Cliffhanger was an imprint of

WildStorm Wildstorm Productions (stylized as WildStorm) is an American comic book imprint. Originally founded as an independent company established by Jim Lee and Brandon Choi to publish through Image Comics, Wildstorm became a publishing imprint of DC C ...

, publishing creator-owned

comic books 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 ...

. It was founded in 1998 by

Joe Madureira Joe Madureira (; born December 1974), often called Joe Mad,Smith, Andrew (May 3, 2002). "Canceled Comics Cavalcade Catch-up". ''Comics Buyer's Guide'' #1485. p. 38 is an American comic book artist and game developer, best known for his work on ''D ...

, J. Scott Campbell and

Humberto Ramos Humberto Ramos (born 27 November 1970) is a Mexican comic book penciller, best known for his work on American comic books such as ''Impulse (comics), Impulse'', ''Runaways (comics), Runaways'', ''The Spectacular Spider-Man'', ''The Amazing Spider- ...

, when WildStorm was still part of

Image Comics Image Comics is an independent American American comic book, comic book publisher and is the third largest direct market comic book and graphic novel publisher in the industry by market share. Its best-known publications include ''Spawn (comics) ...

(the studio has since been sold to

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

). The imprint ended in summer of 2004 when it was merged with the Homage Comics line to form the WildStorm Signature Series.

History

The imprint's first release was Campbell's spy series '' Danger Girl'' in March 1998, followed by the first issue of Madureira's fantasy series ''

Battle Chasers ''Battle Chasers'' is an American fantasy comic book series written and illustrated by Joe Madureira. First published by Image Comics as part of WildStorm's Cliffhanger (comics), Cliffhanger imprint (founded by Madureira with J. Scott Campbell and ...

'' a month later and Ramos' teen-vampire series ''

Crimson Crimson is a rich, deep red color, inclining to purple. It originally meant the color of the kermes dye produced from a scale insect, '' Kermes vermilio'', but the name is now sometimes also used as a generic term for slightly bluish-red col ...

'' in May. Ramos' ''Crimson'' became the longest running series of the line, going on for 24 issues before its conclusion in February 2001. In spring 2000,

Chris Bachalo Chris Bachalo (; born August 23, 1965) is a Canadian comic book illustrator known for his quirky, cartoon-like style. He became well known for stints on DC Comics' ''Shade, the Changing Man'' and Neil Gaiman's two Death (Sandman), Death series. C ...

and author Joe Kelly created the imprint's fourth title, ''

Steampunk Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction that incorporates retrofuturistic technology and Applied arts, aesthetics inspired by, but not limited to, 19th-century Industrial Revolution, industrial steam engine, steam-powered machinery. Steampun ...

''. It was followed by Ramos' second Cliffhanger title, ''Out There'', in May 2001. While several new miniseries were published by the line through 2002 and 2003, like '' High Roads'' by writer

Scott Lobdell Scott Lobdell (; born 1960) is an American comic book writer and screenwriter known for his work on numerous X-Men series for Marvel Comics in the 1990s, various work for DC Comics in the 2010s, namely '' Red Hood and the Outlaws, Teen Titans,'' ...

and artist

Leinil Francis Yu Leinil Francis Yu (born 1977) is a People of the Philippines, Filipino comic book artist, who began working for the United States, American market through Wildstorm Productions. Career Leinil Francis Yu was first recognized after winning the ...

, '' Arrowsmith'' by

Kurt Busiek Kurt Busiek ( ; born September 16, 1960) is an American comic book writer. His work includes the '' Marvels'' limited series, his own series titled '' Astro City'', a four-year run on '' The Avengers, Thunderbolts,'' and ''Superman.'' Early lif ...

and

Carlos Pacheco Carlos Pacheco Perujo (14 November 1961 – 9 November 2022) was a Spanish comics penciller. After breaking into the European market doing cover work for Planeta De Agostini, he gained recognition doing work for Marvel UK, the England-based bra ...

, '' The Possessed'' by

Geoff Johns Geoffrey Johns (born January 25, 1973) is an American comic book writer, screenwriter, and film and television producer. Johns's work on the DC Comics characters Green Lantern, Aquaman, Flash (comics), Flash, and Superman has drawn critical accl ...

and Kris Grimminger with art by Liam Sharp and ''Kamikaze'', written by Olallo Rubio with art by Francisco Herrera, the imprint lost most of its initial charm and star-power when its founders stopped their titles. In late 2003, the imprint was also used to publish '' Epicurus the Sage'' and ''

The Maxx ''The Maxx'' is an American comic book series created by Sam Kieth in 1993 and originally published monthly until 1998 by Image Comics for 35 issues, before being collected in trade paperback by DC Comics' Wildstorm imprint. The first appearanc ...

'' trade paperbacks with material previously published by Image Comics, before it was finally merged with Homage Comics in 2004 to form the WildStorm Signature Series.

Publications

References

WildStorm imprints Defunct comics and manga publishing companies Companies established in 1998 {{comics-company-stub