Renegade Press
Encyclopedia
Renegade Press was an American comic book
company, founded by Canadian
Deni Loubert
, that operated from 1984 to 1988. Notable titles published by Renegade include Flaming Carrot, Ms. Tree
, and Normalman
.
until she and husband Dave Sim
(owner and major contributor to Aardvark-Vanaheim) divorced, at which point she started Renegade and moved to the United States. With the move, all of Aardvark-Vanaheim's titles (with the exception of Cerebus) left that publisher to continue with Renegade. (These included Flaming Carrot Comics
, Journey: The Adventures of Wolverine MacAlistaire, normalman
, Neil the Horse
, and Ms. Tree
.)
Although Renegade started in high-profile fashion, its titles suffered from low print runs. In early 1988, Renegade refit its publishing strategy, but suspended all publications later that year. In July 1989 it was announced that the publisher had shut down for good.
on Steve Ditko
's behalf (Renegade had published Ditko's World in 1986). Ditko refused the award, phoning Loubert to say, "Awards bleed the artist and make us compete against each other. They are the most horrible things in the world. How dare you accept this on my behalf." At Ditko's behest, Loubert returned the award to the San Diego Comic-Con organizers.
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
company, founded by Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
Deni Loubert
Deni Loubert
Deni Loubert is a French Canadian comics publisher, co-founder of Aardvark-Vanaheim and founder of Renegade Press. She is the ex-wife of Dave Sim, with whom she founded Aardvark-Vanaheim and published Cerebus from issues #1 to #77 .Loubert and Sim met in 1976) and married in 1979...
, that operated from 1984 to 1988. Notable titles published by Renegade include Flaming Carrot, Ms. Tree
Ms. Tree
Ms. Tree was the best-known comic book creation of author Max Allan Collins prior to his graphic novel, Road to Perdition. Terry Beatty was the series' artist.-Character Biography and Synopsis:...
, and Normalman
Normalman
normalman is a limited series of American comic books created by Jim Valentino. It began in November 1983 as a four-page story in Cerebus #56 and #57 before being launched as a full-color 12-issue series which was published by Aardvark-Vanaheim before moving to Renegade Press. There was also a...
.
History
Loubert was publisher of Aardvark-VanaheimAardvark-Vanaheim
Aardvark-Vanaheim is a Canadian independent comic book publisher founded in 1977 by Dave Sim and Deni Loubert. It is best known for publishing Sim's Cerebus....
until she and husband Dave Sim
Dave Sim
David Victor Sim is an award-winning Canadian comic book writer and artist.A pioneer of self-published comics and creators' rights, Sim is best known as the creator of Cerebus the Aardvark, a comic book published from 1977 to 2004, which chronicles its main character in a 6,000-page self-contained...
(owner and major contributor to Aardvark-Vanaheim) divorced, at which point she started Renegade and moved to the United States. With the move, all of Aardvark-Vanaheim's titles (with the exception of Cerebus) left that publisher to continue with Renegade. (These included Flaming Carrot Comics
Flaming Carrot Comics
Flaming Carrot Comics is a surrealist comic book series by cartoonist Bob Burden. The character first appeared in Visions #1, a magazine published by the Atlanta Fantasy Fair in 1979. Flaming Carrot can be seen as a parody of various aspects of the superhero genre...
, Journey: The Adventures of Wolverine MacAlistaire, normalman
Normalman
normalman is a limited series of American comic books created by Jim Valentino. It began in November 1983 as a four-page story in Cerebus #56 and #57 before being launched as a full-color 12-issue series which was published by Aardvark-Vanaheim before moving to Renegade Press. There was also a...
, Neil the Horse
Neil the Horse
Neil the Horse is a comic book character created by Canadian cartoonist Arn Saba in the mid 1970s. Neil is a happy, singing and dancing horse who likes bananas and milkshakes...
, and Ms. Tree
Ms. Tree
Ms. Tree was the best-known comic book creation of author Max Allan Collins prior to his graphic novel, Road to Perdition. Terry Beatty was the series' artist.-Character Biography and Synopsis:...
.)
Although Renegade started in high-profile fashion, its titles suffered from low print runs. In early 1988, Renegade refit its publishing strategy, but suspended all publications later that year. In July 1989 it was announced that the publisher had shut down for good.
Controversy
In 1987, Loubert accepted an Inkpot AwardInkpot Award
The Inkpot Award, bestowed annually since 1974 by Comic-Con International, is given to some of the professionals in comic book, comic strip, animation, science fiction, and related pop-culture fields, who are guests of that organization's yearly multigenre fan convention, commonly known as...
on Steve Ditko
Steve Ditko
Stephen J. "Steve" Ditko is an American comic book artist and writer best known as the artist co-creator, with Stan Lee, of the Marvel Comics heroes Spider-Man and Doctor Strange....
's behalf (Renegade had published Ditko's World in 1986). Ditko refused the award, phoning Loubert to say, "Awards bleed the artist and make us compete against each other. They are the most horrible things in the world. How dare you accept this on my behalf." At Ditko's behest, Loubert returned the award to the San Diego Comic-Con organizers.
Titles
- Agent Unknown
- Amusing Stories
- 3-D Zone Pack Vol. 2 (#6-10)
- 3-D Zone Set
- Barefootz
- Cases of Sherlock Holmes
- Cecil Kunkle Vol. 1 (1986)
- Ditko's World (actually Revolver #7-9)
- Eternity Smith (#1-5, then moved to Hero Comics)
- Flaming Carrot (1985) (#6-17)
- French Ice
- Friends
- Gene Day's Black Zeppelin
- Holiday Out
- Howard Cruse's Barefootz: The Comix Book Stories
- Journey: The Adventures of Wolverine MacAlistaire (moved to Fantagraphics before Renade ceased publishing)
- Kafka
- Kilgore
- Love Fantasy
- ManimalManimalManimal is an American action–adventure series that ran from September 30 to December 17, 1983 on NBC. The show centers on the character Dr Jonathan Chase , a shape-shifting man who possessed the ability to turn himself into any animal he chose...
- Maxwell Mouse Follies
- Mechthings
- Ms. TreeMs. TreeMs. Tree was the best-known comic book creation of author Max Allan Collins prior to his graphic novel, Road to Perdition. Terry Beatty was the series' artist.-Character Biography and Synopsis:...
- Ms. Tree 3-D
- Ms. Tree Summer Special
- Ms. Tree's 1950'S 3-D Crime
- Murder (actually Revolver #10-12)
- Neil the HorseNeil the HorseNeil the Horse is a comic book character created by Canadian cartoonist Arn Saba in the mid 1970s. Neil is a happy, singing and dancing horse who likes bananas and milkshakes...
- normalmanNormalmannormalman is a limited series of American comic books created by Jim Valentino. It began in November 1983 as a four-page story in Cerebus #56 and #57 before being launched as a full-color 12-issue series which was published by Aardvark-Vanaheim before moving to Renegade Press. There was also a...
(1985) (#9-12,3-D Annual #1) - Open SeasonOpen Season (comic)Open Season is a comic book series created by cartoonist Jim Bricker. Six issues were published by Renegade Press and one issue by Strawberry Jam Comics from 1986 to 1989....
(moved to Strawberry Jam ComicsStrawberry Jam ComicsStrawberry Jam Comics was a Canadian publisher of comic books during the black-and-white comics boom of the mid and late 1980s. Inspired by the creative success of Dave Sim's Cerebus the Aardvark, founders paul Stockton and Derek McCulloch launched Strawberry Jam with the publication of To Be...
) - Phony Pages
- Renegade Romance
- Revolver
- Robot Comics
- Roscoe The Dawg, Ace Detective
- Shadows from the Grave
- Silent InvasionSilent InvasionThe Silent Invasion was a black and white comic book that was published by Renegade Press between 1986 and 1988. It was written by Larry Hancock and drawn by Michael Cherkas....
(moved to Caliber ComicsCaliber ComicsCaliber 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...
) - Spiral Cage
- Starbikers
- Starbinders
- Strata
- Suburban Nightmares
- T-Minus-1
- Tony Bravado: Trouble-Shooter
- Trypto The Acid Dog
- Valentino
- Vicki Valentine
- Wordsmith (moved to Caliber ComicsCaliber ComicsCaliber 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...
)