Image Comics

• 1. Introduction

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  Image Comics is an American independent publisher, and it ranks third by market share among direct market publishers of comic books and graphic novels. Its catalogue includes Spawn, The Walking Dead, Kick-Ass, Invincible, Saga and Monstress. Yet the company began as an act of defiance. In 2000, the artist Rob Liefeld looked back on his time at Marvel Comics and said, "We had become too big for the system." Liefeld and a small group of star illustrators founded Image in 1992 with one aim. They wanted to publish their own creations without giving up the copyrights. That was rare. In most of American comics, the publisher is the legal author and the creator is an employee. Why would artists at the peak of their fame walk away from the biggest publishers? What happened when an erratic shipping record collided with a collapsing market? And how did a company launched by superhero studios grow into a home for creators in many genres?

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• 2. Seven Rebels

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  Todd McFarlane, Rob Liefeld and Jim Lee each broke a modern sales record at Marvel Comics in the early 1990s. McFarlane did it with Spider-Man #1, Liefeld with X-Force #1 and Lee with X-Men #1. Success did not make them content. Liefeld worried that it left his position at Marvel more precarious, and he said Marvel "didn't want a star system." McFarlane and Lee felt undervalued, because they were not paid when their art was reused on merchandise such as t-shirts.

  In 1991, Malibu Comics agreed to publish a creator-owned title by Liefeld. In July of that year he announced an independent comic called Youngblood. In September he advertised another book, The Executioners, to be published by "Image Comics." Marvel then threatened both to sue him and to fire him from X-Force. Liefeld shelved the book, and its characters later turned up in Youngblood and in their own title, The Berzerkers. The threat only made him more determined to publish independently.

  Liefeld next invited three more artists: Erik Larsen of Amazing Spider-Man, Jim Valentino of Guardians of the Galaxy, and McFarlane. In December 1991, McFarlane recruited Jim Lee at the Sotheby's auction in New York. Marc Silvestri, the Wolverine artist, was in town for the same event and received an invitation too. Lee then brought in Whilce Portacio, who drew Uncanny X-Men. Those seven creators became the founding partners.

  Their charter had two provisions. Image would own no creator's work, and the creator would keep it. Image would hold no intellectual property except its name and its logo. The second provision barred any partner from interfering, creatively or financially, with another partner's work. That promise of non-interference would be tested within a few years.

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• 3. Record Print Runs

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  Pre-orders for Youngblood #1 reached 930,000 copies, which topped the previous record for any creator-owned or independent comic. It reached shops in April 1992. The founders' first titles carried the Image name but were published through Malibu Comics, which supplied administrative, production, distribution and marketing support. McFarlane's Spawn #1 followed in May 1992 with a print run of 1.7 million copies. Larsen's The Savage Dragon, Lee's WildC.A.T.S, Valentino's ShadowHawk and Silvestri's CyberForce sold strongly to comic shops after that.

  Within a few months, Image's books had lifted Malibu to almost 10% of the North American market. For a short time that exceeded the share held by DC Comics. In early 1993, Image left Malibu and became an independent company with Tony Lobito as its full-time publisher. It was the first publisher since the rise of the direct market to challenge Marvel and DC.

  Portacio was the one founder who failed to deliver a first issue in 1992. He had been reported to be working on Huntsman with Chris Claremont, but chose to create Wetworks instead. The death of his sister delayed the series, and he resigned as a partner. In 2022, the Incredible Hulk artist Dale Keown said he was offered Portacio's place in 1992 and declined. His criminal record made travel outside Canada difficult. Keown still became the first non-founder to publish a creator-owned book with Image. The first issue of his series Pitt sold more than one million copies, though it shipped several months behind its November 1992 schedule.

  More titles arrived in 1993. Liefeld launched Bloodstrike and Lee launched StormWatch. Sam Kieth's The Maxx, Larry Stroman's Tribe, Keith Giffen's Trencher and Mike Grell's Shaman's Tears joined them, along with 1963 by Alan Moore, Steve Bissette and Rick Veitch. Tribe sold more than one million copies to comic shops, making it the largest-selling comic created by African-American creators. Some founders' studios came to look like separate publishers, each running several linked series in a shared universe. Because freelancers wrote or drew many of those books, critics said the partners had rebuilt the same system they had rebelled against, with themselves in charge.

  Also in 1993, Image and Valiant Comics began Deathmate. Historian Jason Sacks called it the first major universe crossover since Marvel and DC published The Uncanny X-Men and The New Teen Titans in 1982. Moore would go on to write for Spawn, WildC.A.T.S, The Maxx and Supreme.

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• 4. Late Books, Broken Market

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  Industry analyst Mel Thompson estimated that around 20% of comic book stores went out of business in 1993. The usual yearly attrition was about 10%. After a peak in early 1993, the market fell steeply as a speculative bubble burst. Many professionals blamed speculators, but many retailers pointed to Image's erratic publishing record as a main cause of their financial strain.

  Every Image comic scheduled to ship in the first quarter of 1993 arrived late. In April 1993, only 15.3% of Image titles shipped on time. DC managed 90.1%, Marvel 79.2% and Valiant 100%. Some books even appeared out of order. The first issue of Liefeld's ongoing Brigade series shipped before the final issue of the Brigade limited series, and Spawn #21 shipped before issues #19 and #20. Deathmate Red, Liefeld's part of the Valiant crossover, arrived four months late, after the series epilogue had already been released.

  Retailers typically order comics two months ahead, and they cannot return what they buy. Late books therefore strain cash flow, and fans often lose interest before a delayed issue appears. The Comics Journal reported retailers' estimates that lateness could cut sales by as much as 60%. In 1994, Hanley's Universe owner Jim Hanley described the danger for the Journal: "When books start shipping late, you end up ordering four, five, six issues before you see sales, and that's where the greater danger is."

  Todd McFarlane told the Journal that Image should not carry all the blame. He said publishers, distributors and retailers shared responsibility, and that shipping on time would not "stop retailers from being stupid." In a Comics Retailer interview he blamed greed, and said he hoped retailers who over-ordered popular titles such as Spawn went bankrupt. The Journal and Thompson studied public order and shipping data. They concluded that Image accounted for so many late books and so many retail dollars that it was more culpable than the partners admitted.

  In 2007, journalist George Khoury argued that Marvel's decision to distribute exclusively through its own subsidiary, beginning in 1995, mattered more in the long run. Diamond Distributors founder Steve Geppi told him that Image had helped expand the market. Mile High Comics owner Chuck Rozanski placed the bursting point at the return of Superman, less than six months after the Death of Superman. Khoury concluded that everyone shared the blame. Sacks wrote in 2018 that many people consider Deathmate the book that ended the industry's prosperous years. "In truth," he added, "there was plenty of blame to go around."

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• 5. Survival Mode

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  In August 1993, Image cut back its line, citing lateness and a wish to focus on the founders' own books. It cancelled Shaman's Tears, Stupid, Trencher and Tribe. Several miniseries, including 1963 and Pitt, would not become ongoing series. Moore's Enemies of Mankind and Frank Miller's Big Guy were postponed indefinitely. Retailers had already cut their orders to reduce risk.

  Late in 1993, Image hired Larry Marder as executive director. He was an independent cartoonist and a former marketer for the Chicago retail chain Moondog, and he ranked above Lobito. McFarlane told The Comics Journal that the founders had often ignored Lobito's advice, even when it was right, because they doubted a younger and less experienced man.

  Many Image titles had sold more than 500,000 copies an issue in 1992 and 1993. By mid-1994, only the top sellers reached 250,000. Marder decided the company needed at least 30 comic books a month to stay in business. "And if the partners did not provide those books, I had to get those books wherever I could find them," he explained in 2007. Titles added in the mid-1990s included Jae Lee's Hellshock, Sergio Aragonés's Groo, Jeff Smith's Bone and Colleen Doran's A Distant Soil. Astro City, by Kurt Busiek, Brent Anderson and Alex Ross, arrived as well.

  In 1996, Lee created the Homage Comics sub-imprint under his WildStorm Studios label. It was described as a home for creator-owned material and a safe haven from a difficult market. Its first lineup was Astro City, Terry Moore's previously self-published Strangers in Paradise, and a new title, Leave it to Chance, by James Robinson and Paul Smith.

  The founders' studios also kept producing hits. WildStorm released Gen13 in 1994. Silvestri's Top Cow Productions launched Witchblade in 1995 and The Darkness in 1996. In 1998, WildStorm opened the Cliffhanger sub-imprint for a new generation of popular artists, starting with Humberto Ramos, J. Scott Campbell and Joe Madureira.

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• 6. Founders Fall Out

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  Liefeld told CBR in 2001 that tensions among the founders existed from the very beginning, as they competed for sales and talent. In late 1994 he started his own company, Maximum Press, partly in response. It was first described as an imprint for non-superhero titles, such as the science fantasy Warchild. He also realized he would not always be part of Image.

  Matt Hawkins worked for Liefeld's studios from 1993 until 1998 and has been president of Top Cow since 1998. He said Liefeld proposed merging his Extreme Studios with Silvestri's Top Cow in 1996. When Liefeld saw that Silvestri would refuse, he tried to recruit Top Cow artists instead, including Witchblade artist Mike Turner. Hawkins phoned Turner about an Avengelyne project for Maximum Press, but Silvestri took the phone and yelled at him.

  Liefeld then moved some of his titles from Image to Maximum Press, which raised the tension. In the summer of 1996, Silvestri announced he would leave Image, citing irreconcilable differences with an unnamed partner. Liefeld resigned in September 1996, shortly before a vote to force him out. Silvestri soon dropped his plan to leave.

  Liefeld sued Image in October 1997 for wrongful termination and breach of contract over money he said he was owed. Image countersued. It claimed he had misused company funds and staff on his Maximum Press titles and had not repaid an overpayment. The suits were settled on undisclosed terms. Marder and Valentino said Liefeld repaid the money he owed.

  In 1998, Jim Lee sold WildStorm and its characters to DC Comics. He said he wanted to trade the duties of a publisher for more creative work. Liefeld would return to Image in 2007, though as a creator rather than as a partner.

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• 7. A Broader Shelf

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  In 1997, Brian Michael Bendis's Jinx and Matt Wagner's Mage joined the Image lineup. Valentino's Shadowline imprint was publishing more than 12 black and white titles, among them his own A Touch of Silver, James A. Owen's Starchild, Zander Cannon's The Replacement God, Mike Baron's The Badger and Michael Avon Oeming's Ship of Fools. Creators paid a flat fee of $2,000 to Image, or $500 to Shadowline, to cover administrative costs. They kept every other dollar of sales, and all of their intellectual property rights.

  Marder left in 1999 to help run McFarlane Toys, and Valentino became publisher. He later said he saw the job as an extension of his work on Shadowline. He is often credited with shaping Image into the diverse publisher it is today. Sacks wrote that by the end of 1999, Image had strengthened its reputation as the place to find the highest quality creator-owned material.

  Several imprints not owned by the partners began publishing licensed material through Image in the early 2000s. Devil's Due launched a new G.I. Joe series in 2001, and MVCreations began a Masters of the Universe series in 2002. In 2003, Udon Entertainment started a series based on the Street Fighter video games, while DB Productions began an adaptation of George R. R. Martin's The Hedge Knight.

  Eric Stephenson had worked as an editor and writer for Liefeld's Extreme Studios in Image's early days. Image hired him as marketing director in 2002. The following year it published The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore. Valentino first rejected it, fearing the zombie premise was too familiar. Kirkman said he planned to reveal that aliens were behind the zombies, and Stephenson found that interesting enough to urge Valentino to accept. Kirkman later admitted he never intended to include aliens. The comic became one of the top sellers on the market. Kirkman and Cory Walker's Invincible appeared in the same years, as did Bendis's Powers and Warren Ellis and Chris Weston's Ministry of Space.

  Image's market share slipped in the mid-2000s as Devil's Due, Dreamwave Productions, MVCreations, Udon and DB Productions all left. Dark Horse Comics passed Image to become the third largest publisher. Erik Larsen took over as publisher in 2004 with plans for more mainstream comics, and Valentino went back to running Shadowline. Larsen's tenure brought Ellis and Ben Templesmith's Fell, Casey and Tom Scioli's Godland, Richard Starkings's Elephantmen, Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie's Phonogram, and The Sword by the Luna Brothers.

  In 2007, Liefeld launched a new Youngblood series written by Joe Casey, with art by Derec Donovan and Val Staples. He credited Kirkman with bringing him back. In July 2008, Larsen stepped down to focus on The Savage Dragon, and Stephenson took over as publisher.

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• 8. The Stephenson Era

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  Shortly after Stephenson's promotion in 2008, Kirkman became Image's first new partner since its founding. Stephenson pointed to Kirkman's commitment to Image and his strong vision. In 2010, Kirkman founded his own imprint, Skybound. Under Stephenson, Image widened both the kinds of comics it published and the kinds of creators it attracted, and critical praise followed. Creators associated with Marvel and DC began bringing creator-owned projects to the company.

  The Beat named Stephenson its Comics Industry Person of the Year in 2012. Editor-in-chief Heidi MacDonald described his work as a "creative revitalization" of Image. She cited Saga, new books from Grant Morrison, Jonathan Hickman and Ed Brubaker, and homegrown hits including Chew, Morning Glories and Thief of Thieves. She also named Stephenson's own Nowhere Men. Saga's creator, Brian K. Vaughan, said he loved the other companies he had worked for but wanted total control, with no content restrictions. He thought Image might have been the only publisher still offering a fully creator-owned contract.

  Sales grew until Image held a market share of around 10% in 2015. Diamond Comic Distributors voted it Publisher of the Year three years running, from 2013 to 2015. By the 25th anniversary in 2017, most titles Image published in a given month had no tie to the founding partners. Even so, McFarlane's Spawn line and McFarlane Toys, Top Cow, and Kirkman's series remained a large part of total sales. As of 2020, Spawn and Larsen's Savage Dragon were Image's longest-running creator-owned titles, with over 300 and 250 issues respectively.

  In 2017, the headquarters moved from Berkeley, California to Portland, Oregon. Before Berkeley it had been in Anaheim and then Oakland. Stephenson became a partner, board member and chief creative officer the following year.

  Awards followed the growth. Image titles have been nominated for or won Eisner, Hugo, Russ Manning, Edgar and Bram Stoker awards, among others. In July 2018, Marjorie Liu won the Eisner Award for Best Writer for Monstress, the first woman to win that category. In April 2019, Image received 30 Eisner nominations, more than any other publisher. All six nominees for Best New Series came from Image, the first sweep of that category by one publisher.

  In November 2021, editorial, production, sales and accounting staff formed Comic Book Workers United, a union affiliated with the Communications Workers of America. It published nine goals, including transparency about pay and workload, better morale, and clearer paths for career advancement. Image did not voluntarily recognize it. Many industry professionals praised the effort.

  The ninth goal drew controversy. It called for a collective vote to cancel immediately any title whose creators were found to have engaged in abuse, sexual assault, racism, and other forms of bigotry. Vice reported that some read it as a demand for a censorious panel enforcing political correctness. The union told Vice it did not seek to dictate content. It wanted a process to protect a safe working environment.

  Staff voted to certify the union in January 2022, making it the first of its kind in the American comics industry. Before the vote, most Image comics other than those from Todd McFarlane Studios credited Image staffers by name. Afterward, those names were removed from titles under Valentino's Shadowline imprint. In February 2022, the union sued Image, alleging retaliation against members and interference with bargaining.

  The union ratified its first contract with Image in March 2023. Two months later, in May 2023, it filed another lawsuit alleging further "anti-union discrimination."

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