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 the ...

-based

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 ...

distributor A distributor is an enclosed rotating switch used in spark-ignition internal combustion engines that have mechanically timed ignition. The distributor's main function is to route high voltage current from the ignition coil to the spark plugs ...

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 a California-based 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 so ...

and

Malibu Comics Malibu Comics Entertainment, Inc. (also known 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 '' ...

, 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 a telephone call * Placing a ...

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 April 24, 1973) is an American musician and songwriter 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, Missi ...

. Writer/editor

David Campiti David Campiti (born May 9, 1958) is an American animation producer, comic book writer, talent agent, and co-founder of Innovation Publishing. As CEO of Glass House Graphics, Campiti oversees an international animation studio and agency of illustra ...

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 city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

. (Marshall, meanwhile, retained control of Eternity.) Amazing and Wonder Color were affiliated with another publisher with which Campiti was involved:

Pied Piper Comics Pied Piper Comics was a short-lived American comic book publishing company that ran from 1986 to 1988. Most of the company's titles were picked up from other publishers, and then most later moved to David Campiti's Innovation Publishing. Pied Pi ...

. The plan was that Campiti would package comics for all three publishers through his studio Campiti and Associates, with Pied Piper handling "special projects such as posters and

graphic novels A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work 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 comic scholars and industry ...

; black-and-white /nowiki>comics/nowiki> were Amazing's domain, and Wonder Color would product strictly color comics." Wonder Color's staff included investor Paula Brown as Publisher, editor-in-chief Campiti, and Consulting Editor

Roger McKenzie Roger McKenzie (22 July 1971 – 25 November 1995) also known under his production aliases of Wildchild or DJ Wildchild, was an English musician and DJ. Biography Born in Southampton, England, he released many singles on labels such as ...

. 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 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 ...

, New York, and helmed by Marshall; and

, based in

Calabasas, California Calabasas (from Spanish language, Spanish ''calabazas'' "gourds") is a city in the southwestern region of the San Fernando Valley, between the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains, Santa Monica and Santa Susana Mountains, Santa Susanna mounta ...

, headed by

Dave Olbrich Dave Olbrich is an editor and executive in the American comic book industry. He began as producer and host of YouTube channel Geekview Tavern in 2021. He was instrumental in the creation of two awards for achievement in comic books, voted on by pr ...

(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 A cash flow is a real or virtual movement of money: *a cash flow in its narrow sense is a payment (in a currency), especially from one central bank account to another; the term 'cash flow' is mostly used to describe payments that are expected ...

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

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 West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...

publishers

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

and

Fantagraphics Fantagraphics (previously Fantagraphics Books) is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, manga, magazines, graphic novels, and the erotic Eros Comix imprint. History Founding Fantagraphics was found ...

, 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/Scott Mitchell Rosenberg

Amazing Comics titles

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

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's ...

, and

* ''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 presenter 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 Da ...

* ''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 ''Ex-Mutants'' was a comic book series created by writer David Lawrence and artist Ron Lim along with editor David Campiti in 1986. It was first published by Eternity Comics and then Pied Piper Comics' black-and-white imprint, Amazing Comics (cont ...

'' #2–5 (1987) — by David Lawrence and

; moved to

* ''The Gajit Gang'' #1 (1987) * ''Jack Frost'' #1–2 (1987) — by

* ''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''. His comics often poke fun at fandom, even while making it clear that Dorkin is a fan himsel ...

; later acquired by

* ''Tales of the Sun Runners'' #3 (Feb. 1987) — by

and Glen Johnson; acquired from Sirius Comics * ''The Sun Runners Christmas Special'' #1 (Mar. 1987) — contributors include

and

Kelley Jones Kelley Jones (born July 23, 1962) is an American comics artist best known for his work on ''Batman'' with writer Doug Moench and on '' The Sandman'' with writer Neil Gaiman. Early life Kelley Jones was born in Sacramento, California and grew up ...

* ''

Wabbit Wampage ''Wabbit Wampage'' is a 1985 board game published by Pacesetter Ltd. Gameplay ''Wabbit Wampage'' is a game in which the players are titular Wabbits who war against both a farmer and each other to control the carrot crop and farm buildings, and th ...

'' #1 (1987) — by

Stephen D. Sullivan Stephen D. Sullivan is an American author and artist. Career Sullivan taught a course in ''Dungeons & Dragons'' at MIT the first of its kind in the country. Sullivan worked for TSR as a writer and artist. Sullivan joined CEO John Rickets, Ma ...

; based on a

board game Board games are tabletop games that typically use . These pieces are moved or placed on a pre-marked board (playing surface) and often include elements of table, card, role-playing, and miniatures games as well. Many board games feature a comp ...

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 an ...

Wonder Color titles

* ''G.I. R.A.M.B.O.T.'' #1 (Apr. 1987) * ''

Hero Alliance ''The Hero Alliance'' is a fictional American team of comic book superheroes in an eponymous series published by different companies. It was created by writer Kevin Juaire. Publication history ''Hero Alliance'' was first published in 1986 as ' ...

'' #1 (May 1987) — moved to

* ''Power Factor'' #1 (May 1987) — moved to Pied Piper Comics * ''Terraformers'' (2 issues, Apr.May 1987) — art by

Imperial Comics titles

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

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