Pacific Comics

Pacific Comics was an American comic book publisher in the early 1980s . Pacific was the first publisher to pay royalties to its artists and allow them to keep the rights to their creations. Until then, it had been customary for anything created by draftsmen and writers to belong to the publisher who brought out the comics. Pacific was also one of the first publishers to sell its comics exclusively through the Direct Market (specialized comics shops).

Pacific Comics was founded in 1981 by Steve and Bill Schanes in San Diego . Jack Kirby's Captain Victory and Silver Star were among the first titles Pacific published . At the end of 1982 Mark Evanier and Sergio Aragonés went to Pacific with their series Groo the Wanderer , but after only six issues they left the publisher again. Even Mike Grell Starslayer was only a short time at Pacific before First Comics took over the series. Even then, it was clear that Pacific was in serious trouble.

In 1984 Pacific Comics published around 25 titles, making it the largest independent publisher of its time. But Pacific did not survive the year and went bankrupt in 1984. Steve Schanes founded Blackthorne Publishing after the demise of Pacific , where some earlier Pacific series found a home.

Web links

• Pacific Comics at comics.org