Beyond Comics is an American independent comic book publishing company founded by comics writer/artist Graig Weich, through which Weich has published comics featuring his creations, including ''Code Name: Justice'', ''Ravedactyl'', ''Justice'', ''Gekido'', and ''Gekido vs. Code Name: Justice''..

History

Beyond Comics was launched by Graig Weich, who began reading comic books as a child, finding in them a sense of hope and inspiration when he was bullied as a child. "When my friends and I were bullied, I thought, 'If we were superheroes, we could defend the kids being attacked.'"Orel, Gwen (December 13, 2013)
"See you in the funny papers, Montclair"

NorthJersey.com North Jersey Media Group is a newspaper publishing company headquartered in Woodland Park, New Jersey and owned by the Gannett Company, Inc. It publishes ''The Record'', the ''Herald News'' of Passaic County, the ''Daily Record'' of Morris Count ...

. After the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...

, Weich spoke with some children who informed him that they did not feel there were any heroes that they could identify with. In response, Weich created the superhero Justice, a man who, following the death of his girlfriend at the World Trade Center, wears an American flag as a mask, and takes it upon himself to confront terrorists. Weich created the character to symbolize hope and empowerment for civilians. The first year's proceeds from the first book featuring the character, titled ''Civilian Justice'', were donated to the Restaurant Opportunities Center of New York, and the families from Windows on the World (ROC NY) HERE Fund, which aided victims and families of non-union workers who lost their lives in the attacks. At the New York City Comic Book Museum's first annual Golden Panel Awards in October 2002, which honors creators who legitimize the comics medium, Beyond Comics and Weich were awarded the Golden Panel Award.Robinson, Bryan (November 18, 2002)
"Comics on Par with Picasso"

ABC News ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...

. An original ''Civilian Justice'' piece was also displayed in the exhibit "Heroes Among Us: The Art of 9-11".

Media appearances

Weich appeared in the August 24, 2011 series premiere of the FOX

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early ...

appraisal series ''

Buried Treasure Buried treasure is a literary trope commonly associated with depictions of pirates, criminals, and Old West outlaws. According to popular conception, these people often buried their stolen fortunes in remote places, intending to return to them ...

'', episode "A Comic Book, a Violin and a Hoarder". In the episode

Leigh and Leslie Keno Leigh Ronald Keno and Leslie Bernard Keno (twins born March 14, 1957) are American antiquarians, authors, historic car judges, preservationists and television hosts. They specialize in stoneware, early American furniture and vintage automobiles. ...

of ''

Antiques Roadshow ''Antiques Roadshow'' is a British television programme broadcast by the BBC in which antiques appraisers travel to various regions of the United Kingdom (and occasionally in other countries) to appraise antiques brought in by local people ( ...

'' appraise valuable items for their owners. Weich appeared in "Baby Got Super Powers", the December 2, 2012 episode of the E! network's reality TV series '' Ice Loves Coco'', in which Beyond Comics cast model

Coco Austin Nicole Natalie Marrow ( Austin; born March 17, 1979), NOTE: Archived version specifies: "the couple dated a few months and then was married in January 2002." commonly known as Coco Austin, Coco, Coco Marie Austin, Coco Marie, and Coco-T, is an A ...

as a superheroine character in the comic book ''Gekido''. Coco appeared as the scantily-clad super heroine at the 2012

New York Comic Con The New York Comic Con is an annual New York City fan convention dedicated to Western comics, graphic novels, anime, manga, video games, cosplay, toys, movies, and television. It was first held in 2006. History The New York Comic Con is a ...

to promote the comic. Lawton, Adam (October 29, 2013)
"Graig Weich talks about comic 'Gekido' and AMC series 'Comic Book Men'"
Media Mikes. Weich drew radio producer

Gary Dell'Abate Gary Patrick Angelo Dell'Abate (born March 14, 1961), also known by the nickname Baba Booey, is an American radio producer who has been the executive producer of ''The Howard Stern Show'' since 1984. His autobiography, '' They Call Me Baba Booey'' ...

as a ninja in the comic book ''Gekido'', along with Coco. According to Weich, the character Gekido (whose name means "rage" in Japanese) is a centuries-old man wearing modern-day samurai-like body armor on a mission to confront the world's oldest ninja clan to stop their plans for world domination, using a mystical artifact that may destroy the world. Other celebrities whom Beyond Comics has cast as characters in their comics include

Donald Faison Donald Adeosun Faison (; born June 22, 1974) is an American actor and comedian, best known for his leading role as Dr. Chris Turk in the ABC/ NBC comedy-drama '' Scrubs'' (2001–2010), and a supporting role as Murray in both the film '' Cluele ...

Adrianne Curry Adrianne Marie Curry-Rhode (born August 6, 1982) is an American fashion model, actress and television personality. She is best known as the winner of the first cycle of ''America's Next Top Model'' in 2003. Career Modeling Curry won the first c ...

, and Cary Hiroyuki Tagawa.

Awards

*2002 Honorary Golden Panel Award (for ''Civilian Justice'') *2014 Best Short Film Animation"Urban Action Showcase 2014 New York: Vincent Lyn, TJ Storm and more"

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...

. November 13, 2014. p 2.

References

External links

* * *Delaney, Magdaline (March 4, 2014)
"EPN's Entrepreneur of the Month! Graig Weich"
EPN. *Gambichler, Edward (June 27, 2013)
"The Art of Graig Weich – at the Peter Louis Salon and Gallery"
What'cha Reading? *Pineda, Juan Carlos (May 10, 2013)
"Comics and Beyond with Graig Weich!"
. What'cha Reading? *Gurian, Jeffrey (October 20, 2012)
"Adrianne Curry from America's Next Top Model at Comic Con"

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

. *Angelo, Demetrius (December 6, 2014)
"2014 UASE Cinemax VIP Welcome Reception at HBO"
Urban Action Expo Film Festival. At: 8:10 mark.
"Baby Got Super Powers" Promo"
'' Ice Loves Coco'', YouTube, December 2, 2012. {{DEFAULTSORT:Beyond Comics Comic book publishing companies of the United States Publishing companies based in New York City Publishing companies established in 2001 2001 establishments in New York City

History

Media appearances

Awards

Further reading

References

External links