Paramount Comics was a

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

imprint Imprint or imprinting may refer to: Entertainment * ''Imprint'' (TV series), Canadian television series * "Imprint" (''Masters of Horror''), episode of TV show ''Masters of Horror'' * ''Imprint'' (film), a 2007 independent drama/thriller film ...

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Comics'' in ...

that was active for about two years beginning in 1996. The imprint was the result of a deal between Marvel and

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

to produce licensed comic book series based upon the entertainment company's franchises '' Mission: Impossible'' (in particular the soon-to-be-launched film series) and ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...

''. The agreement resulted in

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. ( doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with the ...

and

Malibu Comics Malibu Comics Entertainment, Inc. (also known as Malibu Graphics) was an American comic book publisher active in the late 1980s and early 1990s, best known for its Ultraverse line of superhero titles. Notable titles published by Malibu included ' ...

abruptly losing the rights to publish their own ''Star Trek'' comics series. The first comic published under the Paramount Comics banner was a

prequel A prequel is a literary, dramatic or cinematic work whose story precedes that of a previous work, by focusing on events that occur before the original narrative. A prequel is a work that forms part of a backstory to the preceding work. The term ...

to the first ''Mission: Impossible'' film (and the first ''M:I'' comic since

Dell Comics Dell Comics was the comic book publishing arm of Dell Publishing, which got its start in pulp magazines. It published comics from 1929 to 1974. At its peak, it was the most prominent and successful American company in the medium.Evanier, Mark" ...

ended their series in the early 1970s). This was followed soon after by a one-shot crossover between ''

'' and Marvel's superhero team, the

X-Men The X-Men are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, first appearing in Uncanny X-Men, ''The X-Men'' #1 by artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby and writer/editor Stan Lee in 1963. Although initially cancelled in ...

. After that, Marvel launched a series of comics based upon all four Trek series produced to that time, including '' Star Trek: Voyager'', a title Malibu had been scheduled to produce but was unable due to the change of license. Marvel also launched an original series, '' Star Trek: Starfleet Academy'', as well as '' Star Trek: Early Voyages'' which featured the adventures of Captain Christopher Pike and his crew. The agreement between Paramount and Marvel hit some major snags after about a year, resulting in Paramount withdrawing support for non-series based characters and storylines. As a result, both ''Early Voyages'' and ''Starfleet Academy'' were abruptly cancelled in the midst of their respective

story arcs A story arc (also narrative arc) is the chronological construction of plot in a novel or story. It can also mean an extended or continuing storyline in episodic storytelling media such as television, comic books, comic strips, board games, vid ...

. Marvel phased out the Paramount Comics banner and their remaining ''Star Trek'' titles lasted for about another year before ending in 1998. The ''Star Trek'' license was subsequently picked up by DC's

WildStorm Productions Wildstorm Productions, (stylized as WildStorm), is an American comic book imprint. Originally founded as an independent company established by Jim Lee under the name "Aegis Entertainment" and expanded in subsequent years by other creators, Wildst ...

imprint. The Paramount Comics logo continued to be used in Wildstorm's ''Star Trek'' comics, although it was only featured on the interior title page, not on the cover as it was with Marvel. Besides Trek, ''Mission: Impossible'' and a one-shot starring '' Snake Plissken'', Paramount Comics published ''

The Mighty Heroes ''The Mighty Heroes'' is a Saturday morning animated television series created by Ralph Bakshi for the Terrytoons company. The original show debuted on CBS, on October 29, 1966, and ran for one season with 20 episodes.

'', a one-shot based on the animated series. An ongoing ''Mission: Impossible'' series had been announced, but only the one-shot was ever published. Years after the demise of Paramount Comics, Marvel again made a deal with the studio; this time, Paramount would be the distributor for a number of the

Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appear in American comic books published ...

feature films A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

produced by Marvel's film production unit,

Marvel Studios Marvel Studios, LLC (originally known as Marvel Films from 1993 to 1996) is an American film and television production company that is a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, a division of the Walt Disney Company. Marvel Studios produces the Ma ...

, until

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on Octobe ...

took over from Paramount, following the acquisition of Marvel by Disney.

References

External links

Paramount Comics
on

Wayback Machine The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by the Internet Archive, a nonprofit based in San Francisco, California. Created in 1996 and launched to the public in 2001, it allows the user to go "back in time" and see ...

Marvel Comics imprints Paramount Pictures Publishing companies established in 1996 Mass media companies disestablished in 1998 {{Marvel-comics-stub