Malibu Comics Explained

Malibu Comics Entertainment, Inc.
Fate:Acquired by Marvel Comics
Location City:Calabasas, California
Location Country:United States
Former Name:Malibu Graphics (1986–1992)
Industry:Comics
Products:The Men in Black
Ultraforce
Night Man
Parent:Marvel Entertainment Group
Divisions:Malibu Interactive

Malibu Comics Entertainment, Inc. (launched as Malibu Graphics) was an American comic book publisher active in the late 1980s and early 1990s, best known for its Ultraverse line of superhero titles.[1] [2] [3] Notable titles published by Malibu included The Men in Black, Ultraforce, and Night Man.

The company's headquarters was in Calabasas, California. Malibu was initially publisher of record for Image Comics from 1992 to 1993. The company's other imprints included Adventure, Aircel and Eternity. Malibu also owned a small software development company that designed video games in the early to mid-1990s called Malibu Interactive.

History

Origins

Malibu Comics was launched in 1986 as Malibu Graphics by Dave Olbrich and Tom Mason with the private financing of Scott Mitchell Rosenberg,[4] who was operating a comic book distribution company (Sunrise Distribution) at the time.[5] Unbeknownst to most people in the industry, Rosenberg was also financing a number of other small comics publishers: Eternity Comics, Amazing Comics, Wonder Color Comics, and Imperial Comics.

Malibu's output began modestly, with creator-owned black-and-white titles; its first title was David Lawrence and Ron Lim's Ex-Mutants.

Mergers/acquisitions of other publishers

In 1987, after Rosenberg's behind-the-scenes roles were revealed, he discontinued most of the other small publishers, merging some with Malibu and retaining Eternity Comics as a Malibu brand. At this point, Chris Ulm joined Malibu as editor-in-chief.[6]

In 1988, Malibu effectively acquired the Canadian publisher Aircel Comics as an imprint,[7] and in 1989 it acquired Adventure Publications.[8]

From that point forward, the Malibu brand was used for superhero titles; while Eternity was used for the magazine line and also for anime-inspired titles like Robotech; Adventure was used for Malibu's licensed titles, such as Planet of the Apes and Alien Nation; and Aircel was used for Barry Blair's comics and Malibu's adult line.

In 1998, the company also acquired the character Shuriken (a character that was self-published from 1985–1988 by Victory Productions) from its creator Reggie Byers.[9] [10] Shuriken was published in three limited series and two one-shots by Malibu; later the character was introduced in the Ultraverse imprint.[11]

1989-1992

By this time, the company was publishing a combination of new series and licensed properties. Later, after a legal battle with the creators, Malibu created a shared universe called Shattered Earth.[12]

In 1992, heroes from Centaur Publications (a Golden Age publisher whose properties fell into the public domain) were revived in the form of the Protectors, consisting of Airman, Amazing-Man, Aura, Arc, Arrow, Ferret, Man of War and Mighty Man, among others. Several of these characters had short-lived spin-off titles of their own. The Centaur heroes and other characters from Adventure (Miss Fury and Rocket Ranger), and Eternity (Dinosaurs for Hire, Ex-Mutants) plus Dead Clown and Widowmaker, were put together in one Universe to form the Genesis line. This line, however, had a short lifespan.

Image Comics' publisher of record

In early 1992, Malibu served as publisher of record for the first comics from Image Comics, making the upstart creator-run publisher members of the Malibu Graphics Publishing Group,[13] and giving Image access to the distribution channels.[14] This move led to Malibu obtaining almost ten percent of the American comics market share,[15] temporarily moving ahead of industry giant DC Comics.[16]

By the beginning of 1993, Image's financial situation was secure enough to publish its titles independently, and it left Malibu.[17]

Malibu Interactive and Ultraverse

In late 1992, seeking to capitalize on the growing video game market, Malibu merged with video game developer Acme Interactive to form Malibu Comics Entertainment, Inc., with Malibu Interactive acting as a subsidiary.[18] [19] [20]

The Ultraverse line was launched in June 1993[21] during the "boom" of the early 1990s, roughly concurrent with the debut of publishers such as Image and Valiant, and new superhero lines from DC and Dark Horse (Milestone and Comics' Greatest World, respectively). The line was in part intended to fill the gap left by Image's independence.

Establishing itself as the first company to use digital coloring for all its titles,[22] Malibu boasted improved production values over traditional comics, including higher-quality paper, and a roster of talented and respected writers and artists. Emphasizing the tight continuity between the various series in the Ultraverse line, Malibu made extensive use of crossovers, in which a story that began in one series would be continued in the next-shipping issue of another series. Various promotions for special editions or limited-print stories followed. The Ultraverse line came to dominate Malibu's catalog.

The Bravura imprint, launched in January 1994, was Malibu's creator-owned imprint. Founding members of the Bravura group were Dan Brereton (Nocturnals), Howard Chaykin (Power & Glory), Steven D. Grant & Gil Kane (Edge), Dan Jurgens (Deuce), Walt Simonson (Star Slammers), and Jim Starlin (Breed, Dreadstar). The group was represented by attorney Harris M. Miller II.[23] The "Bravura Gold Stamp Program" encouraged readers to collect stickers from each issue of Breed, Power & Glory, Edge, Dreadstar, and Star Slammers to qualify for various offers, including "the rare" Bravura #0!"[24]

Malibu launched the Rock-It Comix imprint for rock music comics in early 1994. Malibu worked with the management firm Gold Mountain Entertainment in dealing with the musicians, while International Strategic Marketing distributed the line to comic book shops, music outlets, and newsstands.[1]

By early 1994, Malibu Comics Entertainment had large numbers of employees in various divisions, including editorial, design, the art department, coloring, imagesetting, marketing, film, finance, and administration.[25]

Acquisition by Marvel Comics

As sales declined industry-wide in the mid-1990s, Malibu canceled lower-selling series.[26] But the company's biggest problem was its game division—started in an attempt to break into the video game market—which cost Malibu more than $200,000 a month.[27] Nonetheless, the company's assets were still seen as attractive enough to garner interest from DC Comics in the spring of 1994.[28] In addition, Rosenberg and Malibu signed with the William Morris Agency.[29]

Because Malibu had sufficient market share that an acquisition from DC would make the latter surpass Marvel's market share, Marvel decided to purchase Malibu itself to prevent this from happening: on November 3, 1994, Malibu was purchased by Marvel Comics.[30] [31] [32] [33]

To slow down rumors that the Ultraverse titles would be canceled as soon as the deal closed, Malibu claimed that Marvel wanted Malibu because of its digital coloring system.[34] Meanwhile, in the middle of the following year, 1995, Malibu standard-bearers Mason and Ulm left the company.[35] Around the same, time in May–October 1995 (during the "Black September" event) Marvel re-launched a handful of the more Ultraverse popular titles as well as a number of crossovers with Marvel characters. The "volume 2" series each started with "# (infinity)" issues — these were, however, canceled a short time later. With that, Marvel canceled the entire Ultraverse line. (Within the Marvel Comics multiverse, the Genesis Universe is designated as Earth-1136 and the Ultraverse as Earth-93060.)[36]

Very little Malibu content was published after 1996.

Potential Ultraverse revival

In June 2005, when asked by Newsarama whether Marvel had any plans to revive the Ultraverse, Marvel editor-in-chief Joe Quesada replied that:

In May 2012, Steve Englehart suggested in a podcast interview that the reason Marvel will not presently publish the Ultraverse characters is because five percent of the profits from those books would have to go to the Malibu creators who were still alive.[37] Marvel Editor Tom Brevoort later denied that the five percent was what was holding Marvel back, but was unable to give a real explanation due to a non-disclosure agreement.[38]

It has been speculated that Scott Mitchell Rosenberg's ongoing producer deal for all Malibu properties (and his alleged personal troubles) is another possible factor in why the Ultraverse has never been revived.[39] [40] [41]

Titles

Some of Malibu's titles and imprints included:

Genesis (1992–1994)

This line made use of many Centaur Publications heroes plus characters previously published by Adventure, Aircel and Eternity:

Ultraverse (1993–1995)

Crossovers with Marvel Comics (1995–1996)

Adventure Comics (1990–1993)

Aircel Comics (1986–1992)

See main article: Aircel Comics.

Eternity Comics (1988–1993)

See main article: Eternity Comics.

Shattered Earth (1986–1990)

Shuriken spin-offs (1987–1991)

Bravura (1994–1995)

Rock-It Comix (1993–1994)

Other titles

Malibu Interactive games

References

Sources

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Crank Up the Colors . The Los Angeles Times. 1994-02-06. 2016-12-29 . Chuck . Crisafulli.
  2. News: Publishing: After inking strategic deals, Malibu Comics has become a leader in the world of mutants and super-heroes. . The Los Angeles Times. 1992-10-13. 2016-12-29 . Patrice . Apodaca.
  3. News: Malibu Comics Launching New Super-Hero Line . The Los Angeles Times. 1993-06-15. 2010-08-30.
  4. Web site: A Comics Journal History of the Direct Market, Part Two. https://web.archive.org/web/20170611035029/http://classic.tcj.com/history/a-comics-journal-history-of-the-direct-market-part-two/5/ . 2017-06-11 . The Comics Journal.
  5. News: Distributor Finances Five Publishers. The Comics Journal. 115. April 1987. 12–13. About Rosenberg and Eternity Comics, Imperial Comics, Amazing, Malibu, and Wonder Color Comics..
  6. Web site: Chris Ulm entry. Who's Who of American Comic Books, 1928–1999. March 15, 2023.
  7. Eternity Merges with Aircel. The Comics Journal. 125. October 1988. 19.
  8. Malibu Acquires Adventure. The Comics Journal. 127. February 1989. 21.
  9. Web site: SHURIKEN! . The Masked Man . December 14, 2016 . aintitcool.com/.
  10. Web site: Shuriken!. 1 September 2013.
  11. Curse of Rune. 1. 1995. Malibu Comics.
  12. David Lawrence interview . November 2004 . Mitchell . Brian John . QRD . Silber Media . 28.
  13. News: Feb 20, 1992 . Another Blow for Marvel. The New York Times . en . 2023-07-28.
  14. Bye Bye Marvel; Here Comes Image: Portacio, Claremont, Liefeld, Jim Lee Join McFarlane's New Imprint at Malibu. The Comics Journal. 148. February 1992. 11–12.
  15. NewsWatch: Malibu Commands 9.73% Market Share. The Comics Journal. 151. July 1992. 21.
  16. Malibu Moves Ahead of DC in Comics Market. The Comics Journal=. 152. August 1992. 7–8.
  17. News: Image Leaves Malibu, Becomes Own Publisher. The Comics Journal . 155 . January 1993 . 22.
  18. Newswatch . Malibu to Produce Video Games: Comic publisher merges with video game developer Acme Interactive. The Comics Journal . 153 . October 1992 . 19.
  19. News: Malibu Comics Sells Stake to Animation Firm . The Los Angeles Times. 1994-01-11. 2010-08-30.
  20. News: August 18, 1992 . MALIBU GRAPHICS PUBLISHING GROUP MERGES WITH VIDEO GAME DEVELOPER ACME INTERACTIVE TO FORM MALIBU COMICS ENTERTAINMENT INC. . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140828204220/http://www.thefreelibrary.com/MALIBU+GRAPHICS+PUBLISHING+GROUP+MERGES+WITH+VIDEO+GAME+DEVELOPER...-a012474890 . August 28, 2014.
  21. News: McLelland. Ryan. Ultraverse Ten Years Later. February 5, 2016. Sequart. Sequart Organization. August 25, 2005.
  22. Book: Overstreet, Robert M. . The Overstreet comic book price guide : books from 1897-present included : catalogue & evaluation guide-- illustrated . 1996 . Avon Books . 0-380-78778-4 . 26 . New York . A-40 . 34703954.
  23. News: Star Slammers. Star Slammers. 1. May 1994. Malibu Comics. Shaun McLaughlin. Walt. Simonson.
  24. Are you fan Enough? How to join the Bravura Gold Stamp Program. Star Slammers. 1. May 1994. Malibu Comics.
  25. indicia. Star Slammers. 1. May 1994. Malibu Comics.
  26. News: Comic Book Giant Marvel Buys Upstart Rival Malibu . The Los Angeles Times. 1994-11-04. 2016-12-29 . L. D. . Straub.
  27. Book: American Comic Book Chronicles: The 1990s. Keith . Dallas . Jason . Sacks. TwoMorrows Publishing. 2018. 9781605490847.
  28. Tom Mason, quoted in News: MacDonald . Heidi . Quote of the day: get in the time machine. The Beat . Nov 16, 2013. : "Marvel bought Malibu for only one reason: to keep it away from DC which had been negotiating to buy the company since April/May 1994."
  29. News: Malibu Signs with William Morris Agency . The Comics Journal . 170 . August 1994 . 40.
  30. News: Reynolds . Eric . The Rumors are True: Marvel Buys Malibu . The Comics Journal . 173 . December 1994 . 29–33.
  31. News: News!. Indy. 8 . 1994. 7.
  32. News: Marvel buys Malibu Comics. United Press International. November 3, 1994. October 2, 2020.
  33. News: MARVEL ENTERTAINMENT BUYS UP MALIBU COMICS. Deseret News. November 16, 1994. October 2, 2020.
  34. Web site: Comic Legends: Why Did Marvel REALLY Buy the Ultraverse?. Comic Book Resources. Dec 16, 2016. Brian. Cronin.
  35. Mason, Ulm Leave Malibu. The Comics Journal. 179. August 1995. 24.
  36. Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Alternate Universes. 4 . 17 . 2005.
  37. News: Johnston . Rich . Steve Englehart – How 5% Doomed The Ultraverse . Bleeding Cool . May 22, 2012.
  38. News: Johnston . Rich . Marvel And Malibu – What's Five Percent Between Friends . Bleeding Cool . May 25, 2012.
  39. Web site: Miracleman, Malibu's Coloring Department & More!. 17 December 2013. CBR.com. Augie . de Blieck, JR..
  40. Web site: ¿Por qué Marvel Comics lleva veinte años sin relanzar Ultraverse?. 12 March 2021. Spanish. Alex . Serrano. SALA DE PELIGRO.
  41. Web site: GK's Where Are They Now?: Dinosaurs For Hire, Ain't No park Gonna Hold These Dinosaurs. 16 September 2013. Big Comics Page. Gary. Kane.
  42. https://www.comics.org/series/15004/ Ninja High School (Malibu)
  43. Web site: The Last Heroes [Ibooks] ]. bookinfo.com . 20 July 2024.