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Alternative comics

May 11, 2023

For the publisher, see Alternative Comics.

Alternative comics or independent comics cover a range of American comics that have appeared since the 1980s, following the underground comix movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Alternative comics present an alternative to mainstream superhero comics which in the past have dominated the American comic book industry. Alternative comic books span a wide range of genres, artistic styles, and subjects.

Alternative comics
Photo of Art Spiegelman at the Alternative Press Expo.
Publishers
Publications
Subgenres
Related genres

Alternative comics are often published in small numbers with less regard for regular distribution schedules.

Many alternative comics have variously been labelled post-underground comics, independent comics, indie comics, auteur comics, small press comics, new wave comics, creator-owned comics, art comics,[1] or literary comics.[2][3] Many self-published "minicomics" also fall under the "alternative" umbrella.

From underground to alternative

By the mid-1970s, artists within the underground comix scene felt that it had become less creative than it had been in the past. According to Art Spiegelman, "What had seemed like a revolution simply deflated into a lifestyle. Underground comics were stereotyped as dealing only with sex, dope and cheap thrills. They got stuffed back into the closet, along with bong pipes and love beads, as things started to get uglier."[4] In an attempt to address this, underground cartoonists moved to start magazines that anthologized new, artistically ambitious comics in the 1980s. RAW, a lavishly produced, large format anthology that was clearly intended to be seen as a work of art was founded by Spiegelman and his wife Françoise Mouly in 1980. Another magazine, Weirdo, was started by the leading figure in underground comix, Robert Crumb, in 1981.

These magazines reflected changes from the days of the underground comix. They had different formats from the old comix, and the selection of artists differed, too. RAW featured many European artists, Weirdo included photo-funnies and strange outsider art-type documents. Elfquest was based on a science fiction/fantasy theme with powerful female and male characters of varied races and cultures, and done in a bright and colourful manga-like style. The underground staples of sex, drugs and revolution were much less in evidence. More emphasis was placed on developing the craft of comics drawing and storytelling, with many artists aiming for work that was both subtler and more complex than was typical in the underground. This was true of much of the new work done by the established comix artists as well as the newcomers: Art Spiegelman's Maus, much celebrated for bringing a new seriousness to comics, was serialized in RAW.

While fans debate the origins of self-publishing in the comics industry, many consider Dave Sim an early leader in this area. Starting in 1977, he primarily wrote, drew and published Cerebus the Aardvark, on his own under the "Aardvark-Vanaheim Inc." imprint and announcing he would publish 300 issues of the series consecutively, something unheard of at the time for a self-published book. Sim is known for his activism in favor of creators' rights and his outspoken nature in regards to the industry. He often used the back of his comic to deliver "messages from the President", which were sometimes editorials concerning the comics industry and self-publishing.

Wendy and Richard Pini founded WaRP Graphics, one of the early American independent comics publishers, in 1977 and released the first issues of their long-running series, Elfquest, in February 1978. They followed with titles such as MythAdventures and related titles by Robert Asprin; and Thunder Bunny, created by Martin Greim. WaRP was also the original publisher of A Distant Soil by Colleen Doran. As an alternative to most of the masculine-themed comics of its time – and even to this day – Elfquest became enormously popular among female comic book fans around the world, while also drawing a solid male fan base. WaRP Graphics paved the way for many independent and alternative comic book creators who came after them. At its peak in the mid-1980s, Elfquest was selling 100,000 copies per issue in the initial print run, attracting one of the largest followings of any direct-sale comic.[5] Most issues up to No. 9 saw multiple printings. It was the visible success of Elfquest that inspired many other writers and artists to try their own hand at self-publishing.[6]

Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, a series by Mirage Studios, was very influential on a new generation of creators and became a huge success story of self publishing.

Jeff Smith, a friend of Dave Sim, was also very influential in self-published comics, creating the highly popular and long-lived Bone. As with Sim with Cerebus and unlike mainstream comic books stories with their spontaneously generated and rambling narratives, Smith produced Bone as a story with a planned end.

The publishing house Fantagraphics published the work of a new generation of artists, notably Love and Rockets by the brothers Jaime, Gilbert and Mario Hernandez.[7]

Dan DeBono published Indy – The Independent Comic Guide, a magazine covering only independent comics starting in 1994. It ran for 18 issues and featured covers by Daniel Clowes, Tim Vigil, Drew Hayes, William Tucci, Jeff Smith and Wendy and Richard Pini.[8]

Alternative comics have increasingly established themselves within the larger culture, as evidenced by the success of the feature film Ghost World based on one of the best selling alternative titles, Eightball, by Daniel Clowes and the cross-genre success of the book Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth, by Chris Ware, a story that was serialized in Ware's comic, Acme Novelty Library.

Image Comics and Dark Horse Comics publish many alternative comics. Notable examples include Stan Sakai's Usagi Yojimbo, Sergio Aragonés's Groo the Wanderer, and James O'Barr's The Crow.

Oni Press used the term "real mainstream", coined by Stephen Holland of the UK comic shop Page 45, to describe its output.[9] Traditional American comic books regard superhero titles as "mainstream" and all other genres as "non-mainstream", a reversal of the perception in other countries. Oni Press therefore adopted the "real mainstream" term to suggest that it publishes comic books and graphic novels whose subject matter is more in line with the popular genres of other media: thrillers, romances, realistic drama and so on. Oni Press avoids publishing superhero, fantasy and science fiction titles, unless interesting creators approach these concepts from an unusual angle.

Top Shelf Productions has published many notable alternative comics such as Craig Thompson's Blankets and Alex Robinson's Box Office Poison. In 2010 they branched out into unusual Japanese manga, with the release of AX:alternative manga (edited by Sean Michael Wilson). This 400-page collection received a high level of critical praise.

List of publishers

Though categories might overlap, this list makes a division between more strictly "alternative" comics and independent publishers operating primarily in the action-adventure, crime, horror and movie/TV-tie in genres.

Alternative comics

Independent

See also

References

  1. ^ Douglas Wolk, Reading Comics: How Graphic Novels Work and What They Mean, Da Capo Press, 2008, p. 30.
  2. ^ Hillary Chute, "Comics as Literature? Reading Graphic Narrative", PMLA,123(2), Mar. 2008, pp. 452–465: "literary comics with stories that are serious in scope and heavy on style."
  3. ^ A Beginner's Guide to Literary Comics – Nerdophiles.
  4. ^ Sabin, Roger (1996). "Going underground". Comics, Comix & Graphic Novels: A History Of Comic Art. London, UK: Phaidon Press. pp. 92, 94–95, 103–107, 110, 111, 116, 119, 124–126, 128. ISBN 0-7148-3008-9.
  5. ^ A Dozen To Start With, Comics Collector, Winter 1985, pg. 30. Krause Publications
  6. ^ . Elfquest.com. Archived from the original on July 20, 2011. Retrieved July 18, 2011.
  7. ^ Schmidt, Joseph (January 18, 2017). "6 Alternative Comics Publishers You Need to Know — And Read". Phoenix New Times. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
  8. ^ mycomicshop. "Indy The Independent Guide (1994) comic books".
  9. ^ Guest Editorial: Harvesting The Real Mainstream January 13, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  10. ^ "Ark Vindicta Development & Publishing, LLC Trademarks :: Justia Trademarks".

External links

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alternative comics.
  • Fierce Comics
  • Elfquest by WaRP Graphics
  • Drawn & Quarterly
  • Fantagraphics
  • Radiator Comics
  • Silver Sprocket
  • BirdCage-Bottom-Books
  • Quimby's Book Store
  • Top Shelf Productions
  • Image Comics
  • Dark Horse Comics
  • World Comics & Graphic Novels News (WCGNN)
  • The Comics Journal
  • Indie Review

May 11, 2023
alternative, comics, publisher, alternative, comics, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspaper. For the publisher see Alternative Comics This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Alternative comics news newspapers books scholar JSTOR October 2008 Learn how and when to remove this template message Alternative comics or independent comics cover a range of American comics that have appeared since the 1980s following the underground comix movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s Alternative comics present an alternative to mainstream superhero comics which in the past have dominated the American comic book industry Alternative comic books span a wide range of genres artistic styles and subjects Alternative comicsPhoto of Art Spiegelman at the Alternative Press Expo PublishersFantagraphics BooksDrawn amp QuarterlyAlternative ComicsLast GaspTop Shelf ProductionsPublicationsRawLove and RocketsEightballHateSubgenresminicomicsindie comicsRelated genresUnderground comixAlternative comics are often published in small numbers with less regard for regular distribution schedules Many alternative comics have variously been labelled post underground comics independent comics indie comics auteur comics small press comics new wave comics creator owned comics art comics 1 or literary comics 2 3 Many self published minicomics also fall under the alternative umbrella Contents 1 From underground to alternative 1 1 List of publishers 1 1 1 Alternative comics 1 1 2 Independent 2 See also 3 References 4 External linksFrom underground to alternative EditBy the mid 1970s artists within the underground comix scene felt that it had become less creative than it had been in the past According to Art Spiegelman What had seemed like a revolution simply deflated into a lifestyle Underground comics were stereotyped as dealing only with sex dope and cheap thrills They got stuffed back into the closet along with bong pipes and love beads as things started to get uglier 4 In an attempt to address this underground cartoonists moved to start magazines that anthologized new artistically ambitious comics in the 1980s RAW a lavishly produced large format anthology that was clearly intended to be seen as a work of art was founded by Spiegelman and his wife Francoise Mouly in 1980 Another magazine Weirdo was started by the leading figure in underground comix Robert Crumb in 1981 These magazines reflected changes from the days of the underground comix They had different formats from the old comix and the selection of artists differed too RAW featured many European artists Weirdo included photo funnies and strange outsider art type documents Elfquest was based on a science fiction fantasy theme with powerful female and male characters of varied races and cultures and done in a bright and colourful manga like style The underground staples of sex drugs and revolution were much less in evidence More emphasis was placed on developing the craft of comics drawing and storytelling with many artists aiming for work that was both subtler and more complex than was typical in the underground This was true of much of the new work done by the established comix artists as well as the newcomers Art Spiegelman s Maus much celebrated for bringing a new seriousness to comics was serialized in RAW While fans debate the origins of self publishing in the comics industry many consider Dave Sim an early leader in this area Starting in 1977 he primarily wrote drew and published Cerebus the Aardvark on his own under the Aardvark Vanaheim Inc imprint and announcing he would publish 300 issues of the series consecutively something unheard of at the time for a self published book Sim is known for his activism in favor of creators rights and his outspoken nature in regards to the industry He often used the back of his comic to deliver messages from the President which were sometimes editorials concerning the comics industry and self publishing Wendy and Richard Pini founded WaRP Graphics one of the early American independent comics publishers in 1977 and released the first issues of their long running series Elfquest in February 1978 They followed with titles such as MythAdventures and related titles by Robert Asprin and Thunder Bunny created by Martin Greim WaRP was also the original publisher of A Distant Soil by Colleen Doran As an alternative to most of the masculine themed comics of its time and even to this day Elfquest became enormously popular among female comic book fans around the world while also drawing a solid male fan base WaRP Graphics paved the way for many independent and alternative comic book creators who came after them At its peak in the mid 1980s Elfquest was selling 100 000 copies per issue in the initial print run attracting one of the largest followings of any direct sale comic 5 Most issues up to No 9 saw multiple printings It was the visible success of Elfquest that inspired many other writers and artists to try their own hand at self publishing 6 Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles a series by Mirage Studios was very influential on a new generation of creators and became a huge success story of self publishing Jeff Smith a friend of Dave Sim was also very influential in self published comics creating the highly popular and long lived Bone As with Sim with Cerebus and unlike mainstream comic books stories with their spontaneously generated and rambling narratives Smith produced Bone as a story with a planned end The publishing house Fantagraphics published the work of a new generation of artists notably Love and Rockets by the brothers Jaime Gilbert and Mario Hernandez 7 Dan DeBono published Indy The Independent Comic Guide a magazine covering only independent comics starting in 1994 It ran for 18 issues and featured covers by Daniel Clowes Tim Vigil Drew Hayes William Tucci Jeff Smith and Wendy and Richard Pini 8 Alternative comics have increasingly established themselves within the larger culture as evidenced by the success of the feature film Ghost World based on one of the best selling alternative titles Eightball by Daniel Clowes and the cross genre success of the book Jimmy Corrigan the Smartest Kid on Earth by Chris Ware a story that was serialized in Ware s comic Acme Novelty Library Image Comics and Dark Horse Comics publish many alternative comics Notable examples include Stan Sakai s Usagi Yojimbo Sergio Aragones s Groo the Wanderer and James O Barr s The Crow Oni Press used the term real mainstream coined by Stephen Holland of the UK comic shop Page 45 to describe its output 9 Traditional American comic books regard superhero titles as mainstream and all other genres as non mainstream a reversal of the perception in other countries Oni Press therefore adopted the real mainstream term to suggest that it publishes comic books and graphic novels whose subject matter is more in line with the popular genres of other media thrillers romances realistic drama and so on Oni Press avoids publishing superhero fantasy and science fiction titles unless interesting creators approach these concepts from an unusual angle Top Shelf Productions has published many notable alternative comics such as Craig Thompson s Blankets and Alex Robinson s Box Office Poison In 2010 they branched out into unusual Japanese manga with the release of AX alternative manga edited by Sean Michael Wilson This 400 page collection received a high level of critical praise List of publishers Edit Though categories might overlap this list makes a division between more strictly alternative comics and independent publishers operating primarily in the action adventure crime horror and movie TV tie in genres Alternative comics Edit Alternative Comics 1993 present L Association France 1990 present Black Eye Productions 1992 1998 Buenaventura Press Pigeon Press 2004 2010 2010 2016 Callworks Inc 2009 present Cat Head Comics 1980 1998 Conundrum Press Canada 1995 present Drawn amp Quarterly Canada 1991 present Fantagraphics Books 1976 present First Second Books 2006 present division of Holtzbrinck Highwater Books 1997 2004 Kitchen Sink Press 1970 1999 Koyama Press 2007 present Last Gasp 1970 present originally an underground publisher hasn t published original comics since c 2005 Gator Graphix 1986 1988 Mineshaft Magazine 1999 present MU Press 1990 c 2006 NBM Publishing 1984 present Neoglyphic Media 2012 present Pantheon Books graphic novel division 1978 present subsidiary of Random House Sacred Mountain 1998 present Silver Sprocket 2012 present Slave Labor Graphics Amaze Ink 1986 present Space Face Books 2011 present Sparkplug Comics 2002 2016 Starhead Comix 1984 c 1999 Top Shelf Productions 1997 present Township Comics 2016 present Vortex Comics Canada 1982 1994 World War 3 Illustrated 1980 present Independent Edit A Wave Blue World present Aardvark Vanaheim 1977 present Abrams ComicArts present Imprint of Abrams Books Action Lab Comics 2010 present AfterShock Comics 2015 present Albatross Funnybooks present Alterna Comics 2006 present Amulet Books present Imprint of Abrams Books Antarctic Press 1984 present Apollo Comics 2016 present Apple Comics 1986 1994 Attaboy Funny Books 2014 present Aspen Comics 2003 present Asylum Press 1999 present Avatar Press 1996 present Arcana Comics 2004 present Ark Vindicta Development amp Publishing LLC 2012 present 10 Bedside Press 2014 present Beyond Comics present Black Mask Studios 2012 present Blackthorne Publishing 1985 1990 Blue Juice Comics 2012 present Boom Studios 2005 present Caliber Comics 1989 2000 Class Comics 1995 present Comico 1982 1997 Continum Comics 1988 1994 Creative Impulse Entertainment present CrossGen Cross Generation Entertainment 1998 2004 Darby Pop Publishing 2013 present Dark Horse Comics 1986 present Desperado Publishing 2005 present IDW Publishing imprint since 2009 Devil s Due Publishing 1999 present Diego Comics Publishing 2012 present Drawn amp Quarterly 1990 present Dynamite Entertainment 2005 present Eclipse Comics 1978 1994 Emerald Star Comics 2013 present Event Comics 1994 1999 absorbed by Marvel Comics FantaCo Enterprises 1978 1998 Fierce Comics 2005 present First Comics 1983 1991 The Fourth Age 2021 present Harrier Comics U K 1984 1989 Harris Comics 1985 2008 Hyperwerks 1997 present IDW Publishing 2000 present Image Comics 1992 present In Planet Studio 2010 present Iron Circus Comics 2007 present keenspot 2000 present Lion Forge Comics 2011 present Malibu Comics 1986 1994 absorbed by Marvel Comics Markosia 2005 present Millennium Publications 1990 2000 MonkeyBrain Books present Moonstone Books 1995 present NBM Publishing 1976 1984 present NOW Comics 1985 2006 Oni Press 1997 present Papercutz 2005 present Pendulum Press 1970 1994 Personality Comics 1991 1993 Radical Comics 2007 present Raw Studios present Raytoons Comics 2007 present Red 5 Comics 2007 present Revolutionary Comics 1989 1994 Rippaverse 2022 present Shadowline 1993 present SketchBoox Entertainment 2015 present Slave Labor Graphics 1986 present So Cherry Studios 2014 present So What Press 2011 present TidalWave Productions 2007 present Udon Entertainment 2000 present Un Faulduo 2005 present Urban Comics 2012 present Valiant Comics 1989 1996 2012 present Viper Comics present Wanga Comics 2005 present WaRP Graphics 1977 present Zenescope Entertainment 2005 present See also EditAbstract comics Alternative manga Fumetti d autore Garo Gekiga Japanese equivalent of alternative comics Webcomics which are normally self publishedReferences Edit Douglas Wolk Reading Comics How Graphic Novels Work and What They Mean Da Capo Press 2008 p 30 Hillary Chute Comics as Literature Reading Graphic Narrative PMLA 123 2 Mar 2008 pp 452 465 literary comics with stories that are serious in scope and heavy on style A Beginner s Guide to Literary Comics Nerdophiles Sabin Roger 1996 Going underground Comics Comix amp Graphic Novels A History Of Comic Art London UK Phaidon Press pp 92 94 95 103 107 110 111 116 119 124 126 128 ISBN 0 7148 3008 9 A Dozen To Start With Comics Collector Winter 1985 pg 30 Krause Publications Elfquest com Elfquest com Archived from the original on July 20 2011 Retrieved July 18 2011 Schmidt Joseph January 18 2017 6 Alternative Comics Publishers You Need to Know And Read Phoenix New Times Retrieved August 17 2017 mycomicshop Indy The Independent Guide 1994 comic books Guest Editorial Harvesting The Real Mainstream Archived January 13 2008 at the Wayback Machine Ark Vindicta Development amp Publishing LLC Trademarks Justia Trademarks External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alternative comics Fierce Comics Elfquest by WaRP Graphics Drawn amp Quarterly Fantagraphics Radiator Comics Silver Sprocket BirdCage Bottom Books Quimby s Book Store Top Shelf Productions Image Comics Dark Horse Comics World Comics amp Graphic Novels News WCGNN The Comics Journal Indie Review Time comix Andrew D Arnold Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Alternative comics amp oldid 1152631249, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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