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Avatar Press

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"Avatar comic" redirects here. For the comic-book series, see Avatar: The Last Airbender (comics).
Avatar Press
Founded1996; 28 years ago (1996)
FounderWilliam A. Christensen
Country of originUnited States
Headquarters locationRantoul, Illinois
DistributionDiamond Book Distributors (books)[1]
Key peopleWarren Ellis, Garth Ennis, Alan Moore
Publication typesComic books
Fiction genresBad girl
ImprintsBoundless Comics
Bleeding Cool
Official websiteavatarpress.com

Avatar Press is an independent American comic book publisher founded in 1996 by William A. Christensen, and based in Rantoul, Illinois. Avatar Press is most notable for publishing bad girl comics, such as Faust, Pandora, Hellina, Lookers, The Ravening, and Brian Pulido's Lady Death. Such comics are currently published under the "Boundless Comics" imprint.

Avatar has a strong web presence, anchored by Warren Ellis' FreakAngels webcomic, as well as the comics news site Bleeding Cool, helmed by Rich Johnston.

History

Founder and editor-in-chief William A. Christensen.

Avatar Press launched in December 1996 with three titles: Pandora, Silent Rapture, and Donna Mia. Lookers followed in January, 1997.[2] The founding publisher was Richard Christensen, his son William Christensen was editor-in-chief, and Mark Seifert was creative director.[3]

The Christensens already owned the comic book retail outfit Comic Cavalcade, which they started in 1989 when William Christensen was 16 years old.[4][5] Seifert worked as a manager at Comic Cavalcade.[6] Seifert and William Christensen co-bylined several articles for Wizard magazine during the early 1990s, including installments of the “The Wizard’s Crystal Ball” column, an interview with Alan Moore, and a Jack Kirby retrospective.[7]

Avatar began publishing at the end of the 1990s comic book speculation boom and bust, when many publishers and retailers were going out of business.[8][9] Yet the company expanded, publishing titles by Mike Wolfer, David Quinn, Tim Vigil, Eric Powell, and Warren Ellis.[10]

Avatar Press reached a deal with Rob Liefeld in 2000 to publish certain titles previously published by his defunct Awesome Comics company, including Avengelyne and The Coven.[11] In 2001 Avatar Press began publishing previously unreleased issues of Glory written by Moore and originally intended for Awesome.[12] More works by Moore followed, including Alan Moore's Magic Words and a reprint of the graphic novel A Small Killing.[13]

As part of an effort to expand beyond its reputation as a bad girl publisher, Avatar offered a number of noted creators an opportunity to publish creator-owned books with no content restrictions whatsoever.[citation needed] Among the creators to take Avatar up on its offer were Ellis, Moore, Frank Miller, and Garth Ennis.

The company has also licensed comic book adaptations of famous science-fiction and horror movies and television shows, such as RoboCop, Night of the Living Dead, and Friday the 13th.[citation needed]


Titles

By author

Selected other titles

  • Pandora (Avatar's flagship character)
  • Demonslayer by Marat Mychael
  • Dreamwalker by Jenni Gregory
  • Hellina
  • Jungle Fantasy, starring Fauna from the Threshold series' "Fauna, Jungle Girl"
  • Jungle Fantasy: Ivory, starring an independent cave-woman named Ivory who is a "widow" in search of her infant son who was abducted
  • Lookers
  • Medieval Lady Death
  • Nira-X Cyberangel by Bill Maus
  • The Ravening
  • Razor by Everette Hartsoe
  • Rich Johnston's Holed Up by Rich Johnston
  • Twilight, which, along with Twilight: Live Wire, was reprinted in Twilight: Raw

Adaptations and licensed properties

By author

Selected other titles

References

  1. ^ Our Publishers
  2. ^ "Avatar Gears Up For December". Avatar Press website. Retrieved 2023-06-25. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= requires |archive-url= (help)
  3. ^ Pandora', vol. 1, no. 1 (January 1997). Avatar Press.
  4. ^ "Comic Cavalcade | Better Business Bureau® Profile". www.bbb.org. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
  5. ^ tmitchel@news-gazette.com, Tim Mitchell (2005-05-17). "Comic book dealer wants to use site as a warehouse". The News-Gazette. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
  6. ^ Carlson, Debbie (November 23, 1992). "Superman's death sparks reflection, sends dealers searching for more". Journal Gazette from Mattoon, Illinois.
  7. ^ Christensen, William; Seifert, Mark (November 1992). "Wizard's Crystal Ball". Wizard The Comics Magazine. USA: Garab Shamus Enterprises. p. 79. Christensen, William; Seifert, Mark (November 1993). "The Unexplored Medium". Wizard The Comics Magazine. USA: Garab Shamus Enterprises. p. 42. Christensen, William; Seifert, Mark (August 1994). "The King". Wizard The Comics Magazine. USA: Garab Shamus Enterprises. p. 90.
  8. ^ published, Jim McLauchlin (2021-06-17). "Comic books' crazy 1996 revisited: a wedding, a bankruptcy, a DC-Marvel crossover, more". gamesradar. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
  9. ^ "Tales From the Database - Mile High Comics, Chuck Rozanski". www.milehighcomics.com. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
  10. ^ Wolfer, Mike (2007-07-17). "HOW AVATAR PRESS SAVED MY LIFE, Part 4: Reconstruction". Avatar Press. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
  11. ^ Seifert, Mark (2000-07-24). "Shaw, Rio, Haley Take Avengelyne to the Brink in Avengelyne: Revelation". Avatar Press. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
  12. ^ "To the Extreme: A conversation with Rob Liefeld". CBR. 2001-07-30. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
  13. ^ "Alan Moore category page from the 2000s". Avatar Press website. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
  14. ^ "Future Imperfect: Jamie Delano talks Narcopolis". Comic Book Resources. November 7, 2007.
  15. ^ "Entering Narcopolis I: Jamie Delano". Newsarama. March 1, 2008. Archived from the original on May 15, 2009.
  16. ^ "Double-Crossed: Ennis & Burrows talk Crossed". Comic Book Resources. June 12, 2008.
  17. ^ "CCI: Christos Gage discusses Absolution". Comic Book Resources. July 23, 2008.
  18. ^ Leader, Michael (November 3, 2009). "Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie Interview". Den of Geek. Archived from the original on 6 November 2009. Retrieved 2009-11-03.
  19. ^ "WW Philly: The Avatar Panel". Newsarama. June 1, 2008. Archived from the original on February 12, 2009.
  20. ^ "Escape of the Living Dead". Avatar Press.
  21. ^ "WWC XTRA: Picking the Brains of a 'Living Dead' Legend with Avatar Press". Comic Book Resources. August 13, 2007.
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