Sunrise Distribution (a.k.a. Sunrise Comics and Games) was a

Commerce, California Commerce is a city located in southeast Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 12,823 at the 2010 census, up from 12,568 at the 2000 census. It is usually referred to as the City of Commerce to distinguish it from ...

-based

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

distributor A distributor is an electric and mechanical device used in the ignition system of older spark-ignition engines. The distributor's main function is to route electricity from the ignition coil to each spark plug at the correct time. Design ...

which operated in the early-to-mid 1980s. Owned by

Scott Mitchell Rosenberg Scott Mitchell Rosenberg is an American film, television, and comic book producer. He is the chairman of Platinum Studios, an entertainment company that controls a library of comic-book characters and adapts them for film, television and other ...

, the company was intimately connected to a number of small comic book publishers from that era, including

Eternity Comics Eternity Comics was an American comic book publisher active from 1986 to 1994, first as an independent publisher, then as an imprint of Malibu Comics. Eternity published creator-owned comics of an offbeat, independent flavor, as well as some lice ...

and

Malibu Comics Malibu Comics Entertainment, Inc. (launched as Malibu Graphics) was an American comic book publisher active in the late 1980s and early 1990s, best known for its Ultraverse line of superhero titles. Notable titles published by Malibu included ''Th ...

, as well as three extremely short-lived publishers: Amazing, Imperial Comics, and Wonder Color.

History

Sunrise Distribution evolved from Rosenberg's

mail-order Mail order is the buying of goods or services by mail delivery. The buyer places an order for the desired products with the merchant through some remote methods such as: * Sending an order form in the mail * Placing an order by telephone call ...

comics business, Direct Comics, which he had founded when he was 13 years old.Ehrenreich, Ben
"PHENOMENON; Comic Genius?" ''New York Times'' magazine (November 11, 2007).
/ref>

Publishing ventures

Eternity Comics

In early 1986, income from Rosenberg's comics distribution business allowed him to privately finance

, originally based in New York City and helmed by

Brian Marshall Brian Aubrey Marshall (born 24 April 1973) is an American musician best known as the bassist and co-founder of the rock bands Creed and Alter Bridge. Early life Brian Aubrey Marshall was born April 24, 1973, in Jackson, Mississippi but has l ...

. Writer/editor David Campiti worked as a packager to supply content for Eternity.

Amazing and Wonder Color

Beginning in the summer of 1986, after disputes arose between Marshall and Campiti, Rosenberg (along with fellow investors Paula Brown, Mitch Everitt, and Jules Zimmerman) provided capital for Campiti to form two new small publishers: Amazing and Wonder Color, with business offices for both publishers based in the same location in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

. Marshall, meanwhile, retained control of Eternity. Amazing and Wonder Color were affiliated with another publisher with which Campiti was involved: Pied Piper Comics. The plan was that Campiti would package comics for all three publishers through his studio Campiti and Associates, with Pied Piper handling projects in the form of posters and

graphic novels A graphic novel is a self-contained, book-length form of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comics scholars and ...

. Amazing published black-and-white comics, while Wonder Color published comics in color. Wonder Color's staff included investor Paula Brown as publisher, editor-in-chief Campiti, and consulting editor Roger McKenzie. Writer David Lawrence edited a few titles.

Malibu Comics and Imperial Comics

Near the end of 1986, Rosenberg and his investors financed two new publishers: Imperial Comics, based in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York, and helmed by Marshall; and

, based in

Calabasas, California Calabasas (, ; Spanish language in California, Spanish for "winter squash, squashes") is a city in the southwestern region of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States.Dave Olbrich (previously an employee of Sunrise Distribution) and cartoonist Tom Mason.

John Arcudi John Arcudi is an American comic book writer, best known for his work on '' The Mask'' and '' B.P.R.D.'' and his series '' Major Bummer''. Early life Arcudi grew up in Buffalo, New York. He attended Columbia University as an English major and ...

served as an editor for Imperial Comics.

Mergers

In the spring of 1987, Sunrise announced that due to

cash flow Cash flow, in general, refers to payments made into or out of a business, project, or financial product. It can also refer more specifically to a real or virtual movement of money. *Cash flow, in its narrow sense, is a payment (in a currency), es ...

issues, it would not be able to pay its client publishers until July. Concurrently, Rosenberg revealed his connection to Amazing, Eternity, Imperial, Malibu, and Wonder Color, and declared that he was assuming direct control of all five publishers. At this point, Rosenberg shut down Amazing, Imperial, and Wonder Color, while keeping Eternity Comics as a Malibu brand. Some Imperial titles moved to Malibu/Eternity; a few Amazing and Wonder Color titles were retained by Campiti and moved to Pied Piper Comics.

Sunrise bankruptcy

Sunrise went bankrupt and abruptly folded in the summer of 1988, during the "black-and-white implosion". This left a number of small publishers without the cash flow to continue, and they, too, went out of business. Two of Sunrise's clients, the West Coast publishers

Blackthorne Publishing Blackthorne Publishing Inc. was an American comic book publisher that flourished from 1986 to 1989. They were notable for the ''Blackthorne 3-D Series'', their reprint titles of classic comic strips like Dick Tracy, and their licensed products. B ...

and

Fantagraphics Fantagraphics (previously Fantagraphics Books) is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, manga, magazines, graphic novels, and (formerly) the Erotic comics, erotic Eros Comix imprint. They have managed sev ...

, sued the distributor, but ultimately, neither publisher was able to recoup its losses. Rosenberg continued with Malibu, which survived into the mid-1990s, with many ups and downs, before being acquired by Marvel Comics in 1994.

Analysis

In 2015, Tom Mason, a co-founder of Malibu Comics, described Rosenberg's operations this way:

Publishers financed by Sunrise

Amazing Comics titles

* ''Amazing Comics Premieres'' #1–5 (Feb.–Aug. 1987) — showcase title; contributors include Roger McKenzie,

Kevin VanHook Kevin VanHook (born June 24, 1965) is an American comic book writer, comic book artist, visual effects supervisor, and filmmaker. Career In comics, VanHook is best known creating the character Bloodshot for Valiant Comics. He also wrote the ...

, David Lawrence,

Sam Kieth Sam Kieth (born January 11, 1963) is an American comics artist and writer, best known as the creator of ''The Maxx'' and '' Zero Girl''. Career Comics Kieth's first published work was "a story in the back of a Comico comic" when he was "about ...

Ron Lim Ronald Lim (born 1965) is an American comic book artist living in Sacramento, California. He is best known for his work for Marvel Comics on their various "cosmic" titles, most particularly the ''Silver Surfer'' (vol. 3) series. Biography Lim' ...

, and David Campiti * ''Barney the Invisible Turtle'' #1 (1987) — by Rick Rodolfo * ''Blip and C.C.A.D.S'' #1–2 (1987) * ''Daemon Mask'' #1 (1987) — by Stuart Hopen and

Russ Martin Russell Dale Martin (October 4, 1960 – February 27, 2021) was an American radio personality in Dallas, Texas. He worked in the Dallas radio market for 31 years. Martin hosted the No. 1-rated ''The Russ Martin Show'' on KLLI ''Live 105.3'' in ...

* ''Domino Chance: Roach Extraordinaire'' (1987) — by Kevin Lenagh * ''Ex-Mutants: The Special Edition'' (Spring 1987) — reprinting the first issue as published by Eternity * '' Ex-Mutants'' #2–5 (1987) — by David Lawrence and Ron Lim; moved to Pied Piper Comics * ''The Gajit Gang'' #1 (1987) * ''Jack Frost'' #1–2 (1987) — by Kevin VanHook * ''Phigments'' #1 (1987) — art by

Evan Dorkin Evan Dorkin (born April 20, 1965) is an American comics artist and cartoonist. His best known works are the comic books ''Milk and Cheese'' and ''Dork'', the latter of which features his comic '' Eltingville''. His comics often poke fun at fandom ...

; later acquired by Pied Piper Comics * ''Tales of the Sun Runners'' #3 (Feb. 1987) — by Roger McKenzie and Glen Johnson; acquired from Sirius Comics * ''The Sun Runners Christmas Special'' #1 (Mar. 1987) — contributors include Roger McKenzie and Kelley Jones * '' Wabbit Wampage'' #1 (1987) — by Stephen D. Sullivan; based on a

board game A board game is a type of tabletop game that involves small objects () that are placed and moved in particular ways on a specially designed patterned game board, potentially including other components, e.g. dice. The earliest known uses of the ...

he had earlier developed with

Pacesetter Ltd Pacesetter Ltd was a game company based in Delavan, Wisconsin, founded in 1984. Company founders included CEO John Rickets, and Mark Acres, Andria Hayday, Gaye Goldsberry O'Keefe, Gali Sanchez, Garry Spiegle, Carl Smith, Stephen D. Sullivan ...

Wonder Color titles

* ''G.I. R.A.M.B.O.T.'' #1 (Apr. 1987) * '' Hero Alliance'' #1 (May 1987) — moved to Pied Piper Comics * ''Power Factor'' #1 (May 1987) — moved to Pied Piper Comics * ''Terraformers'' (2 issues, April–May 1987) — art by Kelley Jones

Imperial Comics titles

* ''Battle to the Death'' #1 (1987) — moved to

* ''Blackstar'' (2 issues, Dec. 1986–Feb. 1987) — by Jenkins, Matthews, and Phred * ''Dark Comics'' #1 (1987) * ''Nazrat'' (4 issues, Nov. 1986–Apr. 1987) — by Jerry Frazee; moved to Eternity Comics * ''Probe'' (2 issues, Feb. 1987–Apr. 1987) — by Frank Turner; moved to Eternity Comics

References

Notes

Sources

* * * * * * * {{Authority control Comics industry Defunct companies based in California Defunct comics and manga publishing companies 1988 disestablishments in California