Spotlight Comics was an American comic publisher based in western

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

. It is best known for a short run of comic books based on licensed characters such as

Mighty Mouse Mighty Mouse is an American animated Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic superhero mouse character created by the Terrytoons studio for 20th Century Fox. The character was originally called Super Mouse, and made his debut in the 1942 short ''Th ...

and

Heckle and Jeckle Heckle and Jeckle are postwar animated cartoon Character (arts), characters created by Paul Terry (cartoonist), Paul Terry, originally produced at his own Terrytoons animation studio and released through 20th Century Fox. The characters are a pa ...

that contained contributions from several major US comic book creators.

Company history

After beginning his career in collectible magazines such as the ''Comics Collector'' and ''Toy Values Monthly'', Richard "Rich" Maurizio and his then-

significant other The term significant other (SO) has different uses in psychology and in colloquial language. Colloquially, "significant other" is used as a gender-neutral term for a person's partner in an intimate relationship without disclosing or presuming ...

Kelley Jarvis wrote, drew, and published two issues of a comic entitled ''Samurai Squirrel: Master of the Sword'', under the publisher name Spotlight Comics starting in 1983. They also produced a comic containing reprints of the daily ''Stern Wheeler'' comic strip from ''

The Hartford Times ''The Hartford Times'' was a daily afternoon newspaper serving the Hartford, Connecticut, community from 1817 to 1976. It was owned for decades by the Gannett Company which sold the financially struggling paper in 1973 to the owners of the ''New ...

'', illustrated by

Jim Aparo James N. Aparo (August 24, 1932 – July 19, 2005) was an American comic book artist, best known for his DC Comics work from the late 1960s through the 1990s, including on the characters Batman, Aquaman, and the Spectre, along with famous stories ...

, and another comic, ''L. T. Caper, Agent for H.E.R.O. (the Higher Espionage Reinforcement Organization)'', written and drawn by Maurizio. Spotlight expanded into licensed character comics and acquired the rights to

Underdog An underdog is a person or group in a competition, usually in sports and creative works, who is largely expected to lose. The party, team, or individual expected to win is called the favorite or top dog. In the case where an underdog wins, the ...

, and other properties. The company ran into financial problems in 1988 and ceased operations in 1989. In the end, they only produced a total of 11 individual issues of their various titles. Notable writers and artists who contributed to the Spotlight titles included

Curt Swan Douglas Curtis Swan (February 17, 1920 – June 17, 1996) was an American comics artist. The artist most associated with Superman during the period fans call the Bronze Age of Comic Books, Swan produced hundreds of covers and stories from the 195 ...

Joe Gill Joseph P. Gill (July 13, 1919 – December 17, 2006)Social Security Death Inde ...

Win Mortimer James Winslow Mortimer (May 1, 1919 – January 11, 1998) Note: The Marvel Comics 1978 Calendar merchandise lists Mortimer's birth date as June 23 and ''Comics Buyer's Guide'' lists it as May 23 per was a Canadian comic book and comic strip arti ...

, Frank Mclaughlin, Tom Moore, Gary Fields, Bill White, Ray Dirgo,

Doug Cushman Doug Cushman (born May 4, 1953) is an artist who has worked as a cartoonist and a book illustrator. He is also the author of a series of children's books. Life and career Doug Cushman was born in Springfield, Ohio, and moved to Connecticut with h ...

Nate Butler Nate Butler is an American songwriter, music producer, vocal producer, and recording artist based in Atlanta, Georgia. He has been a part of 45 plus million records sold worldwide at last count. Butler has worked with multi-platinum artists such ...

, Jim Engel, John A. Wilcox, Mark Marcus,

Milton Knight Milton Knight Jr. (May 12, 1962) is an American cartoonist, animator, comic book artist, writer, painter, and storyboard/layout artist. He directed animation for a variety of cartoon series, including ''Cool World'', ''Adventures of Sonic the Hedg ...

Paul Chadwick Paul Chadwick (born 1957) is an American comic book creator best known for his series ''Concrete'' about a normal man trapped in a stone body. Biography Born in Seattle, Chadwick grew up in its suburb Medina, where his father, Stephen F. Chadw ...

, and Mike Tiefenbacher. The Spotlight Comics titles were all edited by Jim Main.

Post-Spotlight

After Spotlight's demise, Maurizio and Jarvis co-produced the

Tom & Jerry ''Tom and Jerry'' is an American animated media franchise and series of comedy short films created in 1940 by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Best known for its 161 theatrical short films by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the series centers on the riva ...

comic strip for a five-year run. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Maurizio packaged and edited licensed comics such as ''

The Munsters ''The Munsters'' is an American sitcom depicting the home life of a family of benign monsters. The series starred Fred Gwynne as Frankenstein's monsterEpisodes referring to the fact that Herman is Frankenstein's monster include #55, "Just Anoth ...

'' and ''

I Dream of Jeannie ''I Dream of Jeannie'' is an American fantasy sitcom television series, created by Sidney Sheldon that starred Barbara Eden as a sultry, 2,000-year-old genie and Larry Hagman, as an astronaut with whom she falls in love and eventually marrie ...

'' for the short-lived publishers TV Comics and Airwave Comics.Wizard World Special Guest Richard Maurizio
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Titles published

: ''One issue published per title, unless otherwise noted''

Original titles

* ''Samurai Squirrel'' (1986–1987) — 2 issues * ''Stern Wheeler'' #1 (1986) * ''L.T. Caper'' (1986)

Licensed characters

* ''The Beagles'' #5 (1989) - 6 issues * ''

Mighty Heroes ''The Mighty Heroes'' is a Saturday morning animated television series created by Ralph Bakshi for the Terrytoons company. The original show debuted on CBS, on October 29, 1966, and ran for one season with 20 episodes.

'' (1987) * ''Mighty Mouse'' (1987) — 2 issues ** ''Mighty Mouse and Friends Holiday Special'' (1987) ** ''Mighty Mouse Adventure Magazine'' (1987) * ''Underdog'' #2 (1987) — 3 issues * ''Tennessee Tuxedo'' #3 (1986) - 4 issues * ''King Leonardo'' #4 (1983) - 5 issues

Characters

King Leonardo ''King Leonardo and His Short Subjects'' (also known as ''The King and Odie Show'') is a 1960–1963 American Saturday-morning animated television series that aired on NBC, sponsored by General Mills. It was created by Total Television (which wou ...

Tennessee Tuxedo Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to the ...

The Beagles ''The Beagles'' is a Saturday morning animated television series that aired on CBS from September 10, 1966, to September 2, 1967. The show was produced by Total Television, which created ''King Leonardo and His Short Subjects'', ''Tennessee Tuxed ...

Deputy Dawg Deputy Dawg is a Terrytoons cartoon character, featured on the animated television series of the same name that aired from 1960 to 1964. Background The character of Deputy Dawg originated in 1959 as part of a projected series entitled ''Possible ...

References

External links

Grand Comics Database: Spotlight Comics

Grand Comics Database: Richard Maurizio

{{Comic book publishers in North America navbox Publishing companies disestablished in 1989 Defunct comics and manga publishing companies Publishing companies established in 1983 1983 establishments in the United States