Joe's Comics

Joe's Comics is an American comic book imprint of Image Comics run by J. Michael Straczynski's Studio JMS and was originally published as an imprint of Top Cow Productions.Hugh Armitage
Comic-Con 2012: J Michael Straczynski relaunches Joe's Comics imprint
As of 2014, key titles in the current line include ''Dream Police'', ''The Book of Lost Souls'', ''Ten Grand'', ''Protectors Inc'', and ''Sidekick''.

History

Top Cow (1998–early 2000s)

In 1998, Joe’s Comics was established as an imprint publishing Straczynski's comic work including the critically lauded ''Midnight Nation'' with artist Gary Frank, '' Rising Stars'', and '' Delicate Creatures'', an illustrated fantasy parable.

Straczynski had a falling-out with Top Cow over movie scripts for ''Rising Stars'' in the mid-2000s, and after communication broke down their relationship came to a stand-still. Straczynski held back the final (already written) issues of ''Rising Stars'' until Straczynski and Top Cow finally came to an agreement after a nearly two-year hiatus. Straczynski subsequently took '' Dream Police'' to Marvel Comics's Icon imprint, which also published his '' The Book of Lost Souls''. Several ''Rising Stars'' spin-offs not written by Straczynski were published under Joe's Comics through 2005.

Image (2012–present)

The imprint was dormant until Straczynski announced at the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con that he was reviving it as part of his new media company, Studio JMS.Comic-Con: J. Michael Straczynski Hatches Multi-Platform Studio JMS
July 11, 2012. Deadline.com. Access June 25, 2013. The first title, the horror-noir ''Ten Grand'', initially illustrated by Ben Templesmith came out in May 2013 and ''Sidekick'' came out in July. Further titles written by Straczynski and published by Joe's Comics in 2014 include ''Protectors Inc'', ''The Adventures of Apocalypse Al'' (originally produced for MTV Comics), ''Alone'', and the return of former Icon titles ''Dream Police'' and ''The Book of Lost Souls'' (both scheduled for 2014).

Titles published by Joe's Comics

Titles published by Top Cow's short-lived Joe's Comics imprint include:
*'' Rising Stars'' (with Keu Cha, Ken Lashley, Christian Zanier, Stuart Immonen, Brent Eric Anderson and Gary Frank, 1999–2005) collected as:
**''Born in Fire'' (collects #1–8, tpb, 192 pages, 2001, )
**''Power'' (collects #9–16, tpb, 192 pages, 2002, )
**''Fire and Ash'' (collects #17–24, tpb, 208 pages, 2006, )
**''Voices of the Dead/Bright'' (collects ''RS: Voices of the Dead'' #1–6''Voices of the Dead'', ''Bright'' and ''Untouchable'' are spin-offs, written by Fiona Avery and edited by Straczynski himself. and ''RS: Bright'' #1–3, tpb, 226 pages, 2006, )
**''Visitations/Untouchable'' (collects #0, ½, ''Prelude'' and ''RS: Untouchable'' #1–6, tpb, 208 pages, 2007, )
**''RS Omnibus'' (collects #0–24, ½ and ''Prelude'', hc, 624 pages, 2005, )
**''RS Compendium'' (collects #0–24, ½, ''Prelude'' and the spin-offs, hc, 1008 pages, 2009, ; tpb, 2009, )
*''Midnight Nation'' #1–12 (with Gary Frank, 2000–2002) (tpb, 288 pages, 2003, ; hc, 304 pages, 2009, )
*'' Delicate Creatures'' (with Michael Zulli, graphic novel, hc, 56 pages, 2001, )

Joe's Comics was revived at Image Comics in 2013:

*''Ten Grand'' with Ben Templesmith and CP Smith (May 2013 – January 2015)
*''Sidekick'' with Tom Mandrake (August 2013 – December 2015)
*''Protectors Inc'' with Gordon Purcell (November 2013 – November 2014)
*''The Adventures of Apocalypse Al'' with Sid Kotian (February 2014 – May 2014)
*''Dream Police'' with Sid Kotian (April 2014 - September 2016). A sequel to a one-shot comic of the same name published by Marvel's Icon Comics line.
*''Alone'' with Bill Sienkiewicz (scheduled for 2014). It was never published.
*'' The Book of Lost Souls'' with Colleen Doran (scheduled for 2014). A planned sequel to the 2005 mini series of the same name published by Marvel/Icon. This sequel was never published.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Studio JMS
parent company of Joe's Comics

Comic book publishing companies of the United States
*
1998 establishments in the United States
Top Cow Productions
Companies based in Berkeley, California