Impact Comics was an imprint of

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 ...

that was aimed at younger audiences. It began in 1991 and ended in 1993. The initial "I" in the logo was stylized as an exclamation point, but the official name of the imprint was not ''!mpact''. Impact's titles featured revamped versions of superheroes licensed from

Archie Comics Archie Comic Publications, Inc. (often referred to simply as Archie Comics) is an American comic book publisher headquartered in the village of Pelham, New York. The company's many titles feature the fictional teenagers Archie Andrews, Jug ...

including the Fly, the

Comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that warms and begins to release gases when passing close to the Sun, a process called outgassing. This produces an extended, gravitationally unbound atmosphere or Coma (cometary), coma surrounding ...

, the

Shield A shield is a piece of personal armour held in the hand, which may or may not be strapped to the wrist or forearm. Shields are used to intercept specific attacks, whether from close-ranged weaponry like spears or long ranged projectiles suc ...

, the

Jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large felidae, cat species and the only extant taxon, living member of the genus ''Panthera'' that is native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the biggest cat spe ...

, the

Web Web most often refers to: * Spider web, a silken structure created by the animal * World Wide Web or the Web, an Internet-based hypertext system Web, WEB, or the Web may also refer to: Computing * WEB, a literate programming system created by ...

, and the

Black Hood The Black Hood is the name of several fictional characters (Matthew/Mateo Burland, Thomas "Kip" Burland, and Gregory Hettinger) created by Archie Comics, MLJ Comics (later known as Archie Comics) during the period known as the "Golden Age of Comi ...

. Changes included making the new Jaguar a woman and making the Web an organization instead of a solo hero. This was the third attempt to revive the old Archie heroes, after the Mighty Comics line of the 1960s and the Red Circle line of comics in the early 1980s. In an effort to reach out to kids who were not aware of the

direct market The direct market is the dominant distribution and retail network for American comic books. The concept of the direct market was created in the 1970s by Phil Seuling. The network currently consists of: * three major comic distributors: ** Luna ...

system, DC Comics attempted to sell Impact Comics titles through newsstands, but that never happened. The imprint eventually collapsed due to poor sales. A final series, ''The Crucible'', was initially intended to relaunch the line, but instead served as its finale. Archie Comics relicensed their superheroes to DC in 2008"SDCC '08 JMS Talks DC's Brave & the Bold... and Archie???"

Newsarama ''Newsarama'' is an American website that publishes news, interviews, and essays about the American comic book industry. It is owned by Future US. In June 2020, Newsarama was merged with the website ''GamesRadar+'', also owned by Future US. Hi ...

, July 26, 2008. Accessed July 29, 2008 before re-launching them as part of their own digital Red Circle/Dark Circle imprint in 2012.

Titles

* Legend of the Shield ( Mark Waid, Grant Miehm, Jeff Albrecht) - 16 issues and one Annual (July 1991-October 1992) * Comet (Mark Waid/ Tom Lyle) - 18 issues and one Annual (July 1991-December 1992) * Jaguar (

William Messner-Loebs William Francis Messner-Loebs (; born William Francis Loebs Jr., February 19, 1949) is an Americans, American comics artist and writer from Michigan, also known as Bill Loebs and Bill Messner-Loebs. His hyphenated surname is a combination of his a ...

, David Antoine Williams, José Marzan Jr.) - 14 issues and one Annual (August 1991-October 1992) * Fly ( Len Strazewski, Mike Parobeck, Paul Fricke) - 17 issues and one Annual (August 1991-December 1992) * Web (Len Strazewski, Tom Artis, Bill Wray) - 14 issues and one Annual (September 1991-October 1992) * Black Hood ( Mark Wheatley, Rick Burchett) - 12 issues and one Annual (December 1991-December 1992) * Crusaders (Mark Waid, Brian Augustyn, Rags Morales, Scott Hanna) - 8 issues (May 1992-December 1992) * Crucible (Brian Augustyn, Mark Waid, Chuck Wojtkiewicz,

Jimmy Palmiotti James Palmiotti (born August 14, 1961) is an American writer and inker of comic books, who also does writing for games, television and film. Early life Palmiotti attended the High School of Art and Design in New York City. Career Palmiotti star ...

) - 6 issues (February 1993-July 1993)

Characters

* American Crusaders (Shield (Roger Higgins), Captain Commando, Firefly, Doc Strong, and Black Witch) 950s superhero team* American Shield * White Hoods * Black Jack * Black Witch * Bob Phantom * Captain Commando * Comet *

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding ...

(Shield, Fly, Comet, Jaguar, Fireball, and The Web) * Doc Strong * Dusty (sidekick of the original Shield) * Fireball * Firefly * The Fly * Fox * Hangman * Jaguar * Shield (Roger Higgins) * Shield (Joe Higgins) * Shield (Michael Barnes) * Shield Kid * Steel Sterling * The Web (now a group)

References

External links

Newsarama's Impact Comics write-up by Ryan McLelland
(mirrored o
Sequart.com

DC Comics imprints {{DC-Comics-stub