Topps Comics was a division of Topps Company, Inc. that published

comic books 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 oft ...

from 1993 to 1998, beginning its existence during a short comics-industry boom that attracted many investors and new companies. It was based in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, at 254 36th Street,

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, and at One Whitehall Street, in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. The company specialized in licensed titles, particularly

movie A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

and

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed be ...

tie-ins, such ''

The X-Files ''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction on television, science fiction drama (film and television), drama television series created by Chris Carter (screenwriter), Chris Carter. The series revolves around Federal Bureau of Investigation ...

'', based on the Fox

TV show A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed bet ...

, and the films '' Bram Stoker's Dracula'' and ''

Jurassic Park ''Jurassic Park'', later also referred to as ''Jurassic World'', is an American science fiction media franchise created by Michael Crichton and centered on a disastrous attempt to create a theme park of cloned dinosaurs. It began in 1990 when ...

''. It also licensed such literary properties as

Zorro Zorro ( Spanish for 'fox') is a fictional character created in 1919 by American pulp writer Johnston McCulley, appearing in works set in the Pueblo of Los Angeles in Alta California. He is typically portrayed as a dashing masked vigilante w ...

, and published a smattering of original series, including '' Cadillacs and Dinosaurs'' and several based on concepts by then-retired industry legend

Jack Kirby Jack Kirby (born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comic book artist, writer and editor, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He gre ...

History

In March 1992, Topps Company, Inc. announced the formation of Topps Comics, to be headed by

Jim Salicrup Jim Salicrup (; born May 29, 1957) is an American comic book editor, known for his tenures at Marvel Comics and Topps Comics. At Marvel, where he worked for twenty years, he edited books such as '' The Uncanny X-Men'', ''Fantastic Four'', '' Aven ...

, with plans to start publishing in October 1992. In April 1993, Topps launched a superhero line, "The Kirbyverse", based on

drawings and concepts, with four

one-shot One shot may refer to: Film and television * One-shot film, a feature film shot in one long take with no edits, or manufactured to look like so * ''One Shot'' (2005 film), a Sri Lankan action film directed by Ranjan Ramanayake * ''One Shot'' (2 ...

titles. Topps entered the comic book market as the number of publishers was increasing, with at least nine other companies joining the field from 1990 to 1992. This coincided with an increase in comic-book market-speculation that created inflated sales and an eventual collapse of the market. Topps Comics closed in 1998.

Personnel

The editor-in-chief and associate publisher was

. Editors included Len Brown (co-creator of Topps' 1962 ''

Mars Attacks ''Mars Attacks'' is a science fiction-themed trading card series released in 1962 by Topps. The cards feature artwork by science fiction artists Wally Wood and Norman Saunders. The cards form a story arc, which tells of the invasion of Earth by ...

'' cards), Howard Zimmerman, and Dwight Jon Zimmerman. The company's sales and promotions manager Charles S. Novinskie is listed as, additionally, a Topps Comics editor in his capsule biography at ''Non-Sport Update'' magazine. The company's design director, Brian Boerner, is listed as Reprint Editor (along with Charles S. Novinskie) in the ''Xena'' trade paperbacks' credits. Veteran comic-book scripter Tony Isabella, writing about difficulties with ''

'' creator Chris Carter over the Topps Comics'

series Series may refer to: People with the name * Caroline Series (born 1951), English mathematician, daughter of George Series * George Series (1920–1995), English physicist Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Series, the ordered sets used in ...

, said in a 2000 interview:

The Kirbyverse

The "Kirbyverse" comics, launched simultaneously with April 1993

cover-date The cover date of a periodical publication is the date displayed on the cover, which is not necessarily the true date of publication (the on-sale date or release date); later cover dates are common in magazine and comic book publishing. More unu ...

s, stemmed from character designs and story concepts that the prolific Kirby, at this very late point in his life, had in his files of unrealized projects and preliminary sketches (some for

Pacific Comics Pacific Comics (PC) was an American comic book publisher that was active from 1981 to 1984. It was also a chain of comics shops and a distributor. It began at a San Diego, California, comic book shop owned by brothers Bill and Steve Schanes. Alo ...

, which went defunct in the 1980s). Topps licensed them for an eight-title, interrelated mythos based around what became ''Jack Kirby's

Secret City Saga Secret City Saga is a concept and collection of various comic book titles created by American writer and artist Jack Kirby, and published by the short-lived Topps Comics, an offshoot of the Topps Trading Card company. Beginning in April 1993, the ...

''. That flagship title was written by former

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book 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 Comics'' in ...

editor-in-chief

Roy Thomas Roy William Thomas Jr."Roy Thomas Checklist" ''Alter Ego'' vol. 3, #50 (July 2005) p. 16 (born November 22, 1940) is an American comic book writer and editor, who was Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics. He is possibly ...

, with an issue #0

prequel A prequel is a literary, dramatic or cinematic work whose story precedes that of a previous work, by focusing on events that occur before the original narrative. A prequel is a work that forms part of a backstory to the preceding work. The term ...

drawn by artist

Walt Simonson Walter Simonson (born September 2, 1946) is an American comic book writer and artist, best known for a run on Marvel Comics' ''Thor'' from 1983 to 1987, during which he created the character Beta Ray Bill. He is also known for the creator-owned w ...

and the remainder of the series by

Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in the anthology comic book ''Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in the Si ...

co-creator

Steve Ditko Stephen John Ditko Page contains two reproductions from school yearbooks. A 1943 Garfield Junior High School yearbook excerpt lists "Stephen Ditko". A 1945 Johnstown High School yearbook excerpt lists "Stephen J. Ditko" under extracurricular act ...

. Kirby himself wrote and drew eight pages of the ''Satan's Six'' premiere, interlaced with story pages by writer Tony Isabella, penciler John Cleary and inker Armando Gil. Kirby's contribution may have been drawn in the 1970s, as one historian wrote: "The 1970s was the flowering of Jack's interest in the paranormal. Freed from the restraints of more conservative collaborators, Jack delved into these themes with gusto. ... edeveloped 'Satan's Six' around this time, although it didn't see the light of day until the Topps Kirbyverse campaign in the 1990s". As well, the covers of the ''Bombast'', ''Captain Glory'', and ''NightGlider'' one-shot comics noted below were built around preexisting Kirby character designs. Along with ''Secret City Saga'' and ''Satan's Six'', the Kirbyverse titles were: *''Bombast'', by plotter Thomas, scripter

Gary Friedrich Gary Friedrich (; August 21, 1943 – August 29, 2018) was an American comic book writer best known for his Silver Age stories for Marvel Comics' '' Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos'', and, in the following era, for the series '' The Monster o ...

and artists

Dick Ayers Richard Bache Ayers (; April 28, 1924 – May 4, 2014) was an American comic book artist and cartoonist best known for his work as one of Jack Kirby's inkers during the late-1950s and 1960s period known as the Silver Age of Comics, including on s ...

John Severin John Powers Severin (; December 26, 1921 – February 12, 2012) was an American comics artist noted for his distinctive work with EC Comics, primarily on the war comics ''Two-Fisted Tales'' and ''Frontline Combat''; for Marvel Comics, ...

*Captain Glory, by writer Thomas and artist Ditko *''Jack Kirby's TeenAgents'', by writer

Kurt Busiek Kurt Busiek ( ) (born September 16, 1960) is an American comic book writer. His work includes the ''Marvels'' limited series, his own series titled '' Astro City'', a four-year run on '' The Avengers, Thunderbolts'' and '' Superman.'' Early life ...

, penciler Neil Vokes, and inkers John Beatty and Jordi Ensign *''Jack Kirby's Silver Star'', by writer Busiek, penciler James W. Fry III, and inker Terry Austin *''NightGlider'', by plotter Thomas, scripter

Gerry Conway Gerard Francis ConwayThomas, Roy. "Roy's Rostrum" ("Bullpen Bulletins") in '' Marvel Super-Heroes'' #43 and other Marvel Comics cover-dated May 1974. (born September 10, 1952) is an American comic book writer, comic book editor, screenwriter, te ...

, and artist

Don Heck Donald L. HeckComic_Media.html" ;"title="ic; actually Comic Media">ic; actually Comic Media/nowiki>, in 1952," Heck recalled in 1993, Hardy “called me up and asked me to join."Heck, ''Comics Scene'' #37, p. 55 Heck's first known comics work appe ...

*''Victory'', by writer Busiek, penciler

Keith Giffen Keith Ian Giffen (born November 30, 1952) is an American comics artist and writer. He is known for his work for DC Comics on their '' Legion of Super-Heroes'' and '' Justice League'' titles as well as for being the co-creator of Lobo. Biograp ...

, and inker

Jimmy Palmiotti James Palmiotti (born August 14, 1961) is an American writer and inker of comic books, who also does writing for games, television and film. Early life Palmiotti attended the High School of Art and Design in New York City. Career Palmiotti sta ...

Kurt Busiek, in an undated interview, gave some background on the comics line: In 2000, the Kirby estate said

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, Ore ...

had optioned ''Satan's Six'' as a film property. In 2011,

Dynamite Entertainment Dynamite Entertainment is an American comic book publisher founded by Nick Barrucci in 2004 at Mount Laurel, New Jersey. It is best known as the owners of '' The Boys'' franchise across several IP medias. Dynamite primarily publishes adaptations ...

published a comic book series titled '' Kirby: Genesis'' that represented a

reboot In computing, rebooting is the process by which a running computer system is restarted, either intentionally or unintentionally. Reboots can be either a cold reboot (alternatively known as a hard reboot) in which the power to the system is physi ...

of the Kirbyverse.

List of Topps Comics

Note: Most, but not all, were designed as

limited series Limited series may refer to: *Limited series, individual storylines within an anthology series *Limited series, a particular run of collectables, usually individually numbered *Limited series (comics), a comics series with a predetermined number of ...

Original series

*'' The Barbi Twins Adventures'' #1 (July 1995) *'' Cadillacs and Dinosaurs'' #1–9 (February—November 1994) *'' Lady Rawhide'' (volume 1), #1—5 (July 1995—March 1996, original spin-off of ''Zorro'') *''Lady Rawhide'' (volume 2) #1—5 (miniseries; October 1996—June 1997, preview ashcan comic inserted in ''Wizard'' magazine)

Kirbyverse comics

*''Bombast'' #1 (April 1993, one-shot) *''Captain Glory'' #1 (April 1993, one-shot) *'' Jack Kirby's Secret City Saga'' #0—4 (April—August 1993) *'' Jack Kirby's Silver Star'' #1 (October 1993, planned four-issue miniseries truncated) *''Jack Kirby's TeenAgents'' #1—4 (August—November 1993) *''Night Glider'' #1 (April 1993, one-shot) *''Satan's Six'' #1—4 (April—July 1993) *''Satan's Six: Hellspawn'' #1—3 (June—July 1994) *''

Victory The term victory (from Latin ''victoria'') originally applied to warfare, and denotes success achieved in personal combat, after military operations in general or, by extension, in any competition. Success in a military campaign constitutes ...

'' #1 (June 1994; planned five-issue miniseries, truncated)

Literary adaptations/tie-ins

*'' Bill, the Galactic Hero'' #1—3 (July—November 1994) *'' The Dracula Chronicles'' #1—3 (April 1995, reprint of the series ''Dracula: Vlad the Impaler'') *'' Dracula Versus Zorro'' #1—2 (October—November 1993) *'' Dracula: Vlad the Impaler'' #1—3 (February—April 1993) *'' Elric: One Life'' #0 (August 1996) *'' Elric: Stormbringer'' #1—7 (1997, co-published with Dark Horse Comics) *'' The Frankenstein/Dracula War'' #1—3 (February—April 1995) *'' Ray Bradbury Comics'' #1—5 (April—October 1993) *'' A Ray Bradbury Comics Special — Ray Bradbury's The Illustrated Man'' #1 (1993) *'' A Ray Bradbury Comics Special — Ray Bradbury's Martian Chronicles'' #1 (June 1994) *''A Ray Bradbury Comics Special — Ray Bradbury's Tales of Terror'' #1 (May 1994)'' *''

'' #0–11 (November 1993—November 1994)

Movie adaptations/tie-ins

*'' Bram Stoker's Dracula'' #1—4 (October 1992—January 1993) *''

Dragonheart ''Dragonheart'' (stylized as ''DragonHeart'') is a 1996 fantasy adventure film directed by Rob Cohen and written by Charles Edward Pogue based on a story created by him and Patrick Read Johnson. The film stars Dennis Quaid, David Thewlis, ...

'' #1—2 (May—June 1996) *''

Jackie Chan Fang Shilong (born 7 April 1954), known professionally in English as Jackie Chan and in Chinese as Cheng Long ( zh, c=成龍, j=Sing4 Lung4; "becoming the dragon"), is a Hong Kong actor, filmmaker, martial artist, and stuntman known for ...

's Spartan X: The Armour of Heaven'' #1—3 (May—August 1997) *'' James Bond 007: GoldenEye'' #00 + #1 (January 1996) *'' Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday'' #1—3 (July—September 1993) *'' Jason vs. Leatherface'' #1—3 (October 1995—January 1996) *''

'' #1—4 (June—August 1993) + #0 (November 1993) *'' Jurassic Park: Raptor'' #1—2 (November—December 1993) *'' Jurassic Park: Raptors Attack'' #1—4 (March—June 1994) *'' Jurassic Park: Raptors Hijack'' #1—4 (July—October 1994) *'' Jurassic Park Adventures'' #1—10 (June 1994—February 1995) *'' Jurassic Park Annual'' #1 (May 1995) *'' Mary Shelley's Frankenstein'' #1—4 (October 1994—January 1995) *'' Return to Jurassic Park'' #1—9 (April 1995—February 1996) *'' Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi: Dark Lords of the Sith — Special Ashcan Edition'' (September 1994, co-published with Dark Horse Comics) *'' The Lost World: Jurassic Park'' #1—4 (May—August 1997)

TV/radio adaptations/tie-ins

*''

Duckman ''Duckman: Private Dick/Family Man'' is an American adult animated sitcom that aired on the USA Network from March 5, 1994, through September 6, 1997. It was created and developed by Everett Peck, and is based on characters he created in his 19 ...

'' #1—5 (November 1994—May 1995) + #0 (February 1996) *'' Duckman: The Mob Frog Saga'' #1—3 (November 1994—February 1995) *''

Exosquad ''Exosquad'' is an animated television series created by Universal Animation Studios, Universal Cartoon Studios for MCA TV's Universal Family Network broadcast syndication, syndicated programming block. The show is set in the beginning of the 22n ...

'' #0—1 (January 1994) *''

Hercules: The Legendary Journeys ''Hercules: The Legendary Journeys'' is an American television series filmed in New Zealand, based on the tales of the classical Greek culture hero Heracles (Hercules was his Roman analogue). Starring Kevin Sorbo as Hercules and Michael Hurst as ...

'' #1—5 (June—October 1996) *'' The Lone Ranger and Tonto'' #1—4 (August—November 1994) *''The Marriage of Hercules and Xena'' #1 (July 1998) *'' Space: Above and Beyond'' #1—3 (January—March 1996) *''Space: Above and Beyond — The Gauntlet'' #1—2 (May—June 1996) *''

'' #1—41 (Jan. 1995 – Sept. 1998) + #0 (an adaptation of the series'

pilot episode A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in television in the United States, United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a te ...

) *''The X-Files Annual'' #1—2 (August 1995; 1996) *''The X-Files Comics Digest'' #1—3 (December 1995—September 1996) *''The X-Files: Fight the Future'' #1 (July 1998, an adaptation of the spin-off feature film) *''The X-Files: Ground Zero'' #1—4 (December 1997—March 1998, an adaptation of the spin-off novel by

Kevin J. Anderson Kevin James Anderson (born March 27, 1962) is an American science fiction author. He has written spin-off novels for ''Star Wars'', ''StarCraft'', '' Titan A.E.'' and ''The X-Files'', and with Brian Herbert is the co-author of the ''Dune'' pre ...

) *'' Xena: Warrior Princess'' #1—2 (August—September 1997) + #0 (October 1997) *''Xena: Warrior Princess: Blood Lines'' #1—2 (May—June 1998) *''Xena: Warrior Princess: The Dragon's Teeth'' #1—3 (December 1997—February 1998) *''Xena: Warrior Princess: The Orpheus Trilogy'' #1—3 (March—May 1998) *''Xena: Warrior Princess: The Wrath of Hera'' #1—2 (September—October 1998) *''Xena: Warrior Princess: Year One'' #1 (August 1997) *''Xena: Warrior Princess and the Original Olympics'' #1—3 (June—August 1998) *''Xena: Warrior Princess vs. Callisto'' #1—3 (February—March 1998) *''Xena: Warrior Princess/Joxer: Warrior Prince'' #1—3 (November 1997—January 1998)

Trading-card adaptations/tie-ins

*''

'' (volume 1) #1—5 (May—October 1994, limited series) *''Mars Attacks'' (volume 2) #1—7 (August 1995—May 1996, ongoing series) *''Mars Attacks'' #1/2 (1995, co-published with ''Wizard'' magazine) *''Mars Attacks: Wizard Ace Edition'' #65 (1996, co-published with ''Wizard'' magazine) *''Mars Attacks Baseball Special'' #1 (June 1996) *''Mars Attacks High School'' #1—2 (May—September 1997) *''Mars Attacks

Image An image is a visual representation of something. It can be two-dimensional, three-dimensional, or somehow otherwise feed into the visual system to convey information. An image can be an artifact, such as a photograph or other two-dimensio ...

'' #1—4 (December 1996—April 1997) *''Mars Attacks the

Savage Dragon The Savage Dragon is a fictional superhero created by Erik Larsen, published by Image Comics and taking place in the Image Universe. The comic features the adventures of a superheroic police officer named the Dragon. The character first appeared ...

'' #1—4 (December 1996—March 1997)

Other

*''Topps Comics Presents'' #0 (1993) *''Topps Comics Preview'' #1 (March 1994)

References

External links

"Jack Kirby: A By-the-Month Chronology: 1980–1995"
MarvelMastworks.com, n.d

{{Authority control Defunct book publishing companies of the United States Publishing companies established in 1993 Companies disestablished in 1998 Defunct comics and manga publishing companies