Slave Labor Graphics
From Free net encyclopedia
Slave Labor Graphics (often abbreviated "SLG") is an independent comic book publisher in the United States. It is well-known for publishing darkly humorous, offbeat comics such as Jhonen Vasquez's Johnny the Homicidal Maniac and Squee!,or Roman Dirge's Lenore, the Cute Little Dead Girl, and The Monsters In My Tummy, though its output is not restricted to this style. Another notable series for the publisher has been Serena Valentino's Gloomcookie, which focuses on the goth subculture that SLG's books tend to appeal to.
SLG was started in 1986 by Dan Vado, who is still the company's president and publisher. The first book SLG published was Shadow Star #3, a female superhero character previously published independently by some of Vado's friends. SLG's first major success was Samurai Penguin #1 by Dan and Mark Buck, which sold 58,000 copies in the summer of 1986. The first few titles, such as Hero Sandwich and It's Science With Dr. Radium, were all created by friends of Vado's from high school. Another success was Milk & Cheese, a comic about mean-spirited anthropomorphic dairy products by Evan Dorkin. In this time period, comic book speculation was rampant, so SLG was able to sell its entire print run of many titles. However, at the end of the speculation bubble, some distributors went out of business without paying SLG.
In 1995, SLG added an imprint called "Amaze Ink" intended to be for all audiences and more genre-oriented; the "stranger, more adult, and more difficult to categorize material" would still be published under the "Slave Labor" imprint.
In 2005, SLG entered into a partnership with the Walt Disney Company to produce comic book series based on some of its properties: Haunted Mansion, Wonderland, Tron, and Gargoyles. Its own creations, such as Little Gloomy (2000-2005), Kid Gravity (2003-present) and The Super Scary Monster Show freaturing Little Gloomy (2006-present), appear/have appeared regularly in Disney Adventures Magazine.
List of SLG titles
- Absent Friends #1 (2004)
- Action Girl #1-19 (1994 – 2001)
- Autumn #1-? (2004 – present)
- Babyhead Magazine #1 (2004)
- Babysitter
- A Bag of Anteaters
- Bear
- Beer and Roaming in Las Vegas
- Black Heart Billy
- Bombaby Screen Goddess
- Captain Dingleberry
- Charm School
- Cocopiazo
- The Comical Tragedy of Punch and Judy
- Comic Book Heaven
- Corporate Ninja
- Dead Eyes Open
- Definition
- Dim Witted Darryl
- Doctor Grave
- Dragon Knights
- Emily and the Intergalactic Lemonade Stand
- Emo Boy
- Evenfall
- Everwinds
- Everything Can Be Beaten
- Farewell Georgia
- Fillerbunny
- Ghouly Boys
- Gloomcookie #1-? (1999 – present)
- Halo and Sprocket #1-4 (2002)
- Haunted Mansion
- Hectic Planet (previously known as Pirate Corp$)
- Hero Sandwich #1-5 (1987-1989)
- Highway 13
- Hsu & Chan
- I Feel Sick #1-2 (1999 – 2000)
- Iliad #1-2
- Jet Comics #1-3
- Jet Pack Pets
- Johnny the Homicidal Maniac #1-7 (1995 – 1997)
- Kitsune Tales #1 (2003)
- Lenore #1-? (1998-
- Life of a Fetus #1-7
- Likewise #1-2 (2002)
- Little Gloomy #1-6 (1999)
- Little Gloomy Adventures oneshot (2003)
- Little Gloomy Crypt of Creepts oneshot (2004)
- Little Gloomy Hallowe'en Special oneshot
- Little Scrowlie
- Milk & Cheese
- The Monsters In My Tummy
- Mister Blank
- Mr. Night
- Next Exit
- Nightmares & Fairy Tales
- Oddjob
- The Pants Ant Trouser Hour
- Paris
- Patty Cake
- Pirate Club
- The Replacement God
- Rex Libris
- Samurai Jam #3-4 (previously Samurai Funnies, published by Solson Publications)
- Samurai Penguin #1-8 (1986 – 1988)
- Samurai Penguin: Food Chain Follies #1
- Screenplay #1
- Serenity Rose
- Shadow Star #3 (1986; #1-2 published by Savage Graphics)
- Skeleton Girl Comics #1-3
- Skeleton Key
- Sky Ape #1-4
- Squee #1-4 (1997 – 1998)
- SugarBuzz!
- The Super Scary Monster Show: Featuring Little Gloomy
- Tales from the Heart
- Vaistron #1-? (2005 – present)
- Where's It At, Sugar Kat?