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Gorilla Comics

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Gorilla Comics was an American comic book imprint launched in 2000[1] by creators Kurt Busiek, Tom Grummett, Stuart Immonen, Karl Kesel, Barry Kitson, George Pérez, Mark Waid, and Mike Wieringo.[2] Characters were creator-owned, and books were published through Image Comics.

Titles

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  • Crimson Plague by George Pérez (originally published through Event Comics)
  • Empire by Mark Waid and Barry Kitson (later completed through DC Comics)
  • Section Zero by Karl Kesel and Tom Grummett
  • Shockrockets by Kurt Busiek and Stuart Immonen
  • Superstar by Kurt Busiek and Stuart Immonen
  • Tellos by Todd Dezago and Mike Wieringo (originally published through Image Central)

Closure

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The founders intended to finance the company through a comics-themed website, eHero.com, which proved unsuccessful.[3] This left creators financing their own books, and only a handful of issues saw print.[4] Only Shockrockets and Tellos completed their initial storylines. The last Gorilla Comics book, Superstar, consisted of a single issue printed in 2001.

Shockrockets was later reprinted in paperback by Dark Horse Comics in August 2004. It was reprinted by IDW Publishing as a hardcover in November 2010. Further Tellos stories were self-published directly through Image Comics. Empire was later completed as a mini-series at DC Comics and released as a paperback in June 2004. Superstar was released by IDW Publishing in April 2011.

In January 2012, Karl Kesel announced that he and Tom Grummett would be relaunching Section Zero as a webcomic on the Mad Genius Comics website.[5][6] The previously published stories are being posted on the site and new material will be added as it is completed.[7]

Kesel and Grummett launched a Kickstarter[8] in May 2017 to publish "Section Zero" as a standalone graphic novel. Two pledge levels include mini-prints of "Section Zero" members by George Pérez, Stuart Immonen, Barry Kitson, Mike Wieringo and Tom Grummett, all inked by Karl Kesel. If successfully funded, a poster of the "Women of Section Zero" by Adam Hughes, in the style of the "Women of DC" print, will also be created.

References

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  1. ^ Contino, Jennifer M. (May 2000). "Tell Us About Tellos". Sequential Tart. 3 (5).
  2. ^ Lamken, Brian Saner (December 6, 1999). "The Comic Wire: Gorilla Comics: A Profile of the Creator Owned Imprint". Comic Book Resources.
  3. ^ Yarbrough, Beau (December 28, 2000). "State of the (Ape) Nation: How Healthy is Gorilla?". ComicBookResources.com. Archived from the original on June 3, 2012. Retrieved March 4, 2012.
  4. ^ Dean, Michael (June 8, 2001). "The Case of the Disappearing Gorilla: The Banana Trust Explains How Not to Start a Comics Line". The Comics Journal #234. Fantagraphics Books. Archived from the original on January 20, 2012. Retrieved March 4, 2012.
  5. ^ Parkin, JK (January 3, 2012). "Kesel and Grummett's Section Zero returns as a webcomic". ComicBookResources.com. Archived from the original on March 14, 2012. Retrieved March 4, 2012.
  6. ^ Kesel, Karl (January 2, 2012). "Back to ZERO!". MadGeniusComics.com. Archived from the original on March 7, 2012. Retrieved March 4, 2012.
  7. ^ Kesel, Karl; Grummett, Tom (2012). "Archive for Section Zero". MadGeniusComics.com. Retrieved March 4, 2012.
  8. ^ Kesel, Karl (May 1, 2017). "SECTION ZERO by Karl Kesel -- Kickstarter". kickstarter.com.
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