25 years ago seven cartoonists went rogue and announced their own self published comics company. Erik Larsen, Jim Lee, Rob Liefeld, Todd McFarlane, Whilce Portacio, Marc Silvestri and Jim Valentino declared their independence from the Big Two, launched their own studios and promoted their own characters and nothing would be the same again. From 24 hour signings to The Walking Dead, from Bedrock to Saga…Image Comics changed the face of comics, acid wash and all.
There have been ups, downs and drama…but 25 years after a line launched that played to the most sensational aspects of the “lenticular cover” era, few could deny that Image has become a standard bearer for creators rights,* and proven that a company can be successful based on individual visions and not editorial retreats.
* Yes, I know the early 90s were a rocky time for comics and Image bears some of the responsibility. I am looking at the long picture here, though. The publishers survived who deserved to survive and we’re now a $1 billion industry. Certainly, for the past decade, Image has been a keystone for the success of the medium.
BTW if you want to learn more about the origins of Image (and the story is a doozy filled with amazing characters!) you could do worse than by watching The Image Revolution, a documentary about the company. But or rent from Amazon. (Disclosure: I’m in it for about a minute and you can hear me in the trailer.)
Image is celebrating their day with a worldwide promotion, including signings, variants, social media events, a 25¢ Wakling Dead issue #163 (the best selling comics in decades) and more. Here’s a list of where Image Day events are taking place. Support your local comics shop!
IMAGE COMICS DAY EVENTS IN THE UNITED STATES:
ARIZONA
Phoenix
Samurai Comics | 3:00 PM-7:00 PM | 1051 E. Camelback Rd., Phoenix Az 85014
Jay Fotos, Meredith McClaren, Scott Godlewski
CALIFORNIA
Canoga Park
Collector’s Paradise | 5:00 PM-7:00 PM | 7131 Winnetka Ave, Canoga Park, CA 91306
Garry Brown
Los Angeles
Meltdown | 6:00 PM | 7522 Sunset Bl., Los Angeles, CA 90046
Brian K. Vaughan, Steven T. Seagle, Joe Casey, Matt Hawkins
A Shop Called Quest | 4:00 PM-6:00 PM | 300 S Santa Fe Ave B, Los Angeles, CA 90013
Malachi Ward, Keenan Keller, Kyle Higgins, Tom Neely, Greg Hinkle, Megan Hutchinson, Chris Burnham
The Last Bookstore | 7:30 PM-9:00 PM | 453 S Spring St, Ground Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90013
Rus Wooton, Gabriel Hardman
Golden Apple | 1:00 PM-3:00 PM | 7018 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90038
Matt Hawkins, Darick Robertson, Marc Silvestri
The Grove Barnes & Noble | 7:00 PM | 189 The Grove Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90036
Rick Remender, Ed Brubaker, Chris Burnham
Long Beach
Dustin Nguyen
Pasadena
Collector’s Paradise | 5:00 PM-7:00 PM | 319 S. Arroyo Prkwy Unit 4, Pasadena, CA 91105
Sina Grace
Petaluma
Brian’s Comics | 3:00 PM-6:00 PM | 1 Fourth Street Suite B, Petaluma, CA 94952
Nick Dragotta, Justin Greenwood
San Diego
Brandon Thomas
San Francisco
Brian Schirmer, Ken Garing, Jeremy Saliba
Comix Experience | | 12:00 PM-2:00 PM | 305 Divisadero St., San Francisco, California 94117
Ken Garing
GEORGIA
Atlanta
My Parents’ Basement | 6:00 PM-8:00 PM | 22 North Avondale Road, Avondale Estates, GA 30002
Rich Tommaso
ILLINOIS
Chicago
Graham Cracker Comics | 11:00 AM-2:00 PM | 77 E. Madison, Chicago IL 60602
Tim Seeley
MARYLAND
Annapolis
Third Eye | 11:00 AM | 2027-A West St, Annapolis, MD 21401
Jonathan Luna, Justin Jordan
MINNESOTA
St. Paul
Otis Frampton
MISSOURI
Joplin
Jeremy Haun
Kansas City
Elite Comics | 11:00 AM | 11842 Quivira Rd, Overland Park, KS 66210
Megan Levens, Steven Sanders
St. Louis
Star Clipper | 11:00 AM-5:00 PM | 1319 Washington Ave, St. Louis, MO 63103
Kyle Starks
NEW YORK
New York
Forbidden Planet | 8:00 AM | 832 Broadway, New York, NY 10003
Cliff Chiang, Joe Harris, Brenden Fletcher, W. Maxwell Prince, Alex de Campi, Brandon Montclare, Cameron Stewart, Jason Katzenstein, Amy Reeder, Ivan Brandon, Karen Berger
OREGON
Portland
Floating World | 6:00 PM-8:00 PM | 400 NW Couch St., Portland, OR
Joe Keatinge, Sloane Leong, Leila del Duca, Emi Lenox, Eric Stephenson, Brandon Graham, Farel Dalrymple
Kurt Busiek
Bridge City | 5:00 PM-7:00 PM | 3725 N Mississippi Ave, Portland, Oregon 97227
Joseph Bergin III
Books with Pictures | 6:00 PM-8:00 PM | 1100 SE Division Street, Portland, Oregon 97202
Kelly Sue DeConnick, Matt Fraction
Cosmic Monkey | 11:00 AM | 5335 NE Sandy Blvd, Portland, Oregon 97213
Steve Lieber, Tony Parker
PENNSYLVANIA
Philadelphia
Bryan J.L. Glass
TEXAS
Austin
Austin Books | 8:00 AM-9:00 PM | 5002 N Lamar Blvd, Austin, Texas 78751
Donny Cates, Nick Pitarra
Dallas
Michael Lark, Jordan Boyd
WASHINGTON
Lacey
Olympic Cards and Comics | 10:00 AM-11:59 PM | 4230 Pacific Ave SE, Lacey, WA 98503
Greg Rucka
Vancouver
I Like Comics | 1715 Broadway St., Vancouver, WA 98663
Michael Oeming
INTERNATIONAL IMAGE COMICS DAY EVENTS:
AUSTRALIA
Melbourne
All Star Comics *will take place on February 4* | 11:00 AM-5:00 PM | 53 Queen St., Melbourne, Victoria, 3000
Fil Barlow, Helen Maier
Sydney
Kings Comics | 5:00 PM-7:00 PM | 310 Pitt St., Sydney, Australia 2000
Nicola Scott
CANADA
British Columbia
Kelowna
Okanagan Sports Cards & Comics | 1795 Harvey Ave, Kelowna, British Columbia
Ed Brisson
Vancouver
Golden Age Comics | 852 Granville Street, Vancouver, British Columbia V6Z 1K3
Kaare Kyle Andrews, Steve Skroce, Nathan Fairbairn, Colin Lorimer
Ontario
Toronto
The Beguiling | 6:00 PM-8:00 PM | 319 College Street, Toronto, Ontario M5T1S2
Chip Zdarsky, J. Bone
Silver Snail | 4:00 PM-6:00 PM | 329 YONGE ST., TORONTO ONT. M5B1R7
Raffaele Ienco
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND
Dublin
Big Bang | 6:30 PM | Unit 2.3, Sandyford Road, Dundrum Town Centre, Dublin 16, Ireland
Declan Shalvey, Jordie Bellaire, Simon Spurrier
UNITED KINGDOM
Leeds
Antony Johnston
London
Forbidden Planet | 6:00 PM-7:00 PM | 179 Shaftesbury Avenue, London WC2h 8JR
Sara Kenney, Tradd Moore
Orbital | 5:00 PM-7:00 PM | 8 Great Newport Street, London, WC2H 7JA
Kieron Gillen, Alison Sampson
Dan Watters, Caspar Wijngaard
