FantaCo Enterprises was an American

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

store and publishing company founded and created by

Thomas Skulan FantaCo Enterprises was an American comic book store and publishing company founded and created by Thomas Skulan and based in Albany, New York. As a publisher, FantaCo was known for its idiosyncratic line-up of mostly black-and-white titles, incl ...

and based in

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York City ...

. As a publisher, FantaCo was known for its idiosyncratic line-up of mostly black-and-white titles, including the humorous '' Hembeck Series'' and the

horror Horror may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Genres *Horror fiction, a genre of fiction ** Japanese horror, Japanese horror fiction **Korean horror, Korean horror fiction * Horror film, a film genre *Horror comics, comic books focusing o ...

title ''Gore Shriek''. FantaCo also published "The Chronicles Series", which cataloged top-selling Marvel Comics titles. In its later years, FantaCo published mostly horror comics and a small number of "

good girl art Good Girl Art (GGA) is a style of artwork depicting women primarily featured in comic books, comic strips, and pulp magazines. The term was coined by the American Comic Book Company, appearing in its mail order catalogs from the 1930s to the 1970 ...

". FantaCo began as a mail order company and

comic book store The direct market is the dominant distribution and retail network for American comic books. The concept of the direct market was created in the 1970s by Phil Seuling. The network currently consists of: * four major comic distributors: ** Luna ...

before branching out into publishing books, magazines, and comics. From 1979 through 1990, it also hosted

FantaCon FantaCo Enterprises was an American comic book store and publishing company founded and created by Thomas Skulan and based in Albany, New York. As a publisher, FantaCo was known for its idiosyncratic line-up of mostly black-and-white titles, incl ...

, a popular Albany-area

comics a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicate ...

and

horror convention Horror conventions are gatherings of the community of fans of various forms of horror including horror cinema, goth lifestyle, and occasionally science fiction and fantasy. Historically the focus has been on the cinematic form rather than lite ...

. (After FantaCo's demise, Skulan brought back FantaCon in 2013.)

History

FantaCo Enterprises began in 1978 as a mail order company and comic book store located at 21 Central Avenue in Albany. The name was short for either "Fantasy Company" or the "Fantastic Company," depending on Skulan's mood. Many of the store's employees, including publisher/owner/editor Tom Skulan, Mitch Cohn, Roger Green, and Raoul Vezina, worked on FantaCo titles in many creative capacities.

Comics

FantaCo's first foray into publishing was Raoul Vezina's ''Smilin’ Ed'', about a rat with the personality of a 1950s children TV host. Smilin'Ed was also the store's emblem. Vezina drew ''Smilin’ Ed'' from 1980 until his death in 1983.Green, Roger
"Working on the Raoul Vezina Recollection," Information Without the Bun, TimesUnion.com (June 29, 2008).
The company made its mark in the early 1980s with ''The Hembeck Series'', seven volumes of comics by

Fred Hembeck Fred Hembeck (born January 30, 1953) is an American cartoonist best known for his parodies of characters from major American comic book publishers. His work has frequently been published by the firms whose characters he spoofs. His characters are ...

. These magazine-sized black-and-white books poked loving fun at the mainstream comics industry, with Hembeck himself appearing as a cartoon interlocutor with the

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...

es he interviewed. During this period, FantaCo also published ''The Fantaco Chronicles Series'', edited by Mitch Cohn and Roger Green, which exhaustively documented popular

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

titles such as the ''X-Men'', ''Fantastic Four'', ''Daredevil'', ''Avengers'', and ''Spider-Man''. A two-issue series was published during this period, ''Gates of Eden'', which featured comics about the 1960s by an impressive array of talent, including John Byrne,

Steve Leialoha Steve Leialoha (born January 27, 1952) is an Americans, American comics artist whose work first came to prominence in the 1970s. He has worked primarily as an inker, though occasionally as a penciller, for several publishers, including Marvel Comi ...

Michael T. Gilbert Michael Terry Gilbert (born May 7, 1951) is an American comic book artist and writer who has worked for both mainstream and underground comic book companies. Education Gilbert attended the State University of New York at New Paltz, graduating i ...

Trina Robbins Trina Robbins (born Trina Perlson; August 17, 1938, in Brooklyn, New York) is an American cartoonist. She was an early participant in the underground comix movement, and one of the first female artists in that movement. In the 1980s, Robbins beca ...

, Hembeck, Foolbert Sturgeon,

P. Craig Russell Philip Craig Russell (born October 30, 1951) is an American comics artist, writer, and illustrator. His work has won multiple Harvey and Eisner Awards. Russell was the first mainstream comic book creator to come out as openly gay. Biography ...

Rick Geary Rick Geary (born February 25, 1946) is an American cartoonist and illustrator. He is known for works such as ''A Treasury of Victorian Murder'' and graphic novel biographies of Leon Trotsky and J. Edgar Hoover. Geary has won two awards from th ...

and

Spain Rodriguez Manuel Rodriguez (March 2, 1940 – November 28, 2012), better known as Spain or Spain Rodriguez, was an American underground cartoonist who created the character Trashman. His experiences on the road with the motorcycle club, the Road Vultures M ...

. 1986 saw the debut of the horror anthology ''

Gore Shriek Gore may refer to: Places Australia * Gore, Queensland * Gore Creek (New South Wales) * Gore Island (Queensland) Canada * Gore, Nova Scotia, a rural community * Gore, Quebec, a township municipality * Gore Bay, Ontario, a township on Manitoulin ...

'', initially edited by Skulan, and later issues by

Stephen R. Bissette Stephen R. Bissette (born March 14, 1955) is an American comic book artist, editor, and publisher with a focus on the horror genre. He is known for working with writer Alan Moore and inker John Totleben on the DC Comics series ''Swamp Thing'' in ...

, who also contributed stories to each issue. Besides Skulan and Bissette, other ''Gore Shriek'' creators of note included

Greg Capullo Gregory Capullo (; born March 30, 1962) is an American comic book artist and penciller, best known for his work on ''Quasar'' (1991–1992), '' X-Force'' (1992–1993), ''Angela'' (1994), ''Spawn'' (1993–2000, 2003–2004) and ''Batman'' (2011� ...

Bruce Spaulding Fuller The English language name Bruce arrived in Scotland with the Normans, from the place name Brix, Manche in Normandy, France, meaning "the willowlands". Initially promulgated via the descendants of king Robert the Bruce (1274−1329), it has been ...

Eric Stanway The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, or Eirik is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization). The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Norse ''* ain ...

and Gurchain Singh. ''Gore Shriek'' Volume 1 ran for three years, and is still fondly remembered by horror fans as one of the top comics in that genre. ''Gore Shriek Delectus'' (1989) collects much of the best material from the first volume. FantaCo revived ''Gore Shriek'' in 1990 and started a new line of horror and zombie-related titles and one-shots. This period was noteworthy for the career jump-starts it gave to young creators like

Chynna Clugston Chynna Clugston Flores (born August 19, 1975) is a freelance American comic book creator known for her manga-influenced teen comedy series '' Blue Monday''. Based in Coarsegold, Clugston Flores has been drawing comics since 1994 and has worked w ...

(''Bloodletting''),

Steve Niles Steve Niles (born June 21, 1965) is an American comic book author and novelist, known for works such as '' 30 Days of Night'', '' Criminal Macabre: A Cal McDonald Mystery'', ''Simon Dark'', ''Mystery Society'', and '' Batman: Gotham County Line''. ...

(''Night of the Living Dead: London''), and

Jim Whiting Jim Whiting (born 1951) is a British artist and inventor. He was born in Paris and spent his early childhood in Salisbury (now Harare), Zimbabwe before returning to the UK with his family in 1959. He studied Electronic Engineering & Systems Cont ...

(''King of the Dead'', ''Kill Me Slowly'', ''Scab'', and ''Uptown Zombies''). From about 1995, the company's titles shifted to the

of Tom Simonton's ''Amazon Woman'' comics, and titillating titles like ''Babes & Biomechanics'', ''Lady Dracula'', and ''Dead Chicks in Lace: Bloodletting Lingerie Special''.

FantaCo/Tundra

From 1991 to 1994, the company co-published a number of

Kevin Eastman Kevin Brooks Eastman (born May 30, 1962) is an American comics artist, comic book artist and writer best known for co-creating the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with Peter Laird. Eastman was also formerly the editor and publisher of the magazine ...

projects with Eastman's company

Tundra Press Tundra Publishing was a Northampton, Massachusetts-based comic book publisher founded by Kevin Eastman in 1990. The company was founded to provide a venue for adventurous, creator-owned work by talented cartoonists and illustrators. Its publicati ...

. Books under the FantaCo/Tundra imprint included ''Infectious'', ''No Guts or Glory'', and ''Zombie War''. These projects petered out once Tundra folded in 1993. (Eastman and Skulan revived ''Zombie War'' in full color under the

IDW Publishing IDW Publishing is an American publisher of comic books, graphic novels, art books, and comic strip collections. It was founded in 1999 as the publishing division of Idea and Design Works, LLC (IDW), itself formed in 1999, and is regularly recog ...

imprint, with a graphic novel released in the summer of 2014.)

Books and magazines

FantaCo published books and magazines in addition to comics. Their first book being ''Mug Shots'' in 1980, a book of cartoons by John Caldwell. Later on, FantaCo published more trade books on the subjects of horror films;

splatter films A splatter film is a subgenre of horror films that deliberately focuses on graphic portrayals of gore and graphic violence. These films, usually through the use of special effects, display a fascination with the vulnerability of the human body ...

;

exploitation films An exploitation film is a film that tries to succeed financially by exploiting current trends, niche genres, or lurid content. Exploitation films are generally low-quality "B movies", though some set trends, attract critical attention, become hi ...

; an early guide to horror, science fiction, and fantasy films on videocassette; and even a straight-ahead horror novel, ''Ninth and Hell Street''. John McCarty authored three books published by FantaCo, and Chas Balun wrote four. In a similar horror vein, they put out the ''FantaCo Horror Yearbook and Price Guide'' every year from 1978 until 1996; magazines like ''Barbara Steele: An Angel for Satan'', ''Demonique 4'', and the ''Comics Enquirer''; twelve issues of ''Dread: The Official

Clive Barker Clive Barker (born 5 October 1952) is an English novelist, playwright, author, film director, and visual artist who came to prominence in the mid-1980s with a series of short stories, the ''Books of Blood'', which established him as a leading h ...

Newsletter'' in 1992–1993; and Clive Barker and ''Zombie War'' commemorative card sets. The book ''Amazon Women: The Art of Tom Simonton,'' edited by Tim D'Allaird, was FantaCo's final publication in the 1990s, right on the eve of their storefront closure in 1998. Mr. Skulan went into semi-retirement and FantaCo Enterprises remained dormant until 2013.

FantaCon

FantaCo owner Thomas Skulan also hosted

, a popular Albany-area

and

comic book convention A comic book convention or comic-con is an event with a primary focus on comic books and comic book culture, in which comic book fans gather to meet creators, experts, and each other. Commonly, comic conventions are multi-day events hosted at con ...

that was preferred by many to the "over-crowded

Fangoria ''Fangoria'' is an internationally distributed American horror film fan magazine, in publication since 1979. It is published four times a year by Fangoria Publishing, LLC and is edited by Phil Nobile Jr. The magazine was originally released i ...

events." FantaCons lasted from 1979 to 1990, skipping only the years 1982 and 1984–1987.Green, Roger
"FantaCon 2013: the Tom Skulan interview,"
"Information Without The Bun," TimeUnion.com (Feb. 7, 2013). After a 23-year hiatus, Skulan launched FantaCon's revival, which took place on September 14 and 15, 2013, at the Marriott Hotel in Albany.Drew, Phil
"HORRORS! FantaCon comes back from the dead; movies and festival this weekend,"
''

The Saratogian ''The Saratogian'' is a broadsheet-style daily newspaper published in Saratoga Springs, New York, United States. The paper has been published daily since 1855, first as ''The Daily Saratogian'', and then as ''The Saratogian'' beginning in 1910. ...

'' (Sept. 11, 2013). The City of Albany, including Mayor

Jerry Jennings Gerald David "Jerry" Jennings (born July 31, 1948) is an American former politician from the state of New York who was the 74th mayor of Albany. A Democrat, Jennings won five terms as mayor of Albany and served in that capacity for 20 years. B ...

, wholeheartedly embraced and promoted the event with two additional days of events on September 12 and 13. Mayor Jennings kicked off the event at The Palace Theatre, followed by the official 45th-anniversary showing of the original 1968 cult classic film ''

Night of the Living Dead ''Night of the Living Dead'' is a 1968 American independent horror film directed, photographed, and edited by George A. Romero, with a screenplay by John Russo and Romero, and starring Duane Jones and Judith O'Dea. The story follows seven peop ...

''. Following the film, some of the original cast members (Russ Streiner,

Judith O'Dea Judith O'Dea (born April 20, 1945) is an American actress. She portrayed Barbra in the 1968 George Romero classic horror film ''Night of the Living Dead''. Career In addition to her signature role, O'Dea has appeared in the television movie '' ...

, George Kosana, Judith Ridley,

John A. Russo John A. Russo (born February 2, 1939), sometimes credited as Jack Russo or John Russo, is an American screenwriter and film director most commonly associated with the 1968 horror classic film ''Night of the Living Dead'', which he co-wrote wi ...

and Kyra Schon) came on stage for an intimate Q&A session.

Storefront closure

With the mid-1990s bursting of the speculation bubble, combined with the decline in demand for comic books, in general, in conjunction with an untenable situation with a large corporate distributor, Skulan decided to close the storefront. FantaCo's mail order operations continued. In 2016 FantaCo Publishing was revived with the publication of ''Smilin' Ed Comics'', in honor of FantaCo co-founder Raoul Vezina. The company currently publishes about one title per month.

Comic book titles (chronologically)

1980

* ''The Hembeck Series'' (1980–1983) ** #1 ''Hembeck: The Best of Dateline: @!!?#'' (1980)—originally published by

Eclipse Comics Eclipse Comics was an American comic book publisher, one of several independent publishers during the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1978, it published the first graphic novel intended for the newly created comic book specialty store market. It was ...

and later re-issued by FantaCo ** #2 ''Hembeck 1980'' (1980) ** #3 ''Abbott and Costello Meet the Bride of Hembeck'' (1980) ** #4 ''Bah, Hembeck!'' (1980) ** #5 ''The Hembeck File'' (1981) ** #6 ''Jimmy Olsen's Pal, Fred Hembeck'' (1981) ** #7 ''Dial H for Hembeck'' (1983) * ''Smilin' Ed Comics'' (1980–1983)

1981

* ''

Alien Encounters In ufology, a close encounter is an event in which a person witnesses an unidentified flying object. This terminology and the system of classification behind it were first suggested in astronomer and UFO researcher J. Allen Hynek's 1972 book ''Th ...

'' * ''FantaCo's Chronicles Series'' (1981–1983) ** #1 ''The X-Men Chronicles'' (Dec. 1981) ** #2 ''The Fantastic Four Chronicles'' (Feb. 1982) ** #3 ''The Daredevil Chronicles'' (Apr. 1982) ** #4 ''The Avengers Chronicles'' (June 1982) ** #5 ''The Spider-Man Chronicles'' (Aug. 1982) ** Chronicles Annual (1983)

1982

* ''Déjà Vu'' * ''Gates of Eden''

1986

* ''Gore Shriek'' vol. I (1986–1989) * ''(This is) Sold Out'' (1986–1987)Hass, Nancy. "Comic-Book Sleaze Albany Publisher Vexed About Quick-Buck Artists," ''Albany Times Union'' (Dec. 14, 1986): Business News: pE1.

1989

* ''Gore Shriek Delectus'' * ''Shriek''

1990

* ''Gore Shriek'' vol. II (1990–1991, including an Annual)

1991

* ''Night of the Living Dead'' (1991–1992); collected in ''Night of the Living Dead'' (1991) , ''Night of the Living Dead/Two'' (1992) , and ''Night of the Living Dead/Three'' (1992) * ''Night's Children'' * ''Vault of Screaming Horror''

1992

* ''Danger Brain'' * ''Night's Children: Vampyr'' * ''Scab'' * ''Shriek Special'' * ''Tales of Screaming Horror'' * ''Uptown Zombies''

1993

* ''Blood & Kisses'' (1993–1994) * ''Girl Squad X'' * ''Kill Me Slowly'' * ''Night of the Living Dead: London'' * ''Official Comics Enquirer Swimsuit Price Guide Annual''

1994

* ''Air Warriors'' * ''Amazon Woman'' (1994–1996, including some Specials) * ''Attack of the Amazon Girls'' * ''Blood Gothic'' * ''King of the Dead'' * ''Night of the Living Dead'' (sometimes referred to as "Zombie Genesis", based on the first issue's story) * ''Rabid'' * ''Sand Demon'' * ''Weird West''

1995

* ''Amazon Tales'' * ''Babes & Biomechanics'' * ''Bloodletting'' (1995–1996) * ''Heatseaker'' * ''Lady Dracula''

1996

* ''Badderdude'' * ''Dead Chicks in Lace: Bloodletting Lingerie Special'' * ''Permwoman''

1997

* ''Amazing Colossal Amazon Woman'' * ''Amazon Woman Beach Party'' * ''Amazon Woman Christmas Special''

1998

* ''Amazon Woman: Jungle Album'' trade paperback * ''Clash of the Amazing Colossal Women''

Fantaco/Tundra publications

* ''No Guts or Glory'' (1991) * ''Zombie War'' (1992) * ''Zombie War: Earth Must Be Destroyed!'' (1993–1994) * ''Infectious'' (1994)

Books published

* ''Mug Shots: A Splendid Collection of Cartoons'', by John Caldwell (1980) * ''Splatter Movies: Breaking the Last Taboo: A Critical Survey of the Wildly Demented Sub-Genre ic?of the Horror Film That Is Changing the Face of Film Realism Forever'', by John McCarty (1981) * ''Video Screams: The Official Source Book to Horror, Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Related Films on Videocassette and Disk'', by John McCarty (1982) * ''The Amazing

Herschell Gordon Lewis Herschell Gordon Lewis (June 15, 1926 – September 26, 2016) was an American filmmaker, best known for creating the " splatter" subgenre of horror films. He is often called the "Godfather of Gore" (a title also given to Lucio Fulci), though hi ...

and His World of Exploitation Films'', by

Daniel Krogh Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength" ...

with John McCarty (1983) * ''Horror Holocaust'', by Chas Balun (1986) * ''The Gore Score'', by Chas Balun (1987) * ''Midnight Marquee'' #37, edited by Gary J. Svehla (1988) * ''Herschell Gordon Lewis' Blood Feast'' (1988) * ''The Deep Red Horror Handbook'', by Chas Balun (1989) * ''Ninth and Hell Street'', by Chas Balun (1990) * ''Famous Monsters Chronicles'', edited by

Dennis Daniel Dennis Daniel is an American radio, TV and film voice actor and disc jockey. Daniel also writes and directs TV commercials. He is an author of books and a critic on the horror film genre. Career Dennis is a DJ, copywriter, voice performer, a ...

(1992) * ''Connoisseur's Guide to Contemporary Horror Film: The Best of the Beasts and Blood'' (1993) * ''Freaks of the Heartland'', by

(1995) * ''Amazon Women: The Art of Tom Simonton,'' edited by Tim D'Allaird (1998) * ''Gorgo Attacks!'' edited by John Walter Szpunar (2022)

Cartoonists associated with FantaCo Enterprises

* Wendy Lang-Snow *

* Tom Simonton * Gurchain Singh * Raoul Vezina *

References

Notes

Sources consulted

* * * Bails, Jerry
''Who's Who of American Comics Books, 1928–1999'' online.
* Bissette, Stephen R
"Recap on the Gore Shriek Memories: What Came Before," SRBissette.com (Aug. 17, 2008).
* "FantaCo vs Bissette", ''

The Comics Journal ''The Comics Journal'', often abbreviated ''TCJ'', is an American magazine of news and criticism pertaining to comic books, comic strips and graphic novels. Known for its lengthy interviews with comic creators, pointed editorials and scathing re ...

'' #138 (Oct. 1990), p. 18. {{DEFAULTSORT:Fantaco Enterprises Companies disestablished in 1998 Defunct comics and manga publishing companies Lists of comics by publisher Publishing companies established in 1978