{{Short description, Comic publisher Komikwerks is a

comic a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicat ...

publisher Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

founded in 2000 by animation professional Shannon Denton and Internet design professional Patrick Coyle.

History

The website Komikwerks.com went live on March 5, 2001. The initial mission of being to allow independent comic creators the means with which to get their own comics out to readers around the world utilizing the speed and economy provided by the internet. The site launched with nine titles including '' Astounding Space Thrills'' by Steve Conley, '' Buzzboy'' by John Gallagher, ''Abby's Menagerie'' by Jenni Gregory, ''The Crater Kid'' by Marty Baumann and ''Johnny Smackpants'' by Patrick Coyle.

Byron Preiss Byron Preiss (April 11, 1953 – July 9, 2005)Byron Preiss
at the

' startup publishing venture iBooks took an interest in the company and became a minority owner in April 2003. That partnership continued until shortly after Preiss’ death in June 2005. In July 2003, the company caught the interest of Hollywood management and production concern Circle of Confusion. They announced a deal that would allow the company to shepherd select works on the Komikwerks banner to film, animation, television and video games. To date, many of Komikwerks properties have been optioned including Jason Kruse's '' The World of Quest'', John Helfers and

Bernie Wrightson Bernard Albert Wrightson (October 27, 1948 – March 18, 2017) was an American artist, known for co-creating the Swamp Thing, his Bernie Wrightson's Frankenstein, adaptation of the novel ''Frankenstein'' illustration work, and for his other ho ...

’s ''The Nightmare Expeditions'', Dan Mishkin and Tom Mandrake's ''The Forest King'' and

Aaron Sowd Aaron Sowd (born November 3, 1970) is an American comic book creator, writer and artist. Sowd began his comic book career as an inker for Top Cow, Marvel Comics, and DC Comics. He currently works as an illustrator and storyboard artist. Biography ...

's ''Masterminds''. In August 2003, Komikwerks published their first printed anthology of strips. Highlights of the book includes work by noteworthy comics, TV and animation pros like Andrew Cosby, Matt Haley, Andy Kuhn, Will Meuginot, Danny Miki among others, and featured the debut of

’s ''Masterminds''. The anthology was a success and was followed up by four additional volumes over the next two years, each with increasing circulation. These volumes featured the works of such names as

Keith Giffen Keith Ian Giffen (November 30, 1952 – October 9, 2023) was an American comics artist and writer. He was known for his work for DC Comics on their ''Legion of Super-Heroes'' and ''Justice League'' titles as well as for being the co-creator of ...

Dwayne McDuffie Dwayne Glenn McDuffie (February 20, 1962February 21, 2011) was an American writer of comic books and television. He co-founded the pioneering minority-owned-and-operated comic book company Milestone Media, which focused on underrepresented minori ...

, Dave Johnson, Art Thibert, Dan Mishkin and Tom Mandrake. In August 2004 Komikwerks entered into an agreement with comics legend

Stan Lee Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber ; December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018) was an American comic book author, writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Comics which later bec ...

. The result was the launch of Stan Lee's Sunday Comics, which featured premium quality strips, and the return of the Stan’s highly regarded column: ''Stan’s Soapbox''. In keeping with their goal of publishing comics through the most progressive and innovative means possible, Komikwerks began distributing free comics for the Sony

PlayStation Portable The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PA ...

in December 2005. At the 2005

San Diego Comic-Con San Diego Comic-Con is a comic book convention and multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California, at the San Diego Convention Center. Founded in 1970, originally showcasing primarily comic books and science fiction/fant ...

, the company unveiled a slate of illustrated novels for young readers. The new book imprint is named Actionopolis. Authors and illustrators contributing to the line include

Louise Simonson Louise Simonson (née Mary Louise Alexander; born September 26, 1946) is an American comic book writer and editor. She is best known for her work on comic book titles such as ''Conan the Barbarian'', '' Power Pack'', ''X-Factor'', ''The New Mutan ...

, John Helfers, Joe Corroney, Budd Lewis, Thomas Perkins, Marsha Griffin, David, Annette and Ben Odell and Jon Bresman. The company's books and illustrations were featured in "Mothwoman", the November 21, 2005 episode of the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

primetime TV series ''

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

''. The first wave of books from the Actionopolis line were released in September 2006. Titles include ''The Forest King'' by Dan Mishkin and

Tom Mandrake Tom Mandrake (born 1956) is an American comics artist, perhaps best known for his collaborations with writer John Ostrander on several series, including ''Grimjack'' (from First Comics) and ''Firestorm (comics), Firestorm'', ''The Spectre (DC Comi ...

, ''What I did on my Hypergalactic Interstellar Summer Vacation'' by

Adam Beechen Adam Beechen (born December 21, 1968) is an American screen and comic book writer. Career Animation Beechen has written scripts for various cartoons, such as ''Teen Titans'', ''The Wild Thornberrys'', ''Rugrats'', ''Pink Panther and Pals'', '' ...

and Dan Hipp, ''Heir to Fire'' by Rob M. Worley and Mike Dubisch, ''Spirit of the Samurai'' by Gary Reed and

Rick Hoberg Richard Renick Hoberg (; born June 7, 1952) is an American comics artist and animator. Newspaper strips Hoberg began his career in comic books in the mid-1970s, working for Russ Manning on ''Tarzan'' comic books for overseas distribution (1975� ...

and '' The Anubis Tapestry'' by Bruce Zick, Blackfoot Braves Society by Christopher E. Long and Michael Geiger. On March 30, 2007,

The CW Television Network The CW Network, LLC (commonly referred to as The CW or simply CW) is an American commercial broadcast television network which is controlled by Nexstar Media Group through a 75% ownership interest. The network's name is derived from the first ...

announced that an animated series based on ''

World of Quest ''World of Quest'' is a science fiction comedy animated television series based on the graphic novel series of the same name by Jason T. Kruse. The series was produced by Cookie Jar Entertainment, in association with Teletoon and Kids' WB!. It ...

'' would be part of its 2008/2009–present lineup.

On March 15, 2008, ''World of Quest'' debuted on the

Kids WB! Kids' WB (stylized as Kids' WB!) was an American children's programming block that originally aired on The WB from September 9, 1995, to September 16, 2006, and later on The CW from September 23, 2006, to May 17, 2008. Initially launched as a c ...

block for The CW Television Network.

Published works

*(2003) ''Komikwerks Volume 1'' *(2003) ''Komikwerks Volume 2'' *(2004) ''Komikwerks Presents: Nuts & Bolts'' *(2005) ''Komikwerks Presents: Rockets & Robots'' *(2005) ''Komikwerks Presents: Thrills & Chills'' *(2005) '' Dead Samurai'' *(2006) '' The World of Quest'' *(2006) ''The Forest King'' *(2006) ''What I did on my Hypergalactic, Interstellar Summer Vacation'' *(2006) ''Heir to Fire'' *(2006) ''Spirit of the Samurai'' *(2006) '' The Anubis Tapestry'' *(2006) ''BlackfootBraves Society'' *(2006) ''Zombie Monkey Monster Jamboree'' *Dragonblood: The Awakening *Astro-Aces: Galaxies Apart *All Robots Must Die: Nacho-Geddon *Agent Of D.A.N.G.E.R.: Strange Polarity *Battery: The Arrival *Blacke's Loch: Unto The Breach *Children Of Olympus: Dust of Medusa *Evolver: Apex Predator *Gargantuan: Rise Of The Behemoths *Henrietta Hex: Shadows From The Past *Inheritance: Long Live The Zar *Knightstar: Knight Of The Starborne *Last Of The Lycans: Monarch Of The Moon *The Legend Of TigerFist: Enter The Tiger *Master Of Voodoo: Rise Of The Dead *me/2: The Chaos Engine *Megamatrix: Hero Within *Monstrous: Blood And Gold *The Nightmare Expeditions: Welcome To Nocturnea *Prototype: Alphas Omega *Road Rager: Dark Drivers *Royal Crown Mystery Detectives League: Web Of Darkness *Reckers: Absolute Mechanization *Schism: Out Of The Shadows *Sword Of The Seas: Atlantis Awakens *Toltec: Enemy Within *Upgrader: Re-Engineered *Upgrader: Adaptation *Valkyra: Destiny's Spear *Vampirium: Millenium Of Shadows *White Knight: Line Of Avalon *Wonderworld: Kingdom In Crisis *The Big Game *Roxi Rangers *The Revenant

Other media

*(2007) ''

'' TV series on

External links

Komikwerks.comActionopolis.com
*http://www.agentofdanger.com/
Official website of Shannon DentonOfficial website of Patrick CoyleKids WB! ''World of Quest'' website
Publishing companies established in 2000 Comic book publishing companies of the United States Webcomic publishing companies Comics publications