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| Big Bang Comics | |
|---|---|
 Cover of the first series trade paperback. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Caliber Press Image Comics |
| Schedule | (Caliber): Quarterly (Image Comics): Monthly |
| Format | (Caliber)Limited series (Image)Ongoing series |
| Publication date | (Caliber) Spring1994 – May1995 (Image) May1996 – Jan.2001 |
| No. of issues | (Caliber): 5 (Image): 35 |
| Main character(s) | |
| Creative team | |
| Written by | Gary Carlson, Chris Ecker, Edward DeGeorge, Stan Timmons, Bill Fugate, Jeff Weigel |
| Artist(s) | Chris Ecker, Randy Zimmerman, Mark Lewis, Stan Timmons, Mike Obre, Steve Adams, Bart Schmitz, Bill Fugate, Stephanie Sanderson, Jeff Weigel, Ben Torres |
| Editor(s) | Gary Carlson |
| Collected editions | |
| Your Big Book of Big Bang Comics | ISBN 978-1887279888 |
Big Bang Comics is an Americancomic bookanthology series, designed to be anhomage toGolden Age andSilver Age comics. Most stories inBig Bang Comics take place either on "Earth-A" during the 1960s, or on "Earth-B" during the 1940s, featuring characters such asUltiman,Thunder Girl, andDr. Weird.
Big Bang Comics first appeared in 1994, with a five-issuelimited series (numbered #1–4 and #0), published byCaliber Comics. A second series lasting 35 issues, set in theImage Universe, was published byImage Comics from 1996 to 2001.
Gary Carlson was exposed toDr. Weird (who originally appeared in thefanzineStar-Studded Comics #1 in 1963) in one of the character's earliest collected appearances,Comic Crusader Storybook #1 (Al Greim, 1977), in a story byHoward Keltner and Dennis Fujitake.The Comic Crusader Storybook was a trade paperbackfanzine anthology which included short stories featuring the work of many independent artists and writers. In 1994, Carlson co-created theBig Bang anthology series, alongside artist/writer Chris Ecker. In the 1990s Carlson wroteBerzerker forCaliber Press; one of the first canonical appearances of a Big Bang Comics character was by theKnight Watchman inBerzerker #1 (Feb. 1993). In 1993, Carlson and Edward DeGeorge acquired all rights to Dr. Weird from Howard Keltner, eventually folded him into the Big Bang universe and making him the only character with a genuine pedigree.
Through 2005, Image Comics published 35 issues ofBig Bang Comics set in theImage Universe, followed by sevenone-shot comics.
As of the 2010s, Carlson self-publishesBig Bang Presents. Like its predecessor seriesBig Bang Comics, this is an anthology featuring a rotating cast of new and established characters in a self-contained fictional universe, written by Carlson and drawn by Ecker and various other artists. The company has also begun reprinting earlier comics in trade paperback form through Pulp 2.0 press.[1]
Some of the iconic characters in the Big Bang Universe include:
Superhero teams in the Big Bang Universe include the Round Table of America, the Knights of Justice, thePantheon of Heroes, and the Whiz Kids.
To give more depth to the various characters, in the world of Big Bang Comics, several invented publishing imprints were created which supposedly existed in the Golden Age and the Silver Age (a device later used byAmalgam Comics).[citation needed]
All of these false covers appeared on the reverse of the Caliber Press limited series issues in scaled-down shots, and again as full-page replicas inBig Bang #0.
| Title | Description |
|---|---|
| Deductive Comics | A tribute toDetective Comics, right down to the lettering. This is supposedly whereKnight Watchman entered the Big Bang world along with his sidekick, Kid Galahad. |
| Hi Octane Comics | The supposed introduction ofUltiman, but this was simply a retitled cover ofBig Bang #2 ofCaliber Press, using the lettering style ofAction Comics. |
| Jolt Comics | The introduction of the Golden-Age Blitz (Mack Snelling) and a tribute toFlash Comics. |
| Policeman Comics | The supposed starting point ofProtoplasman, inspired byPolice Comics wherePlastic Man began hissuperhero career. |
| Quantity Comics | Mentioned as being the umbrella-group forPoliceman Comics. This itself is a pastiche of the Golden AgeQuality Comics. |
| Red Hot Comics | A comic that starredDr. Stellar,Vita-Man,Robo-Hood, The Badge and Stars 'n' Stripes. Red Hot Comics drew the most attention after fans saw the blown-up image inBig Bang #0. Many requests were sent in to see Robo-Hood and Vita-Man in action. Stars 'n' Stripes, however, have never appeared since. |
| Star Studded Comics | Mentioned as being the origin ofDr. Weird. The title suggestsStar-Spangled Comics, although the lettering seems to be a reference toAll Star Comics. |
| Thunder Girl Adventures | Thunder Girl's solo title, based loosely on the old Fawcett Comics characterMary Marvel, with elements ofWonder Girl thrown in. |
A TV movie namedKnights of Justice was made in 2000. Although it featured theGolden Age versions of Ultiman and Thunder Girl and used the name of the company's Golden Age superteam, the team also included Knight Watchman and a heroine called Masker (who appeared in BB #21), both of whom are exclusively Silver Age heroes in the published version of the universe. The team's mission was to defeat a supervillain and prove their usefulness to the President or face being disbanded.
The film is loosely based on the hyperactive Saturday-morning shows of the 1970s that combined special effects with live action, yielding a clearly Silver Age feel to the action.
A pen-and-paperrole-playing game has also been released for Big Bang Comics (Pisces All Media, 2006). The Big Bang Comics RPG uses a streamlined version of theD20 system.
