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| Parent company | Image Comics |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1992 |
| Founder | Marc Silvestri |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Headquarters location | Los Angeles |
| Key people | Marc Silvestri Matt Hawkins |
| Fiction genres | Superhero fiction,science fiction,horror fiction |
| Official website | topcow |
Top Cow Productions is an Americancomics publisher, animprint ofImage Comics. It was founded byMarc Silvestri in 1992. The company is known for publishing titles such asCyberforce,The Darkness,Sunstone,Wanted, andWitchblade. It was the original publisher ofMichael Turner'sFathom and published the firstTomb Raider comics.
Marc Silvestri was one of the original seven founders ofImage Comics, along withErik Larsen,Rob Liefeld,Jim Lee,Todd McFarlane, Jim Valentino, andWhilce Portacio.[1] When Image Comics first launched in 1992, Silvestri was still part of the Homage Studios group which at the time he co-owned Lee, Joe Chiodo, Portacio, and Scott Williams.[2] Silvestri's first title for Image Comics wasCyberforce. By the time the second issue was released in March 1993 Silvestri was publishing under the Top Cow Productions name.[3]
Silvestri says that naming his company "Top Cow" was a drunken decision. He was about to change the name to "Ballistic Studios," but changed his mind when he saw the Top Cow logo.[4]
Silvestri began expanding his line withCyberforce spin-off calledCodename: Strykeforce in 1994, which became the third top selling comic book of the year.[5] He left Homage Studios in 1994 to move to Los Angeles to be closer to Hollywood and to better distinguish his publishing efforts from Lee's.[6]
Following the move, Top Cow expanded its line of titles and its pool of talent.Chris Claremont wroteCyberforce issues 9 through 11, published between December 1994 and April 1995. Also in 1995, Top Cow published aVelocity mini-series written byKurt Busiek, aWeapon Zero mini-series written byWalt Simonson, andSteve Gerber took over writing chores onCodename: Strykeforce starting with issue 10.[7]
Top Cow published the first issue ofWitchblade, written byDavid Wohl,Brian Haberlin, andChristina Z, with art byMichael Turner, in 1995. The character first appeared in theCyblade/Shi The Battle for Independents one-shot, a crossover between a character fromCyberforce andBilly Tucci's creator owned seriesShi.Witchblade was co-created by Silvestri, Wohl, Haberlin, Z, and Turner in part as a response to the success ofShi other series with strong women lead characters.[8] The series would later spawn a live action television series in 2001 and an animated series in 2006 (See Media adaptations below).
AWitchblade spin-off series,The Darkness, followed in 1996, written byGarth Ennis with art byDavid Finch. The new title's sales started strong and only grew stronger, despite the comics market downturn, with its eleventh issue becoming the top selling comic book of 1997.[8] Top Cow president Matt Hawkins later calledWitchblade andThe Darkness the company's flagship titles and described the period following their debut as Top Cow's "second era."[4]
In 1996, Top Cow briefly parted ways with Image during a dispute with Image associateRob Liefeld. Liefeld left the company shortly after Top Cow's departure, and Top Cow returned to the partnership.[9]
The first issue of Turner's creator owned seriesFathom became the top selling comic book of 1998.[8]Fathom later moved to Turner's own publishing company Aspen.[10]J. Michael Straczynski, best known then for his television seriesBabylon 5 brought his creator-owned comic book seriesRising Stars to Top Cow in 1999,[8] followed byMidnight Nation in 2000. Hawins called the period during which the company focused on "third-party" projects likeRising Stars andMidnight Nation the company's third era.
Top Cow started publishingTomb Raider comics in 1999, following an investment deal with Eidos Games.[4] The first issue of the series was the top selling comic book of 1999.[8]
Top Cow publishedWanted by Mark Millar and JG Jones in 2003. The first printing of the first issue sold out quickly.[11] The comic was adapted into afilm of the same name in 2008.
Ron Marz began writingWitchblade with issue 80 in 2004.Stjepan Šejić joined the series as regular artist with issue 116 in 2008 and Top Cow announced that the pair would be the creative team through issue 150, published in 2011.[12] Hawkins described Top Cow's refocusing on company-owned characters around this time as the beginning of the company's fourth era.[4]
In 2006, Top Cow made a business agreement with Marvel Comics to publish crossovers such asDarkness/Wolverine andWitchblade/Punisher.[13] As part of this agreement, several Top Cow artists also provided art chores on various Marvel series.[14] Tyler Kirkham worked onPhoenix: Warsong andNew Avengers/Transformers;Mike Choi worked onX-23: Target X; and Silvestri himself worked onX-Men: Messiah Complex. At the 2007San Diego Comic-Con, an announcement was made by Marvel Comics extending the deal into 2008.[15]
Top Cow's "Pilot Season" initiative began in 2007. Readers were able to vote on the future of sixone-shot pilot comics released throughout the year.[16]
At the 2007New York Comic Con Top Cow announced that they would be one of the first major comics publishers to offer online distribution, through a partnership withIGN. The initial titles offered includedTomb Raider,The Darkness, andWitchblade, at $1.99 per issue.[17][18] They also announced a deal with Zannel to license their comics asmobile comics.[19]
In an effort to make their titles more accessible to new readers, Top Cow rebooted the continuity of its comic book line in 2012 in an event called "Rebirth." The company's flagship titles,The Darkness andWitchblade, relaunched with new creative teams as part of the reboot.[20]
Top Cow held its first annual talent hunt in 2012.[21] The program seeks to recruit artists and writers who have never been published by a major comics publisher before. Past winners and runners-up includeIsaac Goodhart,Tini Howard, andStephanie Phillips.[22]
Top Cow published the first collection of Šejić's romance/erotica webcomicSunstone in 2014. The title's success led Top Cow to publish more erotica, romance, and slice of life comics, includingSwing, written by Matt Hawkins and Jenni Cheung with art byLinda Šejić, andSugar, written by Hawkins and Cheung with art byYishan Li.[23]
The originalWitchblade series ended with issue 185 in 2015. The series was relaunched in December 2017, written by Caitlin Kittredge with art by Roberta Ingranata. It was the first timeWitchblade was both written and drawn by women.[24] The series was followed a newCyber Force series in March, 2018[25] and theAphrodite V series in July 2018.[26] A newThe Darkness series was also announced for 2019, but never published.[27]
In 2022, Top Cow Productions reprinted the early issues ofCyberforce for the first time since 1994 in a 30th anniversary commemorative hardcover edition funded through Kickstarter and exclusively available through the platform.[28][29] Later in the same year the book was reprinted in a trade paperback with the same contents.
In 2024, the company began publishing a newWitchblade series written byMarguerite Bennett and drawn byGiuseppe Cafaro.[30]
In December 2004,Dimension Films paid an undisclosed six-figure sum to develop amovie based on the comic, possibly for release in 2008.[31] The film was pitched as a movie similar toThe Crow, which was also produced by Dimension. There have been no further developments.
In March 2005,The Darkness was licensed byMajesco Entertainment for aconsole game to be developed byStarbreeze Studios.2K Games later obtained the rights to the game, and afirst-person shooter adaptation was released for theXbox 360 andPlayStation 3 console systems on June 25, 2007, in theUnited States.[32] In the EU, the game was released forXbox 360 on June 29, 2007, and forPS3 on July 20 of the same year.[33][34]
To promote the video game, a five-issuemini-series was released, with each issue chronicled a chapter of the game. In June 2007, the mini-series was collected into atrade paperback.[35]
In February 2012, a sequel to the video game, entitledThe Darkness II, was released forPC,Xbox 360 andPlayStation 3. The script for the game was written by comic book writerPaul Jenkins, who previously worked onThe Darkness comic series. Unlike the first game, the graphics forThe Darkness II were developed using acel-shading technique, emulating the aesthetic of itsgraphic novel namesake.[36] The game received positive reviews from critics.[37]
Following a pilot film in August 2000, thecable networkTNT premiered atelevision series based on the comic book series in2001.[38] The series was directed byRalph Hemecker and written byMarc Silvestri and J.D. Zeik.Yancy Butler starred as Sara Pezzini. Although critically acclaimed and popular with audiences, it was canceled in September 2002.[39] The cancellation was announced as a production decision, but there was widespread speculation that the true reason for its cancellation was Butler's alcohol addiction; Butler was ordered to enter rehab foralcohol addiction a year later, after being arrested for wandering intoxicated amidst traffic.[40]
Witchblade ran for two 12–episode seasons on TNT. The first episode aired on June 12, 2001, and the last episode aired on August 26, 2002. On April 1, 2008,Warner Home Video announced a long-anticipated DVD release.Witchblade: The Complete Series — a seven-disc collectors set including the original made-for-TV movie, all 23 episodes of the series, and special features — was released July 29, 2008.[41]
In January 2017,NBC announced that it would be developing aWitchblade reboot, withCarol Mendelsohn andCaroline Dries serving as executive producers.[42]
AnAmericansuperhero film based on the series was announced in 2008.[43] The film was to be directed byMichael Rymer, who directed the 2002 filmQueen of the Damned and several episodes ofBattlestar Galactica, and was to be written byEverett De Roche.[44]
The film was one of the two being produced and financed back-to-back byPlatinum Studios, IDG Films andRelativity Media. The film was to be produced by Arclight's Gary Hamilton andNigel Odell, Platinum Studios'Scott Mitchell Rosenberg, and Steve Squillante of Havenwood Media. Top Cow's Marc Silvestri and Matt Hawkins were to be executive producers with Platinum Studios' Rich Marincic and Greenberg Group's Randy Greenberg. Filming was announced to begin in September 2008, withChina andAustralia among the possible locations being considered for filming.[45][46]
The film's website and teaser poster were released in May 2008 promising a 2009 release, but as of 2021 it has yet to be filmed.[47]
In 2004 Japanese animation studioGONZO announced ananime version ofWitchblade, with a subsequentmanga adaptation. Although this series centers around all new characters and tells a new story not contained in the source material, it is set in the same continuity as the comic book.[48] The anime series began broadcast during April 2006 and ran for 24 episodes.
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