Rik Offenberger (born January 30, 1964) is an American
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 ...
journalist and publicity agent, an early utilizer of the
Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...
for distributing comics news, and the
public relations
Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. Pu ...
coordinator of
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 ...
.
Career
Offenberger started his career in comics as a retailer at Paper Hero Comics in Chino, California. He began writing for the ''
Comics Buyer's Guide
''Comics Buyer's Guide'' (''CBG''; ), established in 1971, was the longest-running English-language periodical reporting on the American comic book industry. It awarded its annual Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Awards from 1983 to circa 2010. The publ ...
'' in March 1992, where he covered stories about retailers to help promote the comics shop. Following work on the ''Comics Buyer's Guide'', he began working for the British '' Borderline Comics Magazine'' until it was discontinued. This was followed by a move to the Internet, where he worked as an interviewer and senior feature editor at '' Silver Bullet Comic Books'' (now ''
Comics Bulletin
Comics Bulletin is a daily website covering the comic-book industry.
History Silver Bullet Comicbooks
In January 2000, New Zealand-based publisher/editor Jason Brice founded then named Silver Bullet Comicbooks.
During this period, the site ...
''), conducting interviews with comics professionals. In 2004 he began producing trend-oriented interviews for ''
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 ...
'' and by 2005 he was writing for both ''Newsarama'' and ''
Comic Book Resources
''CBR'', formerly ''Comic Book Resources'', is a news website primarily covering comic book news, comic book reviews, and comic bookârelated topics involving movies, television, anime, and video games. It is owned by Valnet, parent of publicat ...
''.
In December 2005, Offenberger succeeded
Alex Segura
Alex Segura (born 1980) is an American author, comic book writer, artist, and editor. He has written numerous comics and novels, including ''Secret Identity'', which won the 2023 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Mystery/Thriller.
Biography
Seg ...
as Public Relations Coordinator of
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 ...
In October 1998, Offenberger founded Super Hero News, an Internet-based comics-news service utilizing the
Yahoo!
Yahoo (, styled yahoo''!'' in its logo) is an American web portal that provides the search engine Yahoo Search and related services including My Yahoo, Yahoo Mail, Yahoo News, Yahoo Finance, Yahoo Sports, y!entertainment, yahoo!life, and its a ...
List server. While the service primarily distributes affiliate press releases, it's also been used as a vehicle for debate and contention by some of its members.
First Comics News
In April, 2010, Offenberger, Phil Latter and Ric Croxton founded First Comics News, a web-based division of Super Hero News, covering comics, gaming, wrestling and related pop-culture topics. The name is derived from one of the early
independent comics
Alternative comics or independent comics cover a range of American comics that have appeared since the 1980s, following the underground comix movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Alternative comics present an alternative to mainstream su ...
publishers of the 1980s,
First Comics
First Comics is an American comic book publisher that was active from 1983 to 1991 and then from 2011 to present (stylized as 1First Comics), known for titles like '' American Flagg!'', '' Grimjack'', ''Nexus'', ''Badger'', '' Dreadstar'', and '' ...
. The site
logo
A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name that it represents, as in ...
trademark
A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a form of intellectual property that consists of a word, phrase, symbol, design, or a combination that identifies a Good (economics and accounting), product or Service (economics), service f ...
. The site carries comics news, publisher solicitations, opinion columns,
interviews
An interview is a structured conversation where one participant asks questions, and the other provides answers.Merriam Webster DictionaryInterview Dictionary definition, Retrieved February 16, 2016 In common parlance, the word "interview" re ...
,
podcasts
A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an episodic series of digital audio files that users can download to a personal device or stream to listen to at a time of their ...
and
reviews
A review is an evaluation of a publication, product, service, or company or a critical take on current affairs in literature, politics or culture. In addition to a critical evaluation, the review's author may assign the work a rating to indic ...
. Contributors include
Beau Smith
Beau Smith (born December 17, 1954, in Huntington, West Virginia) is an American comic book writer and columnist, best known for his work for DC Comics, Image Comics, IDW Publishing and as vice president of marketing for Eclipse Comics.
Career
...
Ian Flynn
James Ian Flynn (born May 31, 1982), also known by his Internet pen name Ian Potto, is an American-Canadian comic book writer. He was chief writer for Archie Comics's ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' since issue #160, after the departure of the previous chi ...
,
Michael Netzer
Michael Netzer (; born 9 October 1955) is an American-Israeli artist best known for his comic book work for DC Comics and Marvel Comics in the 1970s, as well as for his online presence.
Early life
Michael Nasser (later Netzer) was born in Detro ...
cosplay
Cosplay, a blend word of "costume play", is an activity and performance art in which participants called cosplayers wear costumes and Fashion accessory, fashion accessories to represent a specific Character (arts), character. Cosplayers often i ...
actress
Tanya Tate
Tanya Tate (born 31 March 1979) is an English glamour model, writer, international cosplayer, and pornographic actress. In 2023, she was inducted into the XRCO Hall of Fame.
Career
After beginning her porn career in 2009, First Comics News itself was a 2012 Eagle Award nominee.
G-Man Comics, established June 22, 2019, is a guild style publisher featuring characters created by Rik Offenberger, Jim Burrows, and Eric N. Bennett, among others. Although each creator owns exclusive rights to their creation, they occupy a shared universe. The comic features traditional style superheroes.