Black Eye Books (formerly called Black Eye Productions) is a small but influential Canadian

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

publishing company founded by Michel Vrana. Under the auspices of Vrana, Black Eye was known as a publisher of artfully designed

alternative comics Alternative comics or independent comics cover a range of American comic book, American comics that have appeared since the 1980s, following the underground comix movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Alternative comics present an alterna ...

and

graphic novels A graphic novel is a self-contained, book-length form of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comics scholars and ...

, most of whose cartoonists have gone on to successful careers with fellow Canadian publisher

Drawn & Quarterly Drawn & Quarterly (D+Q) is a publishing company based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, specializing in comics. It publishes primarily comic books, graphic novels and comic strip collections. The books it publishes are noted for their artistic con ...

. For several years, Vrana acted as Drawn & Quarterly's exclusive outside design consultant. In 2019 the company was relaunched as a micro-press with a focus on using crowdfunding to bring projects to fruition.

History

Vrana's first worked with publisher Tragedy Strikes Press, which operated out of

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as The Royal City, it is roughly east of Kitchener, Ontario, Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Ontario Highway 6, ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, from 1991–1993. Comics published by Tragedy Strikes Press included Nick Craine's ''The Cheeseheads'', the anthology series ''Reactor Girl'',

Jay Stephens Jay Stephens (born March 22, 1971) is a Canadian cartoonist and animator currently living in Guelph, Ontario. He is best known as the creator of the comic ''Tutenstein'', which was later adapted into the Discovery Kids animated television seri ...

' ''Sin'', Carol Swain's ''Way Out Strips'', and the first issue of

Dylan Horrocks Dylan Horrocks (born 1966) is a New Zealand cartoonist best known for his graphic novel '' Hicksville'' and his scripts for the ''Batgirl'' comic book series. His works are published by the University of Auckland student magazine ''Craccum'', Aus ...

' ''Pickle''. ''Sin'' and ''Pickle'' were picked up by Black Eye Books; ''Way Out Strips'' was picked up by

Fantagraphics Fantagraphics (previously Fantagraphics Books) is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, manga, magazines, graphic novels, and (formerly) the Erotic comics, erotic Eros Comix imprint. They have managed sev ...

. Black Eye acted as a comic book publisher from 1992 to 1998, when Vrana transitioned the business to graphic design studio."Black Eye Rolls with the Punches: Publisher Vrana Shifts Company Focus Following Turbulent Period", ''The Comics Journal'' no. 203 (Apr. 1998), p. 18-19. In 2019, Vrana relaunched Black Eye Books to publish the previously cancelled 11th issue of ''Pickle'', by Dylan Horrocks. This was followed by the publication of ''Dejects'', by Jay Stephens, the first full-colour publication from Black Eye. From 2010-2024, Black Eye Books published Jay Stephens’ horror series ''Dwellings''. Other publications since 2019 include the collected ''Dishman'' by John MacLeod, ''That Distant Fire'' by JR Hughto and Curt Merlo, ''Assorted Baggage'' by Matthew Daley, and a box set of James Kochalka books: ''Elf Cat is Famous'', ''Moon Book Prototype'', and ''Duck Fighter''.

Publications

Ongoing titles and limited series

* ''Atomic City Tales'' vol. 1 (Jay Stephens, 1994–1995) * ''

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

'' (Jason Lutes, 1996–1998) * ''Dear Julia'' (Brian Biggs, 4 issues, 1996-1997) * ''The Land of Nod'' vol. 1 (Jay Stephens, 1996–1997) * ''Pickle'' (Dylan Horrocks, 1992-1997, 2019) * ''The Sands'' (Tom Hart, 1996–1997) * ''Sin Comics'' (Jay Stephens, 1993–1994) * ''Sputnik'' (anthology, 1993–1994) * ''Dwellings'' (Jay Stephens, 2010–2024)

Graphic novels and trade paperbacks

* ''Atomic City Tales'' (Jay Stephens, 1994) * ''Black Candy'' (Matt Madden, 1998) * ''A Complete Lowlife'' (Ed Brubaker, 1997) * ''Dance Me Outside: The Illustrated Screenplay'' (Nick Craine, 1994) * ''Dejects'' (Jay Stephens, 2019) * '' Hicksville'' (Dylan Horrocks, 1998) * ''Human Remains'' (Darren Raye & Sean Scoffield, 1994) * ''

Jar of Fools ''Jar of Fools'' is a once-weekly comic strip by Jason Lutes that was compiled, first into a two-part anthology, and then a graphic novel. The work has received praise from ''The New York Times Book Review'', ''Spin'', ''Wired'', and acclaimed com ...

'' (Jason Lutes, 1995) * ''The Land of Nod Treasury'' (Jay Stephens, 1994) * ''The Sands: a Picture Story'' (Tom Hart, 1998)

Cartoonists associated with Black Eye

Brian Biggs Brian Biggs (born March 9, 1968, in Little Rock, Arkansas) is a children's book author and illustrator. He has been published by HarperCollins and Random House, among others, and has illustrated two Little Golden Books. Early work Brian Biggs ...

Ed Brubaker Ed Brubaker (; born November 17, 1966) is an American comic book writer, cartoonist and screenwriter who works primarily in the crime fiction genre. He began his career with the semi-autobiographical series '' Lowlife'' and a number of serials i ...

* Nick Craine * Tom Hart *

Jason Lutes Jason Lutes (born December 7, 1967) such as unit portraits for the open-source video game Battle for Wesnoth (2006), a map for ''Dominions 3: The Awakening'' (2006), and website illustration for ''City of Heroes'' (2005). References External l ...

Matt Madden Matt Madden (born 1968 in New York City) is an American comic book writer and artist. He is best known for original alternative comics, for his coloring work in traditional comics, and for the experimental work '' 99 Ways to Tell a Story: Exercise ...

* Darren Raye *

Sean Scoffield The Beguiling is a Direct market, comic shop in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It specializes in Underground comix, underground and alternative comics, classic comic strip reprints, and foreign comics. It has built an international reputation for f ...

James Kochalka James Kochalka (born May 26, 1967, in Springfield, Vermont) is an American comic book artist, writer, animator, and rock and roll, rock musician. His comics are noted for their blending of the real and the surreal. Largely autobiographical, Ko ...

Notes

External links

*
Black Eye
at the

Grand Comics Database The Grand Comics Database (GCD) is an Internet-based project to build a database of comic book information through user contributions. The GCD project catalogues information on creator credits, story details, reprints, and other information use ...

{{Comic book publishers in North America navbox Comic book publishing companies of Canada Mass media companies established in 1992