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Personality Comics

Summary

Personality Comics was a short-lived American comic book publishing company that specialized in unauthorized biographies[3] of entertainers and professional athletes, adult comics, and parodies, frequently combining all three genres.

Personality Comics
StatusDefunct, 1993 (31 years ago) (1993)
Founded1991 (33 years ago) (1991)
FounderAdam Post and Eric Shefferman
Country of originUnited States
Headquarters locationMassapequa, New York
then Melville, New York
Key peopleAdam Post (president)[1]
Eric Shefferman (publisher)
Alex Ryley (director of operations)
Michele Howell (story editor)
Kirk Lindo (editor in chief)
Steve Thorakos (Graphic and Production Artist)[2]
Robert Schnakenberg
John Tartaglione
Publication typesComic books
Nonfiction topicsSports, music, pop culture
Fiction genresSuperhero parody, Adult comics
ImprintsSpoof Comics
Friendly Comics
others (see full list below)
No. of employees30[2]

Operating from 1991 to 1993, the company published a myriad of titles under a variety of imprint labels. A typical Personality Comics title featured a painted portrait of the subject on the cover, with black-and-white art inside. (Many of Personality's titles were not comics per se, as they were primarily text with illustrations rather than sequential art.)[2] Regular contributors included Robert Schnakenberg, Mark Caraballo, Hector Diaz, Neil Feigeles, and Pat Henkel. Notable creators associated with the company included John Tartaglione, Jimmy Palmiotti,[4] Barry Blair, Fred Hembeck, and Adam Hughes.

Originally based in Massapequa, New York, the company later moved to Melville, New York.

History edit

Adam Post and Eric Shefferman, long-time friends and recent college graduates,[2] formed Personality Comics at the height of the comic speculator boom in 1991, to take advantage of the popularity of erotic comics as exemplified by Fantagraphics' Eros Comics line, and biographical comics as exemplified by Revolutionary Comics' Rock 'N' Roll Comics series.[1][5] Without much background in the industry, they hired industry veteran John Tartaglione to help guide their development as a company (and provide art on some titles).[2] They expanded quickly, mostly hiring inexperienced creators at fairly low rates.[2]

The industry's largest distributor, Diamond Comic Distributors — wary of legal issues related to the company's unauthorized biography lines — refused to carry Personality's titles;[5] but the second largest distributor, Capital City Distribution, did carry the company's books, making sure their titles reached comic book specialty stores and newsstands.[citation needed] (Later, Diamond reversed its decision not to distribute Personality's titles.)[6]

The company's first title, released under the Friendly Comics imprint, was an X-rated series called Bambi and Friends, written by co-founders Post and Shefferman and drawn by Myke Maldonado. Debuting in January 1991, Bambi and Friends eventually published eight monthly issues, and then a number of follow-up limited series featuring the same character.

In March 1991, the company released its flagship title, Personality Comics Presents, featuring supermodel Paulina Porizkova. The title's second issue, featuring Traci Lords, was particularly popular.[2] The company's Sports Personalities series debuted with a July 1991 issue, featuring Bo Jackson (that series eventually ran 14 issues). Not all of the company's biography comics were unauthorized; as Post claimed, "DeForest Kelley... and Kim Basinger had sent autographed copies of their biographies, and... Walter Koenig... had edited his."[2]

Within a short time, the publisher found great success, putting out over 30 different comics per month, making it the eighth-largest comics publisher in the United States by the summer of 1992.[2]

In the summer of 1992, the company created the Spoof Comics parody imprint, headlined by Spoof Comics Presents, which eventually ran 19 issues. The vast majority of the Spoof imprint titles featured eroticized parodies of popular DC Comics and Marvel Comics heroes, represented as female regardless of their original gender.

Personality's head writer was Robert Schnakenberg, who authored more than 50 comics under a variety of pseudonyms. The company's Cutting Edge Productions imprint was edited by editor-in-chief Kirk Lindo, "who would achieve greater notoriety" at Everette Hartsoe's London Night Studios.[citation needed] Lindo spearheaded the company's line of aspirational superhero titles, such as the Black character Rescueman and a super-powered character who worked to ameliorate the HIV/AIDS crisis.[2]

Closure edit

In February 1993, Personality announced that it had acquired the rights to the hobbyist magazine Amazing Heroes, which had ceased publishing in July 1992, with plans to revive it in the summer of 1993.[7] Nothing came of this, however, as the comics speculator market collapsed, and Personality accrued huge debts,[6] essentially shutting down by the summer of 1993 (with the rights to Amazing Heroes eventually reverting back to Fantagraphics).[8] Altogether, Personality Comics published nearly 80 titles and over 200 individual issues.

In early 1994, Post and Sheffernan, along with Revolutionary Comics, and Diamond and Capital City distributors, settled a lawsuit brought by football player Joe Montana based on both company's unauthorized biographies of him and the use of his likeness.[6] (In Personality's case, the issue in question was Football Heroes #3, published in 1992.)

Post-Personality edit

As Personality wound down in 1993, Post and Shefferman formed the superhero publisher Triumphant Comics[8] (a division of Corporate Kingdom Holdings, Inc.),[9] based in East Farmingdale, New York. Triumphant promoted its news titles with ashcan editions with print runs of 50,000.[10] The company's longest-running titles were Scavengers (12 issues, July 1993–May 1994), The Chromium Man (11 issues, April 1994–May 1994), and Riot Gear (9 issues, 1993–1994). Notable creators associated with Triumphant included Greg Fox. The company collapsed in late 1994 with huge debts, both corporate and personal to Post and Shefferman.[8]

In 1995, Post founded yet another new publisher: Pop Comics (legally known as Whitney Publishing Company),[citation needed] which, like Personality, focused on biographical comics. (David Campiti, later co-founder of Innovation Publishing, was Pop Comics' art director.)[5] Despite using established creators like Adam Hughes, Jimmy Palmiotti, and Bill Sienkiewicz, Pop Comics never got off the ground because Diamond Comic Distributors again refused to carry the company's titles.[5]

In 1996–1998, Post ran another new publisher — Angel Entertainment[11] (a.k.a. Adam Post, Inc.), based in El Jobean, Florida — which, like Personality, specialized in erotic comics; titles included Vampire Girl, Angel Girl, Dream Angel, and Secret Files.[12] The company's longest running-titles were Forbidden Vampire Tales (7 issues), Vampire Girls: Erotique (6 issues), and Bloodhound (4 issues).

In 2013, Bluewater Productions published the comic Fame: Jackie Robinson, a reprint of a Personality Comics issue from 1992.[13] The comic was edited by Adam Post and co-branded with Personality Comics, long after the company had gone defunct.[14]

Imprints and titles (selected) edit

Unauthorized biographies edit

Imprints: Celebrity Comics, (debuted Jan. 1992)[1] Personality Comics

Music edit

Sports edit

Erotic titles edit

Imprints: AC Adult Comics, Friendly Comics

  • Bad Girls (3 issues, 1992)
  • Bambi and Friends (9 issues, January – September 1991)
  • Bambi the Hunter (5 issues, 1992)
  • Bambi in Heat (3 issues, 1992)
  • Female Fantasies (4 issues, 1992)
  • Female Sex Pirates (2 issues, 1992)
  • The Paddler (3 issues, 1992) – x-rated parody of Marvel Comics' Punisher
  • Sapphire: The City of Sin (1 issue, 1992)
  • Sex Trek (3 issues, 1992) – x-rated parody of Star Trek: The Original Series
  • Sex Trek: The Next Infiltration (3 issues, 1992) – x-rated parody of Star Trek: The Next Generation
  • Sex Trek: To Boldly Go (3 issues, 1992) – x-rated parody of Star Trek: The Original Series
  • X-Shemales (2 issues, 1992)
  • XXX-Women (3 issues, Jan. – March 1992) – x-rated parody of the X-Men
  • XXX Women: Phallus Rising (3 issues, 1992)
  • XXX-Women: A Woman's Work (1 issue, 1992)

Parody titles edit

Imprints: Spoof Comics,[18] Humor Comics (debuted Feb. 1992)[1]

  • Bloodskirt (1 issue, 1992) — erotic-tinged parody of DC's Bloodsport
  • Big Berd versus Arnold Schwarzenheimer (2 issues, 1992) – parody battle between Big Bird and Arnold Schwarzenegger
  • Cyberfemmes (1 issue, 1992)
  • Fantastic Femmes
  • Kisses (1 issue, Dec. 1992) — "what if"-style comic about a female version of the band Kiss – by Allan Jacobsen[18]
  • Punish-Her Score Journal (1 issue, May 1993) – erotic-tinged parody of Marvel's The Punisher War Journal
  • Soul Trek (2 issues, 1992) – Blaxploitation-style mashup of Star Trek and Soul Train written by Robert Schnakenberg; now part of the permanent collection of The Museum of Uncut Funk, a virtual museum "dedicated to the celebration and preservation of the Funk."[19]
  • Spoof Comics Presents (19 issues, July 1992 – July 1993) – spoofs of popular DC Comics and Marvel Comics superheroines
  • WildC.h.i.c.k.s (1 issue, 1992) – parody of Image Comics' WildC.A.T.s.
  • Wolverbroad vs. Hobo (1 issue, 1992) – parody battle between Marvels' Wolverine and DC's Lobo
  • X-Babes (1 issue, 1993) – parody of the X-Men written by Robert Schnakenberg
  • Youngspud (1 issue, 1992) – erotic-tinged parody of Image Comics' Youngblood

Superheroes and science fiction edit

Imprints: Best Comics (debuted Oct. 1991),[1] Cutting Edge Productions

  • Balloonatics (1 issue, Oct. 1991)
  • Rescueman (1 issue, Aug. 1992) — Black superhero comic by Kirk Lindo
  • Vortex the Wonder Mule (3 issues, 1992) — by Michael Halbleib

Nonfiction edit

Imprints: Bible Comics, Real Life Comics

  • Healthman: The AIDS Crisis (1 issue, 1992) — written by Robert Schnakenberg
  • The Story of Jesus (1 issue, 1992)

See also edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ a b c d e Potter, Valerie (May 1992). "Newswatch: Personality Develops". The Comics Journal. No. 150. p. 20.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Burby, Liza N. (July 19, 1992). "To Succeed in Publishing, an Idea and a Dream". The New York Times. p. 177.
  3. ^ Bathroom Reader's Institute (October 2011). Uncle John's Unsinkable Bathroom Reader. Portable Press. ISBN 9781607104605. Personality Comics was a publisher with a novel idea: celebrity biographies, presented as comic books.
  4. ^ Sexton, Adam (December 10, 2008). Desperately Seeking Madonna: In Search of the Meaning of the World's Most Famous Woman. Random House Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0385306881.
  5. ^ a b c d Sanford, Jay Allen (April 21, 2008). "Pacific Comics: The Inside Story, plus RIP Rocketeer Creator, Comics & Censorship". San Diego Reader.
  6. ^ a b c d "Joe Montana Suit Settled". The Comics Journal. No. 168. May 1994. pp. 38–39.
  7. ^ "News Watch: Personality Buys Amazing Heroes". The Comics Journal. No. 156. February 1993. p. 21.
  8. ^ a b c Reynolds, Eric (November 1994). "Newswatch: Comics Publishers Suffer Tough Summer: Body Count Rises in Market Shakedown: The List Goes On". The Comics Journal. No. 172. p. 18.
  9. ^ "Triumphant". Grand Comics Database. Retrieved February 17, 2023.
  10. ^ "Advertisement". Hero Illustrated. No. 2. Lombard, Illinois: Warrior Publications. August 1993. p. 125.
  11. ^ "Girl Stories". Girl on Girl. No. 1. Angel Entertainment Inc.: Girl on Girl: College Kink. Summer 1997. Girl on Girl, a division of Angel Entertainment Inc.... Adam Post, president & publisher.
  12. ^ "Angel Entertainment". Grand Comics Database. Retrieved February 17, 2023.
  13. ^ Sports Classics #5: Jackie Robinson (1992). Personality Comics.
  14. ^ "Fame Jackie Robinson #1 (July 2013): Bluewater / Storm / Stormfront / Tidalwave, 2013 Series". Grand Comics Database. Retrieved February 15, 2023.
  15. ^ Sherman, Dale (2012). KISS FAQ: All That's Left to Know About the Hottest Band in the Land. Backbeat. ISBN 9781617131271.
  16. ^ Sanford, Jay Allen (July 9, 2012). "Local Writer Lands Gene Simmons Comic Book Gigs". San Diego Reader. Previous Kiss comics have been published by Marvel, Revolutionary (also based in San Diego), Personality Comics, Celebrity Comics, Dark Horse, Rock Fantasy, and Image...
  17. ^ Shirley, Ian (2005). Can Rock & Roll Save the World?: An Illustrated History of Music and Comics. Dumfries, Scotland: S.A.F. Publishing. p. 74. ISBN 0-946719-80-2. ..that the Cure have spawned two biographical comics – Revolutionary and Personality – just shows the impact that Robert Smith and his Goth chic had upon America in the 1990s.
  18. ^ a b Weiss, Brett (2017). Encyclopedia of KISS: Music, Personnel, Events and Related Subjects. p. 117. ISBN 9781476625409. Published in 1992 by Spoof Comics, which is a subdivision of Personality Comics, KISSES is an unauthorized one-shot comic book featuring the members of KISS as females.
  19. ^ "Sista ToFunky's Interview With Robert Schnakenberg". The Museum Of UnCut Funk. 1 August 2012. Retrieved 26 February 2020.

References edit

  • Personality Comics at the Grand Comics Database
  • Personality Comics at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
  • Who's Who of American Comics Books, 1928–1999

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