Heroic Publishing

Heroic Publishing
PredecessorHero Comics
Hero Graphics
Founded1987; 37 years ago (1987)
FounderDennis Mallonee
Headquarters locationLong Beach, California
Publication typesComic books
Fiction genresSuperhero
Official websitewww.heroicmultiverse.com/heroicpub

Heroic Publishing is an American comic book publisher founded by Dennis Mallonee.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the company published about 100 superhero comics issues across several series – the most prolific of which featured the League of Champions and other titles associated with the Champions role-playing game. Heroic Publishing returned to the marketplace in 2005, and currently publishes via print-on-demand, distributing both physical copies and electronic editions.

Notable creators associated with the company include Daniel Acuña, Mark Beachum, Howard Bender, E. R. Cruz, Al Gordon, Dærick Gröss Sr., Don Heck, Rick Hoberg, Jimmy Janes, Grant Miehm, Gordon Purcell, J. David Spurlock, and Roy Thomas.

History

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Hero Comics/Hero Graphics

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In 1986, comics writer Dennis Mallonee licensed characters from the tabletop superhero role-playing game Champions for a comic book limited series he wrote, which was published by Eternity Comics.[1] That same year, he co-created (with artist Rick Hoberg) and wrote the series Eternity Smith for Renegade Press.

Founding Hero Comics, Mallonee struck out on his own. Hero Comics' first titles were a new ongoing Champions series, Eternity Smith (continuing the numbering from Renegade), and Captain Thunder and Blue Bolt, written by Marvel Comics veteran Roy Thomas. All three titles debuted with September 1987 cover dates. Other early titles published by Hero Comics included The Marksman and Flare,[2] both featuring characters also licensed from the Champions role-playing game.[a]

After taking a short break from publishing, Mallonee re-entered the marketplace in 1990 as Hero Graphics, co-publishing a handful of issues with David Campiti's Innovation Comics,[b] which also served as the company's distributor.

Heroic Publishing

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Mallonee rebranded the company again in 1991, as Heroic Publishing. As Mallonee's company evolved, it became more centered on depicting attractive pinups.[1] Hero Games, the original licensor of Champions, became increasingly uncomfortable with these changes in tone, and some of the characters' owners pulled Mallonee's licensing rights, forcing him to rename the characters. For instance, Bruce Harlick's Marksman became Huntsman, and Harlick's Foxbat became The Flying Fox.[7][1]

Icestar and Flare's rights' owners, Gleen Thain and Stacy Lawrence, respectively, allowed Heroic to continue using their characters.[1] Over the years, Mallonee developed many original characters as well, slowly pushing his comics further from Hero Games' Champions universe.[1] (To avoid confusion, Hero Games removed creator-owned characters that were still being used by Mallonee from new editions of their products.)[1]

By late 1992, however, Heroic Publishing was in the red, offering retailers deep discounts on their titles.[8] The company effectively suspended publishing in late 1993/early 1994.

2005 return

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Heroic returned to publishing again in 2005; in addition to new titles, it continued a number of series from its earlier incarnation, including Captain Thunder and Blue Bolt, Champions,[9] Murcielaga She-Bat, and The Tigress.

The company currently publishes print-on-demand, distributing both physical copies and electronic editions.

Titles (selected)

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First phase, 1987–1994

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  • Captain Thunder and Blue Bolt (13 issues, Sep 1987–Sep 1988; 2014–2015) — first ten issues written by Roy Thomas, contributors include Grant Miehm
  • Champions vol. 1 (12 issues, Sep 1987–Oct 1988) — written by Dennis Mallonee; continuing 1986 series acquired from Eternity Comics
  • Champions / Flare Adventures (11 issues, Aug 1992–July 1993) — contributors include Dennis Mallonee
  • Eternity Smith (9 issues, Sep 1987–Aug 1988) — continuing 1986 series acquired from Renegade Press, by Dennis Mallonee and Rick Hoberg; contributions by E. R. Cruz and Jimmy Janes
  • Flare vol. 1 (16 issues, Nov 1990–Feb 1994) — contributors include Mark Beachum, E. R. Cruz, Dærick Gröss Sr., Rick Hoberg, and Dennis Mallonee
  • Flare First Edition (11 issues, June 1991–Oct 1993) — contributors include Mark Beachum and Dennis Mallonee
  • Icicle (5 issues, 1992–1993) — written by Dennis Mallonee
  • Lady Arcane (4 issues, 1992–1993) — written by Dennis Mallonee
  • League of Champions (17 issues, Dec 1990–July 1993; Dec 2009–Apr 2017) — written by Dennis Mallonee; contributors include Dærick Gröss Sr.
  • The Marksman (5 issues, 1988) — written by Dennis Mallonee
  • Murcielaga She-Bat (12 issues, Jan–Apr 1993; March 2010–present) — by Dærick Gröss Sr.; Studio G published issues #3-7 in the early 1990s
  • Rose (5 issues, Dec 1992–Dec 1993) — by Dennis Mallonee and Mark Beachum
  • Sparkplug (3 issues, 1993) — with art by J. David Spurlock
  • The Tigress (13 issues, Aug 1992–1993; 2016–present) — contributors include Mark Beachum, Dærick Gröss Sr., and Dennis Mallonee

Second phase, 2005–present

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  • Alter Ego: The Graphic Novel (2005) — collecting the limited series of the same name by Roy Thomas and Ron Harris and originally published by First Comics (ISBN 978-0929729022)
  • Champions [Second Edition] (18 issues, 2011–2016)
  • Champions vol. 2 (34 issues, Aug 2005–Aug 2018)
  • Champions Adventures (16 issues, Mar 2011–July 2018)
  • Flare Adventures (19 issues, July 2005–Mar 2012)
  • Flare vol. 2 (23 issues, June 2005–Feb 2018) — contributors include Dennis Mallonee and Gordon Purcell
  • Flare [Second Edition] (19 issues, Jan 2016–present) — reprint series
  • Heroic Spotlight (26 issues, Mar 2010–Feb 2017) — reprint series
  • League of Champions [Color Edition] (12 issues, Apr 2017-?) — reprint series
  • Liberty Comics (9 issues, June 2007–July 2015)
  • Roy Thomas' Anthem #1–5 (2006–2009) — by Roy Thomas; contributions from Daniel Acuña and Dennis Mallonee
  • Witchgirls Inc. (13 issues, Sep 2005–present) — contributors include Dennis Mallonee

Notes

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  1. ^ Marvel Comics had published a Champions comic book series from 1975 to 1978. Hero Games' use of the name for its RPG initiated a dispute with Marvel. In 1988, The United States Patent and Trademark Office ruled that Marvel had abandoned its trademark of the name and could no longer use "The Champions" as the name of a comic book series — thus also paving the way for Mallonee to publish his Champions comic books.[3][4][5] Marvel later re-acquired rights to the trademark, publishing a new The Champions series in 2016.[6]
  2. ^ For example, Flare First Edition, with each issue produced in multiple versions, each one containing one reprint issue of Flare and one of The League of Champions.

References

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Citations

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  1. ^ a b c d e f Appelcline, Shannon (2011). Designers & Dragons. Mongoose Publishing. p. 149. ISBN 978-1907702587.
  2. ^ Mallonee, Dennis (August 2006). "Twenty Years of Flare". Back Issue! (17). TwoMorrows Publishing: 70–77.
  3. ^ "Marvel Loses Champions Trademark". The Comics Journal. No. 125. Oct 1988. pp. 7–8.
  4. ^ Offenberger, Rik (May 2, 2010). "Publisher Profile: Heroic Publishing's Dennis Mallonee". Firstcomicsnews. Archived from the original on April 9, 2012.
  5. ^ Cronin, Brian (January 28, 2010). "Comic Book Legends Revealed #245". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on March 20, 2013. Retrieved January 20, 2013. Marvel did seek and was granted registration of the trademark it was using for that title. That registration, however, was not granted until several months after the title had ceased publication. In the mid-80s, on the basis of that registration, Marvel contested registration of the mark Hero Games was using at that time for its Champions role-playing game. The trademark board took notice of Marvel's abandonment of their earlier mark, and cancelled that registration.
  6. ^ Griepp, Milton (August 16, 2016). "ICV2 Interview: Marvel's David Gabriel – Part 3". ICv2. Archived from the original on August 21, 2016. Retrieved August 20, 2016. I think I probably said to Tom Brevoort, I think this book should be called The Champions. And he, of course, got a tear in his 40-something year-old eye, and said, 'it'll never happen.' And I said, 'someone told me I would never get a million unit sales of Star Wars, so we're going to make this happen.' I badgered our legal guys and we got everybody who needed to be involved in getting the name back, and we got it back.
  7. ^ "Publishers Can't Use Certain Characters". NewsWatch. The Comics Journal. No. 154. Nov 1992. pp. 20, 22.
  8. ^ "Heroic Offers 'Deep Discount'". NewsWatch. The Comics Journal. No. 154. Nov 1992. p. 24.
  9. ^ Brady, Matt (4 June 2007). "Marvel's The Champions becomes The Order". Newsarama. Archived from the original on Jul 13, 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-05.

Sources

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