Spotlight Comics was an American
comic publisher based in western
Connecticut
Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...
. It is best known for a short run of comic books based on licensed characters such as
Mighty Mouse and
Heckle and Jeckle that contained contributions from several major US comic book creators.
Company history
After beginning his career in collectible magazines such as the ''Comics Collector'' and ''Toy Values Monthly'', Richard "Rich" Maurizio and his then-
significant other Kelley Jarvis wrote, drew, and published two issues of a comic entitled ''Samurai Squirrel: Master of the Sword'', under the publisher name Spotlight Comics starting in 1983. They also produced a comic containing reprints of the daily ''Stern Wheeler'' comic strip from ''
The Hartford Times'', illustrated by
Jim Aparo, and another comic, ''L. T. Caper, Agent for H.E.R.O. (the Higher Espionage Reinforcement Organization)'', written and drawn by Maurizio.
Spotlight expanded into licensed character comics and acquired the rights to
Mighty Mouse,
Underdog
An underdog is a person or group in a competition, usually in sports and creative works, who is largely expected to lose. The party, team, or individual expected to win is called the favorite or wikt:top dog, top dog. In the case where an under ...
, and other properties. The company ran into financial problems in 1988 and ceased operations in 1989. In the end, they only produced a total of 11 individual issues of their various titles.
Notable writers and artists who contributed to the Spotlight titles included
Curt Swan
Douglas Curtis Swan (February 17, 1920 – June 17, 1996) was an American comics artist. The artist most associated with Superman during the period fans call the Bronze Age of Comic Books, Swan produced hundreds of covers and stories from the 195 ...
,
,
Win Mortimer,
Frank Mclaughlin,
Tom Moore, Gary Fields,
Bill White, Ray Dirgo,
Doug Cushman,
Nate Butler, Jim Engel, John A. Wilcox, Mark Scott Marcus,
Milton Knight,
Paul Chadwick, and Mike Tiefenbacher.
The Spotlight Comics titles were all edited by Jim Main.
Post-Spotlight
After Spotlight's demise, Maurizio and Jarvis co-produced the
Tom & Jerry comic strip for a five-year run.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Maurizio packaged and edited licensed comics such as ''
The Munsters
''The Munsters'' is an American sitcom about the home life of a family of benign monsters that aired from 1964 to 1966 on CBS. The series stars Fred Gwynne as Herman Munster (Frankenstein's monster),Episodes referring to the fact that Herman is ...
'' and ''
I Dream of Jeannie
''I Dream of Jeannie'' is an American Fantasy television, fantasy sitcom television series created by Sidney Sheldon and starring Barbara Eden as a beautiful but guileless 2,000-year-old Jinn, genie and Larry Hagman as an astronaut with whom s ...
'' for the short-lived publishers TV Comics and Airwave Comics.
Wizard World Special Guest Richard Maurizio
/ref>
Titles published
: ''One issue published per title, unless otherwise noted''
Original titles
* ''Samurai Squirrel'' (1986–1987) — 2 issues
* ''Stern Wheeler'' #1 (1986)
* ''L.T. Caper'' (1986)
Licensed characters
* ''The Beagles'' #5 (1989) - 6 issues
* '' Mighty Heroes'' (1987)
* ''Mighty Mouse'' (1987) — 2 issues
** ''Mighty Mouse and Friends Holiday Special'' (1987)
** ''Mighty Mouse Adventure Magazine'' (1987)
* ''Underdog'' #2 (1987) — 3 issues
* ''Tennessee Tuxedo'' #3 (1986) - 4 issues
* ''King Leonardo'' #4 (1983) - 5 issues
Characters
* Mighty Mouse
* Heckle and Jeckle
* Underdog
An underdog is a person or group in a competition, usually in sports and creative works, who is largely expected to lose. The party, team, or individual expected to win is called the favorite or wikt:top dog, top dog. In the case where an under ...
* King Leonardo
* Tennessee Tuxedo
* The Beagles
* Deputy Dawg
References
External links
Grand Comics Database: Spotlight Comics
Grand Comics Database: Richard Maurizio
{{Comic book publishers in North America navbox
1983 establishments in Connecticut
1989 disestablishments in Connecticut
Publishing companies established in 1983
American companies established in 1983
American companies disestablished in 1989
Publishing companies disestablished in 1989
Defunct comics and manga publishing companies
Mighty Mouse
Defunct companies based in Connecticut