Kurt Busiek's Astro City is an American superhero anthology comic book series centered on a fictional American city of that name. Created and written by Kurt Busiek , the series is mostly illustrated by Brent Anderson , with character designs and painted covers by Alex Ross .
104-587: The first volume was published from 1995 to 1996 by Image Comics . In 1996, a second volume was launched under the Homage Comics imprint of Image partner studio WildStorm , which was then acquired by DC Comics , where the series later transitioned to the WildStorm Signature Series imprint and continued until 2010. During this period it switched from a regular ongoing series to a sequence of periodic mini-series and special issues. A third, ongoing volume
208-400: A Comics Retailer interview, McFarlane blamed the industry downturn on greed, saying he hoped that retailers who over-ordered popular titles, including Spawn, went bankrupt. Based on public orders and shipping data, The Comics Journal and Thompson concluded that because Image titles accounted for such a large percentage of both late books and dollars spent, the company was more culpable for
312-412: A battle of the old guard against these uncompromising protectors in a conflict that will define what heroism truly is and determine the future of the planet. When comic book artist Alex Ross was working on Marvels , published in 1994, he decided to create a similar "grand opus" about characters from DC Comics . Ross wrote a 40-page handwritten outline of what would become Kingdom Come and pitched
416-459: A child, but he deduces the news first. Diana asks Bruce to serve as godfather , surprising the World's Greatest Detective. Clark tells Bruce he will provide a balancing influence to the child, adding that in spite of their differences over the years, he has always trusted Batman. Bruce accepts, touched by his old friend's words. As they leave the restaurant, Bruce notices Norman and Jim Corrigan discussing
520-773: A corporation. Many Image series quickly fell behind their intended publishing schedule (See " Controversies " below). In response, retailers cut orders to reduce their risk. In August 1993, Image cut back its line, citing lateness and a desire to focus on books by the founders. The company announced it had canceled Shaman's Tears , Stupid , Trencher , and Tribe and that several mini-series including 1963 and Pitt would not become ongoing series. Moore's Enemies of Mankind and Frank Miller's Big Guy were "indefinitely postponed." In late 1993, Image hired Larry Marder , an independent cartoonist and former marketer for Chicago comics retail chain Moondog, to act as "executive director" for
624-545: A creator-owned title by Liefeld in 1991. In July that year he announced plans to publish an independent comic called Youngblood and in September advertised a title called The Executioners to be published by "Image Comics." Although Liefeld shelved plans for The Executioners after Marvel threatened to both sue him and fire him from X-Force (the characters later appeared in Youngblood and their own title as "The Berzerkers"),
728-587: A devastated Kansas (an homage to the Kingdom Come series) although Superman states the entire planet is in the same condition. With advice from this future Superman, Captain Atom returns to the present and uses a robot made by Toyman to destroy the giant meteorite of kryptonite, preventing this future from coming true. In a follow-up to this story, Captain Atom: Armageddon , the titular Captain Atom finds himself in
832-433: A flat fee of $ 2,000 to Image and $ 500 to Shadowline for administrative costs and kept all other proceeds from their sales, as well as all intellectual property rights. After Marder left Image in 1999 to help run McFarlane Toys , Valentino was named the company's publisher. He later said he saw his time as publisher as an extension of what he had been doing with Shadowline. He is often credited for making Image Comics into
936-504: A message of hope for humanity. Among the congregation is Jim Corrigan , the Spectre's human host. The first additional scene (four pages) takes place near the end of the second part of the series. Superman visits Orion on Apokolips , which has changed very little despite Darkseid no longer being in power. He asks Orion for his advice on what to do with the captive rogue metahumans. Orion, who has grown to resemble his father and has adopted
1040-687: A new Masters of the Universe series in 2002, Udon Entertainment began publishing a series based on the Street Fighter video game franchise in 2003, and the imprint DB Productions began publishing an adaptation of George R. R. Martin 's The Hedge Knight , also in 2003. Image Comics hired Eric Stephenson , who had worked as an editor and writer for Liefeld's Extreme Studios in the early days of Image, as marketing director in 2002. In 2003, Image published Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore 's zombie comic The Walking Dead , which went on to become one of
1144-707: A new sub-imprint called Homage Comics under his WildStorm Studios label. Described as a "home for creator-owned material as well as a safe haven from an increasingly challenging comic book market," the initial line-up consisted of Astro City , Terry Moore's previously self-published Strangers in Paradise , and a new title called Leave it to Chance by James Robinson and Paul Smith . The Image founders also continued to produce new top-selling series, such as Gen from WildStorm Studios in 1994, and Witchblade and The Darkness from Silvestri's Top Cow Productions in 1995 and 1996 respectively. In 1998, WildStorm launched
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#17330856225591248-407: A non-returnable basis. Late books create cash flow issues for retailers, and in many cases, fans lost interest in late books by the time they shipped. Retailers estimated that late shipping could affect sales by as much as 60%, according to The Comics Journal . Late books also make it harder for retailers to plan purchases, because they have to order the next issues in a series before they see how well
1352-558: A number of Eisner Awards and Harvey Awards , the American comic industry's equivalent of science fiction's Hugo Awards , as well as several Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Awards . Astro City won both the Eisner and Harvey Awards for Best New Series for 1996, the Eisner for Best Continuing Series for 1997 and 1998, the Harvey for Best Continuing or Limited Series for 1998, and was a top votegetter for
1456-483: A pilot episode written by Busiek and Rick Alexander. Image Comics Image Comics is an American comic book publisher and is the third largest direct market comic book and graphic novel publisher in the industry by market share. Its best-known publications include Spawn , The Walking Dead , Kick-Ass , Invincible , Jupiter's Legacy , Witchblade , The Maxx , Savage Dragon , Bone , Saga , Radiant Black and Stray Dogs . It
1560-458: A rather jaded view on life, initially offers to accept Superman's charges as exiles to Apokolips. Superman rejects that solution, claiming he can learn nothing from Orion, and goes back to Earth with Big Barda and Scott Free. The second additional scene is an eight-page epilogue. Clark Kent and Diana Prince meet with Bruce Wayne at 'Planet Krypton', a superhero-themed restaurant owned by Michael Jon Carter . They plan to tell Bruce they are expecting
1664-458: A second volume ntitled Revelations ) to the text, containing further sketches and developmental artwork from Ross, showing the development of the character designs and the storyline. A 1998 special from Wizard magazine contains the original proposal for the series by Ross, providing notes on what was changed and why. Ross's comments on The Kingdom are also included. DC released an Absolute Kingdom Come hardcover edition in 2006. It collects
1768-568: A similar suit and works at the Daily Planet, which was attacked, presumably by the Joker. His Earth was designated as Earth-96, a reference to the year the comic was released. Furthermore, Kevin Conroy portrayed a variation of Bruce Wayne from Earth-99 that also incorporated elements of the Kingdom Come version, such as the character wearing an exo-suit. Hachette Audio released an audio dramatization of
1872-496: A swift cease-and-desist notice from DC, objecting that the volume "constitute[d] an unauthorized derivative work that infringe[d] upon [DC's] copyrights, violates [their] trademark rights, and misappropriates [their] good will". Lamken acquiesced to the recall, despite protesting that DC had prior knowledge of the project. It is likely that the similarities between the material contained in the Revelations volume (available only with
1976-628: Is a four-issue comic book miniseries published in 1996 by DC Comics under their Elseworlds imprint. It was written by Mark Waid and painted in gouache by Alex Ross , who also developed the concept from an original idea. The story is set in an alternate future of the DC Universe . The new generation of heroes have lost their moral compass, becoming as reckless and violent as the villains they fight. The previous regime of heroes—the Justice League —returns under dire circumstances, which sets up
2080-436: Is an employee of that publisher. Its output was originally dominated by superhero and fantasy titles from the studios of the founding Image partners, but now includes comics in many genres by numerous independent creators. In the early 1990s, artists Todd McFarlane , Rob Liefeld , and Jim Lee broke successive modern sales records at Marvel Comics with Spider-Man #1, X-Force #1, and X-Men #1 respectively. However,
2184-584: Is based upon the desire to prevent the loss of life. Moved by Superman's sentiments, Batman tells him that Captain Marvel is under Luthor's control and is on the way to the Gulag. Superman races to the prison, but upon arrival is struck down by Captain Marvel. The Gulag is breached, freeing the population, and inciting war between them and the Justice League. Batman's army arrives on site as an intervening third party, but
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#17330856225592288-504: Is the designation of the Kingdom Come alternate universe. In Justice Society of America (vol. 3) , a new Starman appears wearing a costume identical to that of the Starman from the Kingdom Come series. It is soon revealed that this individual is indeed the Starman from Kingdom Come , and that he is also Thom Kallor , a native of the planet Xanthu and member of the Legion of Super-Heroes in
2392-559: Is unable to stop Wonder Woman from killing the supervillain Von Bach, which increases the fury of the riot. As conditions worsen, United Nations Secretary General Wyrmwood authorizes the deployment of three tactical nuclear warheads, hardened against metahumans. In the middle of their fight, Batman and Wonder Woman see the incoming bombers piloted by the Blackhawk Squadron . They break off fighting and manage to stop two bombs, but miss
2496-511: The Dark Age of Comic Books toward more optimistic stories, functioning as a "thesis statement" of how superhero comics work. The series examines the archetypes of older superhero comics, functioning as "a vehicle to comment on [topics] buried in the subtext of old comics" Many of the superheroes in Astro City bear similarities to famous characters from Marvel Comics or DC Comics . For instance,
2600-574: The Justice League . He recruits new and old heroes. The most prominent exception is Batman , who resents Superman for leaving the world 10 years ago. Batman warns him that his idealist notions are outdated and his violent interference will only exacerbate the world's problems. In response to Superman's Justice League, Batman activates his own network of agents, the "Outsiders", made up largely of younger second and third-generation heroes. Trusted veterans, such as Green Arrow , Black Canary and Blue Beetle , are chosen as lieutenants. Lex Luthor organizes
2704-563: The Luna Brothers . In 2007, Liefeld returned to Image as a creator, as opposed to partner, to publish a new Youngblood series written by Joe Casey with art by Derec Donovan and Val Staples. Liefeld credited Kirkman for bringing him back to Image. Larsen stepped down as publisher to focus more on The Savage Dragon in July 2008 and Stephenson was promoted to the position. In 2008, shortly after Stephenson's appointment, Image added Kirkman as
2808-459: The WildStorm universe and in another homage to Kingdom Come , his appearance mysteriously changes to that of his Earth-22 counterpart. In the second arc of Batman/Superman: World's Finest , entitled "Strange Visitor" and written by Mark Waid and illustrated by Dan Mora, a young boy named David Sikela arrives on Earth-0, where he is found by Batman , Superman , and Robin . They quickly realized
2912-436: The "Mankind Liberation Front". The MLF is secretly a group of Golden Age villains and third-generation villains like Ra's al Ghul 's successor, Ibn al Xu'ffasch , who is Bruce Wayne and Talia al Ghul 's son. The MLF works to take control of the world from the heroes. Superman's Justice League gathers more captives than converts, and his prison (nicknamed "the Gulag") is quickly filled to capacity. Superman works to persuade
3016-611: The 1998 Eisner for Best Serialized Story went to vol. 2, #4–9's "Confession" storyline. "Welcome to the Big City" in Volume 2 #1 was a top vote-getter for the Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Award for Favorite Comic-Book Story for 1997. The story " The Nearness of You " from the #1/2 issue received votes for the same award that year, as did the "Everyday Life" story which ran in Volume 2 issues #2 and 3. The story "Confession" from Volume 2 issues #5–9 won
3120-521: The 30th and 31st centuries. Due to a time-travel error, Starman traveled to Earth-22 before arriving in 21st-century New Earth. The "Thy Kingdom Come" story arc of the Justice Society of America title features the involvement of Alex Ross, as well as the appearance of the Kingdom Come Superman. Seeing the connection between Gog of New Earth and Magog of Earth-22, Superman from Earth-22 and
3224-541: The Batcave with the intent to kill Clark Kent, because according to him, Clark is responsible for the destruction of the Earth. Kingdom Come Superman suddenly vanishes while being distracted by his past self calling him "Clark". It is eventually revealed that this Superman came from a future in which a kryptonite meteorite crashed to the Earth. Later, due to a burst of quantum energy, Captain Atom arrives in this future. He appears in
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3328-523: The Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Award for Favorite Limited Series for 1997. The earliest collection Astro City: Life in the Big City , won the Harvey Award for Best Graphic Album of Previously Published Work for 1997 and the Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Award for Favorite Reprint Graphic Novel/Album for 1997. Astro City: Confession was a top votegetter for the Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Award for Favorite Reprint Graphic Album of 1998 and 1999. Astro City: Family Album
3432-485: The Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Award for Favorite Story for 1998. "Show 'Em All" from issue #10 was a top votegetter for the Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Award for Favorite Story for 1998. Kurt Busiek was honored with 1998's Harvey and 1999's Eisner for Best Writer, in both instances for bodies of work including Astro City . Alex Ross took both awards for Best Cover Artist in 1996, 1997, and 1998, in all instances but one for Astro City or bodies of work including it (the exception
3536-635: The Comics Industry Person of the Year in 2012 for what editor-in-chief Heidi MacDonald described as Stephenson's "creative revitalization" of Image. MacDonald cited the publication of Saga and other new titles from popular creators like Grant Morrison, Jonathan Hickman and Ed Brubaker, along with "homegrown hits" from Image like Chew , Mornings Glories , and Thief of Thieves and Stephenson's own Nowhere Men among his accomplishments. Saga creator Brian K. Vaughan explained that while he loved
3640-584: The Eisner Awards, Hugo Awards, Russ Manning Awards, The Edgar Awards, Bram Stoker Awards, Young Adult Library Association's Great Graphic Novels for Teens and more. Image Comics' title list includes domestic and international bestsellers with regular appearances on The New York Times bestseller list, The Washington Post ' s bestseller list, USA Today ' s bestseller list, the Amazon.com bestseller list and more. Kingdom Come (comic) Kingdom Come
3744-478: The Gulag. Batman's forces ambush Luthor and his conspirators, but are unable to restrain Batson, who transforms into Marvel and flies off. While Wonder Woman leads the Justice League to the prison riot, Superman confronts Batman. Batman tries to justify inaction, saying the world would be better off if all the metahumans destroyed each other. However, Superman knows that Batman will act, because his entire crimefighting life
3848-542: The JSA seek to prevent New Earth from going the way of his own world by stopping Gog in his crusade to rid the world of false gods, and before he can choose a successor one day in Magog. The JSA is split in their opinions on Gog; some believe he is truly benevolent, while others are suspicious of his true intentions. To prove himself, Gog heals certain JSA members such as Starman, Doctor Mid-Nite , and Damage , and he resurrects Lance from
3952-508: The Justice League. Luthor's plan is to exacerbate the conflict between the League and Gulag's inmates. Batman quickly discovers that an adult Billy Batson is under Luthor's control. Batson, as Captain Marvel, is the only metahuman capable of matching Superman's power. When the inmates riot and kill Captain Comet , Luthor unwittingly reveals to Batman he intends to use the brainwashed Batson to break open
4056-545: The Marvel/DC crossover The Uncanny X-Men and The New Teen Titans was published in 1982. Some of the founders' studios came to resemble separate publishers, each with several ongoing series set in a shared universe . The use of freelancers to write or illustrate series that were owned by the Image partners led to criticism that some of them had reproduced the very system they had rebelled against, but with them in charge instead of
4160-472: The North American comics market share thanks to Image, briefly exceeding that of industry giant DC Comics . In early 1993 Image left Malibu and established itself as an independent company, hiring Tony Lobito as full-time publisher. Image became the first publishing company to challenge Marvel and DC's dominance since the establishment of the direct market . Portacio was the only founder not to deliver
4264-607: The Titans and becomes Superman's sidekick, Boy Thunder. While things start out well, a team-up between the Joker and The Key results in David being tortured by the Joker, which heavily traumatized him. In a fit of rage, David attempts to kill the Joker. While he was unsuccessful, David vows that he will one day kill the Joker, as it is revealed he is a younger version of Magog from Kingdom Come . David's actions deeply concern Superman, Batman and
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4368-478: The Titans, with Superman briefly considering siphoning off David's powers, but decided against it, believing that David deserved a chance to try to fix his own mistakes. The Key took this opportunity to attempt to use David's ship to unlock the secrets of the multiverse, triggering the ship's systems and causing it and David to be transported into an unknown world in the Multiverse, where he meets an alien being going by
4472-461: The Year three years in a row between 2013 and 2015. By the company's 25th anniversary in 2017, the majority of titles Image published in a given month were not affiliated with the founding partners. Meanwhile, McFarlane's Spawn and related titles, his McFarlane Toys line, Silvestri's Top Cow imprint and Kirkman's various series remained a substantial segment of Image's total sales. As of 2020 , McFarlane's Spawn and Larsen's Savage Dragon were
4576-409: The audio version was composed by John Bauers. In January 1999, Harbor Press published the first (special) issue of their comics magazine Comicology . The 272-page Comicology: Kingdom Come Companion , edited by Brian Lamken, focuses heavily on Kingdom Come , featuring an A-Z of almost everything, with extensive illustrations by Ross and various other commentary on the miniseries. It was the subject of
4680-426: The classic crime-busting vigilantism of the past. In the epilogue, the heroes strive to become fully integrated members of the communities. Wonder Woman's exile from Paradise Island ends. She becomes an ambassador for super-humanity, taking the survivors of the Gulag to Paradise Island for rehabilitation. Batman abandons his crusade and becomes a healer, rebuilding his mansion as a hospital to care for those wounded by
4784-430: The commercially successful Cliffhanger sub-imprint to showcase created owned titles from a new generation of popular artists, starting with Humberto Ramos , J. Scott Campbell , Joe Madureira . After a peak in early 1993, the comics market experienced a steep downturn as the speculative bubble burst . Around 20% of all comic book stores went out of business in 1993, industry analyst Mel Thompson estimated, compared to
4888-674: The company as a creator, as opposed to partner, in 2007. Jim Lee sold WildStorm and its characters to DC Comics in 1998, citing a desire to exchange his responsibilities as a publisher for the opportunity to do more creative work. Image continued to diversify, adding titles such as Brian Michael Bendis 's Jinx and Matt Wagner 's Mage to the company's line-up in 1997, while Valentino's Shadowline imprint published more than 12 black and white titles, including 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
4992-536: The company's first new partner since its founding. Stephenson cited Kirkman's commitment to publishing through Image and his strong vision as reasons for the decision. In 2010, Kirkman founded his own imprint called Skybound . Under Stephenson, Image began to greatly expand both the types of comics it publishes and the types of creators drawn to the publisher, beginning a period of critical acclaim. An influx of Marvel- and DC-associated creators began publishing creator-owned work with them. The Beat named Stephenson
5096-403: The creators became discontented. Liefeld worried that their success actually made their positions at Marvel precarious. "We had become too big for the system," he said in 2000. "Marvel didn't want a star system." McFarlane and Lee, on the other hand, felt undervalued at Marvel, where they were not paid when their art was reused for merchandise such as t-shirts. Malibu Comics agreed to publish
5200-603: The dead to make him his successor, Magog. Soon, the JSA learns that Gog is forming a parasitic relationship with the planet Earth. If he remains long enough, the planet will not be able to survive without him. The JSA remove Gog's head, and Superman and Starman take it to the Source Wall . Starman sends Superman back to Earth-22 in time to see the carnage caused by Captain Marvel detonating the bomb. The events of Kingdom Come continue from there and conclude in its entirety, with additional scenes depicting Superman's life and legacy for
5304-464: The destruction of the Gulag. He reconciles with both Dick Grayson and Ibn al Xu'ffasch. Superman begins the task of restoring the Midwestern farmlands devastated after Magog's attack. He comes to terms with his past as Clark Kent by accepting a pair of glasses from Wonder Woman, and shares a kiss with her before she returns to Paradise Island. Norman McCay resumes pastorship of his congregation, preaching
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#17330856225595408-402: The diverse publisher that it is seen as today. Sacks wrote that by the end of 1999, Image had bolstered its reputation "as the place to find the highest quality creator-owned material." In the early 2000s, a number of imprints not owned by the Image partners began publishing licensed material through Image. Devil's Due launched a new G.I. Joe series via Image in 2001, MVCreations launched
5512-553: The earlier issues sold. "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," Hanley's Universe owner Jim Hanley told The Comics Journal in 1994. Todd McFarlane told The Comics Journal that the blame for the market collapse should not be pinned entirely on Image. He argued that the company shared responsibility with other publishers, distributors, and retailers alike, saying that Image shipping books on time wouldn't "stop retailers from being stupid." In
5616-501: The editorial, production, sales and accounting staff formed Comic Book Workers United (CBWU), a trade union affiliated with the Communications Workers of America . The union published nine goals, including salary and workload transparency, improving staff morale, and improving career mobility. Image did not voluntarily recognize the union. The unionization drive was met with praise from many industry professionals. However,
5720-421: The entire series in a significantly larger page format, along with interviews with Waid and Ross, character artwork, sketches, and a complete annotation for the series. It was released again in the second quarter of 2018. The novelization was written by Elliot S. Maggin . It was published by Warner Aspect as a hardback, and (in limited numbers) a slip-cased, signed edition. It fleshes out characters such as Magog,
5824-630: The feminist superhero Winged Victory is reminiscent of Wonder Woman , and the superhero team First Family resemble the Fantastic Four . Some of the more prominent personalities of Astro City are listed below: The series has been collected into a number of trade paperbacks : Beginning in 2022, Image Comics began collecting Astro City in a series of thick trade collections, dubbed "Metrobooks": Starting in 2023, Image Comics began releasing oversized hardcover collections of Astro City , dubbed "Opus Editions": Astro City and its creators have won
5928-504: The first issue of Liefeld's on-going Brigade series shipped before the concluding issue of the Brigade limited series, and Spawn #21 shipped before issues #19 and #20. Deathmate Red , Liefeld's portion of the inter-company crossover with Valiant Comics, became emblematic of Image's problems. The book shipped four months late, well after the release of the series epilogue. Retailers typically order comics two months in advance, on
6032-568: The first issue of his own series in 1992. Initially, Portacio was reported to be working on a title called Huntsman with Chris Claremont , but opted instead to create his own title called Wetworks (the Huntsman character later appeared in issues of WildC.A.T.S and CyberForce written by Claremont). However, work on the series was significantly delayed due to the death of Portacio's sister and he decided to resign as an Image partner. In 2022, former Incredible Hulk artist Dale Keown said that he
6136-645: The future from a dying Wesley Dodds . The Spectre appears to McCay and recruits him to help pass judgment on the approaching superhuman apocalypse. An attack on the Parasite , led by Magog, goes awry when Parasite tears open Captain Atom . As a result, much of the American Midwest is irradiated, killing millions and destroying a large portion of the United States's food production. Coaxed back into action by Wonder Woman , Superman returns to Metropolis and re-forms
6240-548: The grown son of Superman and Wonder Woman, who would be mentored by Gog. Waid and Ross disagreed on several concepts, and Ross decided to leave the project. Without Ross's involvement, Waid continued the story in the New Year's Evil: Gog one-shot. The Kingdom miniseries soon followed, featuring a two-part series and several one-shots focusing on specific characters. The series was used to present Grant Morrison 's Hypertime concept. The final issue of 52 reveals that Earth-22
6344-468: The idea to James Robinson as a project similar in scope to Watchmen (1986–1987) and Alan Moore 's infamous "lost work" Twilight of the Superheroes . Ultimately, Ross teamed with writer Mark Waid , who was recommended by DC editors due to his strong familiarity with the history of DC superheroes. In this Elseworlds story, Superman and the Justice League abandon their roles as superheroes after
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#17330856225596448-764: The incident only further motivated him to pursue independent publishing. Liefeld soon invited Amazing Spider-Man artist Erik Larsen , Guardians of the Galaxy artist Jim Valentino , and McFarlane to join Image Comics. McFarlane then recruited Jim Lee at the Sotheby's auction in New York in December 1991. Wolverine artist Marc Silvestri, who was also in town for the event, was also invited. Lee invited Uncanny X-Men artist Whilce Portacio shortly after. These seven creators became
6552-527: The inmates that their methods are wrong-headed and dangerous, to no avail. With hostile heroes and villains locked up together, pressure builds. Meanwhile, Superman learns that Wonder Woman's ardent militant stance may be influenced by her recent exile from Paradise Island: in the eyes of the Amazons , her mission to bring peace to the outside world has failed, and she has thus been stripped of her royalty. Batman and his Outsiders seem to ally themselves with MLF against
6656-414: The largest-selling African-American-created comic, with more than one million copies sold to comic shops. Moore went on to work on several Image series, including Spawn , WildC.A.T.S , The Maxx , and Supreme . Also in 1993, Image and Valiant Comics began publishing the inter-company crossover Deathmate , which comics historian Jason Sacks described it as the first major comic universe crossover since
6760-543: The longest-running creator-owned titles published by Image, with over 300 and 250 issues, respectively. The company's headquarters moved from Berkeley, California to Portland, Oregon in 2017. The following year, Stephenson became an Image partner, board member, and chief creative officer. Prior to Berkeley, its headquarters was located first in Anaheim, California and then in Oakland, California . In November 2021, members of
6864-435: The major characters were also included. The trade was also printed as a hardback (without dustjacket) by Graphitti Designs. Alex Ross provided a new cover painting for a new trade paperback released in 2008 that features a deluxe foldout cover only on its first printing (subsequent printings will not include the foldout). A separate deluxe slipcased two-volume hardback edition, also copublished by DC and Graphitti Designs, added
6968-661: The mid-2000s as the imprints Devil's Due, Dreamwave Productions , MVCreations, Udon Entertainment, and DB Productions departed the company and Dark Horse Comics surpassed Image to become the third largest comic book publisher. Larsen took over as publisher in 2004, intending to publish more mainstream comics. Valentino returned to running the Shadowline imprint. Titles launched during Larsen's tenure include 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
7072-426: The name of Gog. A boxed-set of the four individual issues was packaged in a die-cut cardboard sleeve with a Skybox trading card, part of a short-lived experimental program to package comics for resale at Toys "R" Us and other mass-market retailers. The original trade paperback from 1997 collects the entire series along with twelve additional pages by Ross, including the epilogue. Promotional artwork and sketches of
7176-620: The next 1,000 years. Alex Ross states that this story is not intended as a sequel to Kingdom Come since that would negate the purpose of the original story. A major subplot of Judd Winick and Keith Giffen 's 2010 maxiseries, Justice League: Generation Lost concerns the events of Kingdom Come . The story sees Maxwell Lord being tasked by the Entity with killing Magog before he can inadvertently trigger an apocalyptic war between Earth's superhumans, which ultimately brings Magog and Lord into conflict with Justice League International . To drive
7280-473: The original founding partners of Image Comics. Image's organizing charter had two key provisions: The founders' initial titles were produced under the Image name, but published through Malibu Comics , which provided administrative, production, distribution and marketing support. The first Image comic published was Liefeld's Youngblood #1 in April 1992. Pre-orders for the book reached 930,000 copies, beating
7384-403: The other companies he had worked with, he wanted to maintain 100% control over the series to ensure there would be no content restrictions or interference and Image may have been the only publisher that still offered a fully creator-owned contract. Image's sales grew significantly during this period to a market share of around 10% in 2015. Image was voted Diamond Comic Distributors' Publisher of
7488-584: The point home, the Entity shows Lord a series of visions taken directly from Kingdom Come , including Magog and the Justice Battalion attacking Parasite. Lord eventually succeeds in arranging Magog's demise, and his life is returned by the Entity. During the first arc of the Superman/Batman series written by Jeph Loeb , what appears to be the Kingdom Come Superman appears via a Boom Tube in
7592-478: The previous record for both the top selling creator-owned comic and top selling independent comic of all time. The second Image title, McFarlane's Spawn #1, debuted with a print run of 1.7 million copies in May 1992. Larsen's The Savage Dragon , Lee's WildC.A.T.S , Valentino's ShadowHawk , and Silvestri's CyberForce followed, all with strong sales to comic shops. Within a few months, Malibu had almost 10% of
7696-447: The process. Despite Marvel's sacrifice, most of the metahumans are obliterated in the explosion. Superman is unharmed, but does not realize that there are any other survivors. Enraged at the tremendous loss of life, he flies to the U.N. Building and threatens to kill the delegates as punishment for the massacre. The surviving metahumans arrive, but McCay is the one who talks him down, pointing out how his appearance and behavior are exactly
7800-500: The publisher, ranking above Lobito and reporting directly to the partners. McFarlane told The Comics Journal that the founders had ignored Lobito's advice in the past, even when he was correct, because they didn't have confidence in his guidance due to his age and relative inexperience. Despite the scaleback in 1993, Image continued to publish creator-owned comics by a variety of creators. Though many Image titles sold more than 500,000 copies per issue in 1992 and 1993, by mid-1994 only
7904-1135: The purchase of the considerably-more-expensive Graphitti/DC two-volume set) contributed to the recall of the Comicology volume. The recall made the Companion arguably the most difficult Kingdom Come item to find. In 1996, Fleer / Skybox released a set of trading cards based on Kingdom Come , entitled Kingdom Come eXtra . Alongside the 50 basic cards, featuring art by Ross and text by Waid, there are 15 "sketchboard" cards, three "Kingdom Classics" (featuring Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman in iconic poses), six "Alex Ross Original" cards, and some rarer autograph cards. DC Direct (the exclusive collectibles division of DC Comics ) has produced three waves of action figures based on Kingdom Come ' s artwork. The first wave of figures included Superman , Wonder Woman , Green Lantern and Hawkman . The second wave included Batman , Red Robin , Captain Marvel and Kid Flash . The last wave included Magog , Flash , Armored Wonder Woman and Deadman . An exclusive figure of Red Arrow
8008-458: The request was not an effort to dictate the content of Image publications, but to create a process to ensure a safe working environment. The union was certified by a vote in January 2022, becoming the first of its kind in the American comics industry. Prior to the vote, most Image comics, apart from those published by Todd McFarlane Studios, included the names of Image staffers in the credits. After
8112-481: The restaurant's "Spectre Platter", with Corrigan showing irritation that this is how he is being remembered, and Norman assuring him that it is good to be remembered at all. Due to the popularity of the series, Mark Waid and Alex Ross began to plot a sequel/prequel titled The Kingdom . Alex Ross's original intent was for Gog to be an alien, twice the size of a human, from the planet Urgrund that split into two and created Apokolips and New Genesis and for Magog to be
8216-583: The return of Superman less than six months after the Death of Superman , as the moment the speculative bubble burst. Khoury concluded that everyone in the industry was to blame for the comics market crash, including publishers, speculators, readers, retailers, creators, and editors. "Many consider Deathmate the comic book that singlehandedly put an end to the industry's prosperous times and the biggest reason why so many comic book stores closed its doors for good," comics historian Jason Sacks wrote in 2018. "In truth, there
8320-415: The rights to make a live-action feature film adaptation of Astro City . Busiek was to write a script treatment, and also to executive-produce, along with Barenholtz and Alpers. In May 2013, Kurt Busiek said that Working Title's option had lapsed but he was in negotiation with another party. In March 2018, FremantleMedia North America announced intentions to produce a live-action Astro City TV series with
8424-504: The rise and strong public support of a superhero named Magog , who has no qualms about killing—notably the Joker before his trial for the mass murder of the Daily Planet staff, including Lois Lane . In the ensuing years, a newer generation of superpowered metahumans arise. They engage in destructive battles with little distinction between "heroes" and "villains". The narrator , minister Norman McCay , receives apocalyptic visions of
8528-484: The situation than the Image partners were willing to admit. In 2007, comics journalist George Khoury wrote that Marvel's decision to distribute its product exclusively through its own distribution subsidiary beginning in 1995 had a bigger long-term impact on the comics industry than Image's business practices. Diamond Distributors founder Steve Gepp told Khoury that Image helped expand the market for comic books, and Mile High Comics proprietor Chuck Rozanski pointed to
8632-426: The sort of reasons that normal humans fear the superpowered. Superman immediately ceases his rampage. He is handed Captain Marvel's cape, and tells the U.N. that he will use his wisdom to guide, rather than lead, humankind. Superman ties Captain Marvel's cape to a flagpole and raises it among the flags of the member nations of the U.N., suggesting that this role of guidance will be more political and global in nature than
8736-511: The story, adapted from the novelization, featuring the voice talent of Mike Mearian, Don Peoples, Garet Scott, John Cunningham, Kent Broadhurst, Jeff David, Chuck Cooper, Harry Goz , Barbara Rosenblat, Craig Zakarian, Mike Arkin, Bob Lydiard, Peter Newman, Birgit Darby, Mark Finley, Igot Goldin, Macintyre Dixon, and Chloe Patellis, along with the guest voices of Dennis O'Neil, Mark Waid, Mike Carlin, Dan Raspler, Charles Kochman, Peter Tomasi, Greg Ross, Janet Harvey, Elisabeth Vincentelli. The music for
8840-538: The summer of 1996, shortly after the incident with Turner and Hawkins, Silvestri announced that he would leave Image Comics, citing irreconcilable differences with a then-unnamed Image partner. Liefeld resigned from Image Comics in September 1996 shortly before a vote to force him out of the company. Silvestri reversed his plans to leave Image shortly after. Liefeld filed suit against Image in October 1997 for wrongful termination and breach of contract for money he claimed
8944-410: The third. Captain Marvel uses his lightning bolt as a weapon against Superman, who manages to grab Marvel and allow the bolt to transform him into Billy. Holding Batson's mouth shut, Superman tells him he is going to stop the remaining bomb. Batson must make a choice: either stop Superman and allow the warhead to kill all the metahumans, or let Superman stop the bomb and allow the metahumans' war to engulf
9048-685: The top-selling comics on the market. Valentino originally rejected the title, fearing the premise was too familiar. Kirkman lied and said he planned to reveal that the aliens were behind the zombies, a premise Stephenson found interesting enough to encourage Valentino to accept. Kirkman later admitted that he never planned to include aliens in the comic. Other titles published during Valentino's tenure include Kirkman and Cory Walker 's Invincible ; Bendis's Powers ; Garth Ennis , Jimmy Palmiotti , and Amanda Conner 's The Pro ; Jay Faerber 's Noble Causes , and Warren Ellis and Chris Weston 's Ministry of Space . Image's market share declined in
9152-535: The top-selling titles reached 250,000 in sales. Marder determined that Image needed to publish at least 30 comic books per 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," Marder explained in 2007. Titles added in the mid-1990s included Hellshock by Jae Lee , Groo by Sergio Aragonés , Bone by Jeff Smith, A Distant Soil by Colleen Doran , and Astro City by Kurt Busiek , Brent Anderson and Alex Ross . In 1996, Lee founded
9256-537: The typical attrition rate of around 10% in prior years. Many comics industry professionals blamed speculators for the market downturn, but many retailers cited Image's erratic publishing record as a key cause of fiscal strain for stores. Every single Image comic scheduled to ship in the first quarter of 1993 shipped late. In April 1993, only 15.3% of the company's titles shipped on time, compared with 90.1% shipped on time by DC, 79.2% by Marvel, and 100% by Valiant. Some titles ended up shipping out of sequence. For example,
9360-472: The union's ninth goal of establishing "a collective voting option to immediately cancel publication of any title whose creator(s) have been found to have engaged in abuse, sexual assault, racism and xenophobia, homophobia, transphobia, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, ableism, etc.” proved controversial. Vice reported that this goal was "read as a demand for a censorious panel to ensure that upcoming comics adhere to diktats of political correctness." CBWU told Vice that
9464-610: The unique properties of David's biology give him powers upon exposure to the Earth's sun, and is brought to the Bottled City of Kandor to be examined by the Kandorian scientist Kim-Da. While there, Kim-Da fabricates David a costume inspired by Hel-Oz, an ancient Kryptonian hero. After a brief, but traumatic, excursion to Gotham, Robin takes David to the base of the Teen Titans , where he introduces David to his friends and partners. David joins
9568-905: The vote, those names were removed from titles published under Valentino's Shadowline imprint. CBWU filed suit against Image Comics in February 2022, alleging retaliation against union members and interference with bargaining efforts. CBWU ratified their first union contract with Image Comics in March 2023. The union filed an additional lawsuit against Image Comics in May 2023, alleging further "anti-union discrimination." This list also includes studios and partners. Image considers these studios as separate publishing companies that operate in concert with Image and each studio as fully autonomous from Image Central . Image Comics titles have garnered both comics and mainstream critical acclaim. Image Comics titles boast multiple award nominations and wins across all categories in
9672-468: The world leaders, and the Batman/Ib'n connection. The book contains four new color pages by Ross, as well as four black and white sketches of the major players. Brandon Routh reprised his role of Clark Kent / Superman from the 2006 film Superman Returns in the 2019–2020 Arrowverse crossover event " Crisis on Infinite Earths ". This version of Superman takes inspiration from Kingdom Come . He wears
9776-434: The world. Superman tells Batson he must be the one to decide, as he is the only one who lives in both worlds: a man (as Batson) and a god (as Marvel). Batson, his mind now clear of Luthor's influence, turns back into Captain Marvel. He flings Superman to the ground and flies after the missile. Marvel intercepts the missile and shouts "Shazam!" three times in rapid succession, detonating the bomb prematurely, and killing Batson in
9880-452: Was a top votegetter for the Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Award for Favorite Reprint Graphic Album of 1999. Particular stories or storylines have also come in for honors. Astro City #1 won the 1996 Harvey for Best Single Issue or Story, while #4, "Safeguards", took the Eisner for Best Single Issue/Single Story for the same year. The 1997 and 1998 Eisners went to vol. 2, #1, "Welcome to Astro City", and vol. 2, #10, "Show 'Em All", respectively, and
9984-426: Was announced, he had described it as an imprint for non-superhero titles, such as the science fantasy Warchild . Liefeld proposed a merger between his Extreme Studios imprint and Silvestri's Top Cow imprint in 1996, according to Matt Hawkins, who worked for Liefeld's studios from 1993 until 1998 and has been president of Silvestri's Top Cow Productions since 1998. Hawkins said that when Liefeld realized that Silvestri
10088-785: Was approached in 1992 about taking Portacio's place, but declined because his criminal record made it difficult to travel outside his home country of Canada. Keown still became the first non-founder to publish a creator-owned title with Image. The first issue of his series Pitt sold more than one million copies to comic shops. It was originally scheduled for November 1992 but shipped several months late. Image continued to expand in 1993 with new titles from both founders, such as Liefeld's Bloodstrike and Lee's StormWatch , and non-founders, including Sam Kieth 's The Maxx , Larry Stroman 's Tribe , Keith Giffen 's Trencher , and Mike Grell 's Shaman's Tears , and 1963 by Alan Moore , Steve Bissette , and Rick Vietch . Tribe became
10192-409: Was founded in 1992 by several high-profile illustrators as a venue for creator-owned properties, in which comics creators could publish material of their own creation without giving up the copyrights to those properties. Normally this is not the case in the work-for-hire -dominated American comics industry, where the legal author is a publisher, such as Marvel Comics or DC Comics , and the creator
10296-411: Was going to reject his offer, he decided instead to try to recruit some of Top Cow's artists, including Witchblade artist Mike Turner. At one point Hawkins called Turner about working on an Avengelyne project for Maximum Press, but Silvestri took the phone and yelled at Hawkins. Meanwhile, Liefeld moved some of his titles from Image Comics to Maximum Press, escalating tensions within the company. In
10400-502: Was launched under DC's Vertigo imprint in 2013 and concluded in 2018, reverting to occasional miniseries and original graphic novels . Counting all series, mini-series and special issues, over 100 issues have been published. The series portrays different perspectives on what everyday life might be like in a superhero-comic universe, with stories focusing on a variety of different superhero characters and ordinary people. It has been described as representing Busiek's effort to move away from
10504-413: Was owed to him. Image countersued, claiming Liefeld had misused Image funds and staff resources for his Maximum Press titles and failed to repay an overpayment made by the company. The suits were settled in February 1997. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed, but Marder and Valentino claimed Liefeld repaid the company the money he owed. Liefeld later reconciled with the Image partners and returned to
10608-421: Was plenty of blame to go around." There were tensions between the Image Comics founders from the very beginning, according to Liefeld, as the founders competed with each other for sales and talent. Liefeld founded his own separate company, Maximum Press , in late 1994 largely in response to those tensions and a realization that he wouldn't always be a part of Image, he told CBR in 2001. At the time Maximum Press
10712-524: Was released through ToyFare magazine. DC Direct also released several other characters through their Elseworlds toylines. These figures included the Spectre , Norman McCay , Jade , Nightstar , Aquaman and Blue Beetle . An updated version of Kingdom Come Superman was released in JSA series2 , which was based on the covers that Alex Ross worked on. An action figure of Superman based on Kingdom Come 's artwork
10816-470: Was the 1997 Harvey, awarded for Kingdom Come #1). He also took 1999's Harvey and 2000's Eisner for Best Cover Artist, again for bodies of work including Astro City . In 2003, Ben Barenholtz , Jonathan Alpers and Busiek hoped to develop an Astro City movie, with Barenholtz as producer and Alpers as lead scripter, but the plans did not take off, whereupon Barenholtz subsequently took the project to Working Title Films . In July 2010, Working Title acquired
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