| Industry | Publishing |
|---|---|
| Genre | Superhero |
| Founded | 1993 (launch) |
| Founder | Clive Barker |
Key people | Clive Barker (creator) Marcus McLaurin (editor) |
| Products | Comics |
| Owner | Marvel Entertainment, LLC (The Walt Disney Company) |
| Parent | Marvel Comics |
Razorline was animprint ofAmericancomic book companyMarvel Comics that ran from 1993 to 1995. It was created by filmmaker andhorror/fantasy novelistClive Barker, with its characters existing in one of the manyalternate universes outside the mainstreamcontinuity known as theMarvel Universe.
The Razorline imprint consisted of four interrelated titles, based on Barker's detailed premises, titles and lead characters.[1] These were:
Marcus McLaurin was the editor. The four titles were preceded by aone-shot sampler cover-titled:Razorline: First Cut.[6]
As Barker described:
I wanted to do a superhero comic, something which would be my take on what superheroes were going to be like in the '90s...Hyperkind fell into that category. I wanted to do something that was magical and mystical in the way thatDoctor Strange was and still is. Doctor Strange was one of my favourite comics from when I was a kid. So I supposeHokum & Hex is my take on that.Ectokid, which is perhaps the second weirdest of the bunch, is a kind of dream story for the 15-year-old that's still alive to me — the tale of an adolescent who lives in two worlds and has access to a whole other sphere of reality. AndSaint Sinner is just a wild one, the series which hopefully will press the limits of what comics can do.[7]
Razorline was launched in 1993 as several other publishers, includingMalibu Comics,Defiant Comics, andDark Horse Comics, were launching superhero lines.[8] There was a second wave of titles that were written but were not released.[1] Comics historians Keith Dallas and Jason Sacks analyzed that "by the summer of 1993 the market was so oversaturated with new titles and new universes, there was no room for imprints as unique as the Barkerverse to stand out".[9]
In 2005, the appendix page of theOfficial Handbook of the Marvel Universe one-shot involving alternate universes revealed that the Earth of the Razorline imprint is designated asEarth-45828. Relatively real-world, without other superheroes, it includes Marvel Comics as a comic-book publisher, with Razorline characters making references to "X-Men comics" and to Marvel editorStan Lee'sFantastic Four writing.
Hokum & Hex andHyperkind weresuperhero series, while the other two were supernatural series. All were released with aComics Code seal. The Razorline's short run of seven to nine issues each was due in large part to market conditions.[10]
Two one-shots followed:Hyperkind Unleashed (which included a "Hokum & Hex" proseshort story) andEktokid Unleashed (which included a "Saint Sinner" prose short story).[6]
In total, 10 comic lines were planned.[11] Before the cancellations, several issues of four subsequent series were in various stages of completion:Wraitheart[10] (written by Frank Lovece, art by Hector Gomez),[12][13][14]Schizm (written by Fred Burke),Mode Extreme[10] (written by Sarah Byam), andFusion Force.[10]
Columnist and former comics publisherCatherine Yronwode wrote:
Several issues of each of the Marvel-Barker titles have been fully scripted and illustrated, and Marvel still retains the rights to publish them if and when the market takes an upturn. And make no mistake, it is the current state of the comic book market, not any problems with Clive or his popularity that caused Marvel to stop work on the three Barker titles. In fact, it seems that the decision to shelve these books was based on the fact that Marvel's recent new launches have not been as successful as hoped.Hulk 2099 was cancelled with issue six, and two other titles went directly from open-ended to four-issue miniseries, when sales reports on the first issues came in.[10]
A 2002 Barker telefilm titledSaint Sinner bore no relation to the comic. In Barker's words: "I was always disappointed with the way that Marvel handled that entire line of comics, particularlySaint Sinner. I thought that's a waste of a good title. It was something that called for finding a new life in some way or another".[15]
My best work was at the same time, a defeat, because it was never published due to some internal problems at Marvel. It was Wraitheart, a hero created by Clive Barker, sensational.
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