Discovered'' (1984–1986), #1–15 (continued at Image Comics)
*''Silverback'' (1989), #1–3

Other titles (selected)

* ''The Amazon'' (1989), #1–3
* ''Bloodscent'' (1988), #1
* ''AZ'' (1983), #1–2
* ''E-Man''
** v3 (1989), #1 (from First Comics)
** v4 (1989–1990), #1–4 (continued at Alpha Productions)
* ''Empire Lanes: Arrival'' (1990), TPB (as Keyline Books; collects ''Empire Lanes'' (1986), #1–4 from Northern Lights Publishing)
* ''ESC'' (1996), #1–2
* ''Fish Police''
* '' Ginger Fox'' (1988), #1–4
* '' Gumby''
** ''Gumby's Summer Fun Special'' (1987), #1
** ''Gumby's Winter Fun Special'' (1988), #1
* '' The Jam, Urban Adventure: Super Cool Color Injected Turbo Adventure from Hell'' (1988), #1
* ''Jezebel Jade'' (1988), #1–3
* '' Jonny Quest''
** ''Jonny Quest'' (1986–1987), #1–31
** ''Jonny Quest Classic'' (1987), #1–3
** ''Jonny Quest Special'' (1988), #1–2
* '' Justice Machine''
** ''Justice Machine featuring The Elementals'' (1986), #1–4
** ''Justice Machine'' v2 (1987–1989), #1–29
** ''Justice Machine Annual'' (1989), #1
* ''The Maze Agency'' (1988–1989), #1–7 (continued at Innovation)
* ''Next Man'' (1985), #1–5
* ''Ribit!'' (1989), #1-4 by Frank Thorne

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