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| Parent company | DC Comics (Warner Bros.) |
|---|---|
| Status | Defunct, 1994 |
| Founded | 1989 |
| Founder | Mark Nevelow |
| Defunct | 1994  |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Headquarters location | New York City |
| Key people | Mark Nevelow Karen McBurnie Dean Motter Bhob Stewart Dale Crain |
| Publication types | Comic books |
| Fiction genres | Alternative |
Piranha Press, an imprint ofDC Comics from 1989 to 1994, was a response by DC to the growing interest inalternative comics. The imprint was edited by Mark Nevelow, who instead of developing comics with the established names in the alternative comics field, chose to introduce several unknown illustrators with an eclectic and diverse line of experimental graphic novels and stories. Unusual for the time, Nevelow succeeded in getting DC to agree to contracts giving creator ownership to writers and artists.
DC announced its plan to form the Piranha imprint in 1987.[1] Nevelow's associate editor on the imprint was Karen McBurnie. DesignerDean Motter created the signature Piranha cover format and logo. After the initial 1989 titles were art directed byJohn Workman, the in-house Piranha production design was byBhob Stewart from 1989 to 1992, with other design contributions by Dale Crain, Rick Spanier,Richard Bruning, Veronica Carlin, Margaret Clark and Rick Keene.
Artist-writerAlec Stevens was the first creator to sign a contract with Piranha Press in September 1988, and his graphic novelsThe Sinners andHardcore followed in June 1989 and January 1990, respectively. A third book,A Winter Within, was verbally agreed upon, but a contract never materialized.
Piranha's most successful title wasKyle Baker'sWhy I Hate Saturn which had multiple printings.Beautiful Stories for Ugly Children, a 32-page monthly anthology of Dave Louapre's stories, illustrated by Dan Sweetman, had a 30-issue run from June 1989 to September 1992. Humor series of note were John Blair Moore'sInvaders from Home!!!,Marc Hempel's 120-pageGregory, andEpicurus the Sage byWilliam Messner-Loebs andSam Kieth.
Other Piranha writers and artists included Gil Ashby,Mark Badger, Glenn Barr, Charlie Boatner, Damon Cardwell, Tim Conrad, Michael Davis,Gerard Jones, Jon Hammer, Alison Marek, Douglas Michael,Steve Parkhouse, and Jennifer Waters.
In early 1991, Nevelow left the company.[2] With his departure, the imprint began to drastically change its editorial direction in an effort to attain the commercial success that largely eluded them.
Piranha's last published comic was the one-shotPrince and the New Power Generation: Three Chains of Gold, which came out in 1994. The imprint was shut down shortly thereafter, replaced by the new imprintParadox Press.Howard Cruse'sStuck Rubber Baby (1995) was a project that began with Piranha Press. The book took so long for Cruse to draw, however, that it was later published under the Paradox Press imprint by editorsAndy Helfer and Bronwyn Taggart, with design by Robbin Brosterman.
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