Epic Comics

Epic Comics was an imprint of Marvel Comics started in 1982. It was launched by then Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter as a spin-off of the successful Epic Illustrated magazine. The Epic imprint allowed creator rights supporters and independent artists to work for Marvel without losing control and ownership of their creations. It also allowed Marvel to publish a more mature line of comics oriented towards an older audience. The imprint was co-edited by Al Milgrom and Archie Goodwin.

The line was launched in November 1982 with Dreadstar, a space opera written and pencilled by Jim Starlin, and was followed subsequently by Coyote by Steve Englehart, Alien Legion (a war series set in outer space, created by Carl Potts but written by others), Six from Sirius, a sci-fi title penned by Doug Moench and Paul Gulacy, and Sisterhood of Steel, a sword and sorcery title by Christie Marx and Mike Vosburg, among others.

The line would branch out during the 80s, leading to the creation of tales featuring historical fiction (Black Dragon, Swords of the Swashbucklers), social commentary (The One, Marshal Law), humor (Groo) and fantasy (Moonshadow, Elfquest). However, initial sales were disappointing, so in order to give the Epic line a boost, Frank Miller and Bill Sienkiewicz were commissioned to develop Elektra: Assassin, featuring the ninja assassin from the Daredevil comic book, considered by many fans to be the definitive Elektra tale, and source for the movie of that name.

Although Epic was meant to be mainly a creator-owned line, Elektra: Assassin wasn't the only title featuring Marvel characters published by the imprint. Meltdown, a painted mini-series featuring Havok and Wolverine from the X-Men, as well as a resurrected Tomb of Dracula volume, and a Silver Surfer mini-series, subtitled Parable (dealing with messianic themes, written by Stan Lee with art by French comics artist Moebius), all crossed the boundary between Marvel Universe proper and Epic. Marvel also commissioned Dan G. Chichester to create brand new characters for Epic, in the form of the Shadowline Saga, a storyline spanning four different titles, in 1988.

Epic was also notorious for being one of the first American comic publishers to release material originally produced in other countries. Apart from Silver Surfer, Moebius published a number of graphic novels containing stories originally made for the European market, including English translations of Airtight Garage, The Incal or Blueberry. The imprint also published the Japanese manga classic, Katsuhiro Otomo's Akira, with translations by then Marvel staffer Mary Jo Duffy and colors by Steve Oliffe.

Even the creator-friendly imprint couldn't resist licensing, publishing a variety of literature-related material, the best known of which was an entire line of horror comics based on Clive Barker's books, including Hellraiser, Nightbreed and an adaptation of Weaveworld. Other literary works such William Shatner's Tekworld, the Wild Cards anthologies, and William Gibson's Neuromancer were also adapted into comic book format.

After Jim Shooter left Marvel, Epic fizzled out a little, a consequence of the new brand of "grim and gritty" stories that Epic had pioneered, but had now become a staple of mainstream comics in the late 80s and early 90s. During the comic book sales boom, Epic expanded into the Heavy Hitters line with material from Peter David (Sachs and Violens), Howard Chaykin (Midnight Men), Gerard Jones (Trouble with Girls), Joe Kubert (Abraham Stone) and Steve Purcell (Sam and Max), but the subsequent comic book sales bust forced Marvel to axe the line in 1994.

After discontinuing this imprint, Marvel spent a few years recovering from bankruptcy, so it wasn't until 2001 that Marvel went back to publishing material suited for mature audience, with a new imprint called MAX. Yet, in 2003, Epic was brought back, originally scouting the market for new creator-owned projects, but finally deciding on adapting less known Marvel properties. The new Epic received considerable attention with Trouble, a new mini-series by Mark Millar that supposedly would retcon the Spider-Man mythos by revealing that May Parker was actually Peter's mother, but although all the main characters sported names that any Spider-fan would recognize, there was no explicit revelation that they were in any way connected to their Marvel Universe namesakes. Other comics in the line were produced by unknown talents, including a Crimson Dynamo title, and the line was aborted before it could really get under way, a number of solicitations being cancelled and an attempt at recreating Epic Illustrated aborted after one issue.

Titles

• Epic Illustrated – a magazine sized anthology similar to Heavy Metal
• Dreadstar
• Elektra: Assassin
• Silver Surfer: Parable
• Moonshadow
• Starstruck
• The One
• Tomb of Dracula
• Alien Legion
• Sisterhood of Steel
• Six from Sirius
• Trouble
• Groo the Wanderer

External Links

• Epic Comics home page