Boris the Bear
Encyclopedia
Publication history
Starting in 1986 and created by James Dean Smith and Steve MattssonSteve Mattsson
Steve Mattsson is an American comic book artist and writer.His career began in the mid-1980s, with contributions to Dark Horse Comics's project Boris the Bear .He also served as co-writer on DC's Superboy and the Ravers ....
, Boris the Bear was the second title published by Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...
. Telling the story of an anthropomorphic bear, who is soon revealed to be a robot, the book parodied many other comic book characters while also satirizing the comic book industry as a whole. Often extremely violent, the book was a black comedy
Black comedy
A black comedy, or dark comedy, is a comic work that employs black humor or gallows humor. The definition of black humor is problematic; it has been argued that it corresponds to the earlier concept of gallows humor; and that, as humor has been defined since Freud as a comedic act that anesthetizes...
that developed a cult following. The title also served as the introduction to Wacky Squirrel, who gained his own popularity and went on to star in his own series and specials published by Dark Horse.
Early issues of Boris the Bear centered on parodies of industry trends at the time. For example, the first issue, titled Boris the Bear Slaughters the Teenage Radioactive Black Belt Mutant Ninja Critters features Boris disposing of characters resembling the 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...
, Usagi Yojimbo
Usagi Yojimbo
is a comic book series created by Stan Sakai in 1987. In 2011 IGN ranked Miyamoto Usagi 92nd in the top 100 comic books heroes.-Concept:Set primarily at the beginning of Edo period of Japan , with anthropomorphic animals replacing humans, the series features a rabbit ronin, Miyamoto Usagi, whom...
, Cerebus the Aardvark
Cerebus the Aardvark
Cerebus the Aardvark, or simply Cerebus , is an independent comic book, written and illustrated by Canadian artist Dave Sim, with backgrounds by fellow Canadian Gerhard. Cerebus ran for 300 issues from December 1977 to 2004, and was over 6000 pages long, the longest-running original...
, Adolescent Radioactive Black Belt Hamsters
Adolescent Radioactive Black Belt Hamsters
Adolescent Radioactive Black Belt Hamsters, written by Don Chin and originally illustrated by Patrick Parsons and later by Sam Kieth, initially published by Eclipse Comics and later on by Parody Press and then Dynamite Entertainment, was the first unofficial spoof of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles...
, and Hamster Vice
Hamster Vice
Hamster Vice is an American comic book series by Dwayne Ferguson. The first issue, of fourteen, was published in 1986, when Dwayne Ferguson was aged 19 and a "Rutgers University sophomore".-Publication history:right|thumb|Hamster Vice Comics...
in an extremely violent matter. The trend continued through the early issues of the title with Boris confronting or parodying characters resembling the Transformers
Transformers
A transformer is a device that transfers electrical energy from one circuit to another by magnetic coupling.Transformer may also refer to:* ASUS Eee Pad Transformer, an Android 3.2 Honeycomb tablet computer manufacturer by Asus...
, the heroes of the Marvel Universe
Marvel Universe
The Marvel Universe is the shared fictional universe where most comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Entertainment take place, including those featuring Marvel's most familiar characters, such as Spider-Man, the Hulk, the X-Men, and the Avengers.The Marvel Universe is further...
, Swamp Thing
Swamp Thing
Swamp Thing, a fictional character, is a plant elemental in the created by Len Wein and Berni Wrightson. He first appeared in House of Secrets #92 in a stand-alone horror story set in the early 20th century . The Swamp Thing then returned in his own series, set in the contemporary world and in...
, Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
, and Elfquest
Elfquest
Elfquest is a cult hit comic book property created by Wendy and Richard Pini in 1978. It is a fantasy story about a community of elves and other fictional species who struggle to survive and coexist on a primitive Earth-like planet with two moons. Several published volumes of prose fiction also...
. It wasn’t long before Boris even met the actual T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents
T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents
T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents is a fictional team of superheroes that appeared in comic books originally published by Tower Comics in the 1960s. They were an arm of the United Nations and were notable for their depiction of the heroes as everyday people whose heroic careers were merely their day jobs...
.
The popularity of Boris led to two early appearances in the third and fourth issues of the first volume of Dark Horse Presents
Dark Horse Presents
Dark Horse Presents was the first comic book published by Dark Horse Comics in 1986 and was their flagship title until its September 2000 cancellation. The second incarnation was published on MySpace, running from July 2007 until August 2010...
as well as full color reprints of the first three issues of his own book, under the title, Boris the Bear Instant Color Classics. The character’s popularity also led to parodies of Boris himself and “revenge” stories appearing in titles such as Blackthorne Publishing
Blackthorne Publishing
Blackthorne Publishing, Inc. was a comic book publisher that flourished from 1986-1989. They were notable for the Blackthorne 3-D Series, their reprint titles of classic comic strips like Dick Tracy, and their licensed products...
’s Laffin’ Gas and Eclipse Comics
Eclipse Comics
Eclipse Comics was an American comic book publisher, one of several independent publishers during the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1978, it published the first graphic novel intended for the newly created comic book specialty store market...
’ Adolescent Radioactive Black Belt Hamsters
Adolescent Radioactive Black Belt Hamsters
Adolescent Radioactive Black Belt Hamsters, written by Don Chin and originally illustrated by Patrick Parsons and later by Sam Kieth, initially published by Eclipse Comics and later on by Parody Press and then Dynamite Entertainment, was the first unofficial spoof of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles...
.
In 1987, a disagreement with Dark Horse, over the direction of the title, convinced Smith to take Boris back from Dark Horse after the twelfth issue, and begin self-publishing the book under his own Nicotat Comics banner. The book picked up with the thirteenth issue, one month after the departure from Dark Horse. Nine months later, Nicotat introduced what was intended to be an ongoing second title, Boris’ Adventure Magazine. The original Boris continued to parody other comic books, although in a less vicious way, while also maturing into more of a somewhat serious adventure title. As the title changed and the book began shipping more and more infrequently, readership dropped and sales decreased. Eventually, despite Smith having the title plotted through the fortieth issue, Nicotat ended its run with the thirty-fourth issue in November, 1991.
In 1992, Boris briefly returned to Dark Horse with a short story in the sixty-fourth issue of Dark Horse Presents.
In July, 1996, Nicotat returned to the Boris character by Boris’ Adventure Magazine with a second issue. The title ran bi-monthly for three more issues, through November, 1996. Solicitations for the fifth and sixth issues were sent to retailers but the actual issues were never published. The book was officially canceled in 1997.
In April, 2007 James Dean Smith began self-publishing again under the name Oasis Comics. Smith handled writing, art, lettering, editing and production chores on a brand new Boris the Bear title. While it seemed, at the time, that Boris had returned to comics after a ten-year hiatus, no more issues of the title have been published and the character has not appeared since. As of 2011 the Oasis Comics website is no longer operational; having been replaced by a domain parking page. The site is no longer registered to James Dean Smith. Further Boris The Bear publications are doubtful at best.
External Links
- Oasis Comics Former official site and home of Boris the Bear
- Boristhebear.de.vu Boris the Bear archive