Arrow Comics was one of the original independent publisher

Alternative comics

Alternative comics defines a range of American comics that have appeared since the 1980s, following the underground comix movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Alternative comics present an alternative to "mainstream" superhero comics which in the past have dominated the US comic book industry...

s of black-and-white comics in the mid 1980s, starting out in Ypsilanti, Michigan

Michigan

Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

 by founders Ralph Griffith and Stuart Kerr.

Origins

Griffith and Kerr were just getting ready to publish a local comic fanzine called Fantastic Fanzine (which they later discovered was a previously published title), when the first issue of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are a fictional team of four teenage anthropomorphic turtles, who were trained by their anthropomorphic rat sensei in the art of ninjutsu and named after four Renaissance artists...

came out. Spurred on by the success of this fairly low production level book, Griffith and Kerr set about to gather their own 'bullpen' of local comic creators and start a comic company, using Fantastic Fanzine as a springboard. With their motto "Our Target is Entertainment; Our Aim is Quality", they intended to bring to the black-and-white comic book market their idea of quality work, in comparison to what they thought was sub-par work intended only as a source of revenue for the larger publishers. Fantastic Fanzine ran thirteen issues in its first volume, during which time Griffith and Kerr discovered local Michigan artists Randy Zimmerman, Guy Davis, Vincent Locke, Susan Van Camp

Susan Van Camp

Susan Van Camp is a fantasy artist, best known for her work on various role playing games.-Biography:Van Camp was born on June 11, 1959, and raised in Flint, Michigan. She began her commercial career in gaming by doing work for Steve Jackson's Car Wars series...

, Mark Bloodworth, and Tim Dzon. In December 1985, Tales From The Aniverse

Tales From The Aniverse

Tales from the Aniverse was a science fiction comic book created by Randy Zimmerman and Susan Van Camp, first published in 1985 by Arrow Comics, featuring anthropomorphic animals as the main characters.-Overview:...

by Zimmerman and Van Camp was published, followed shortly thereafter by The Realm and Deadworld

Deadworld

Deadworld is an ongoing American comic book currently published by Desperado Publishing in association with IDW Publishing.The series follows survivors in a post-apocalyptic scenario brought on by zombie attacks...

.

Other titles included Nightstreets and System 7, but it was not long before Arrow found itself caught up in the infamous "black and white bust," and the revenues from their largest selling titles were held up in the bankruptcy hearings of several major comic book distributors of the day. In 1989, in order to salvage their legacy, Griffith and Kerr okayed the move of their most popular titles, Oz, The Realm, and Deadworld

Deadworld

Deadworld is an ongoing American comic book currently published by Desperado Publishing in association with IDW Publishing.The series follows survivors in a post-apocalyptic scenario brought on by zombie attacks...

to Caliber Comics

Caliber Comics

Caliber Comics or Caliber Press was an American comic book publisher founded in 1989 by Gary Reed. Featuring primarily creator-owned comics, in the next decade Caliber published over 1300 comics and ranked as one of the America's leading independent publishers...

.

1993 revival

Griffith and Kerr briefly resurrected Arrow Comics in 1993 with The Dead, a horror title that pushed the envelope of gore even farther than their earlier Deadworld. Artist Jason Moore, later of Evil Ernie

Evil Ernie

Evil Ernie is a fictional character, an undead, psychotic killer with his own series, published by Chaos! Comics and Devil's Due Publishing. Originally, Evil Ernie was part of Eternity Comics. He made his debut in December 1991. He was created by writer Brian Pulido and artist Steven Hughes.-...

inking fame, brought Arrow's founders morbid and shocking visions to life.

2008 revival

With strong support from Internet readers, the most recent incarnation of Arrow Comics has been spearheaded by Randy Zimmerman and Scott R. Moore. The new Arrow is publishing new webcomics Spank the Monkey and Rebel Nun (both by Zimmerman). Some of the best Arrow comics from the Eighties are planned to make "comebacks", including a new Fantastic Fanzine.

Titles

• Arrow Anthology
• Arrow Spotlight: Simone & Ajax
• August
• Bill Bryan's Oz Collection
• Butterfly Gunn
• Camelot's Last Knight
• Dark Oz
• The Dead
  The Dead
  The Dead may refer to:* The dead, those who have experienced death* 'The Dead' , by Rupert Brooke* "The Dead" , by James Joyce* The Dead , adapted from Joyce's story* James Joyce's The Dead, Broadway musical...
  
  
• Deadworld
  Deadworld
  Deadworld is an ongoing American comic book currently published by Desperado Publishing in association with IDW Publishing.The series follows survivors in a post-apocalyptic scenario brought on by zombie attacks...
  
  
• Descendants of Toshin
• Dr Goyle
• Fantastic Fanzine
• Korvus
• Land of Oz
  Land of Oz
  Oz is a fantasy region containing four lands under the rule of one monarch.It was first introduced in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, one of many fantasy countries that he created for his books. It achieved a popularity that none of his other works attained, and after four years, he...
  
  
• Legendlore: Tales from the Realm
• Miss Chevious: The Armageddon Project
• Nightstreets
• Owosso Taco House Funnies 2008
• The Realm
• Semantic Lace
• Spank The Monkey
  Spank the monkey
  Spank the Monkey is a card game created by Peter Hansson, where you and your co-players are workers at a junk yard. A monkey have climbed the highest scrap pile, and it is your job to climb up and bring it down by spanking it.- Gameplay :...
  
  
• Spank The Monkey On The Comic Market
• System 7
  System 7
  System 7 is the name of a Macintosh operating system introduced in 1991.System 7 may also refer to:* System 7 , a British dance/ambient band* System 7 , 1991 album* IBM System/7, a 1970s computer system...
  
  
• Tales From The Aniverse
  Tales From The Aniverse
  Tales from the Aniverse was a science fiction comic book created by Randy Zimmerman and Susan Van Camp, first published in 1985 by Arrow Comics, featuring anthropomorphic animals as the main characters.-Overview:...
  
  
• The War Of The Worlds: Haven and the Hellweed
• The War Of The Worlds: The Memphis Front
• Wild Planet
  Wild Planet
  Wild Planet is the second studio album by The B-52's, released in 1980. It contains the band's first experiments using electronic drum machines....
  
  2008
• Wogglebug Special
• Wonderland
• Zimm's Heroic Tales