Comic Covers Sunday: Blackthorne Publishing

Thanks to Matthew for covering last week.  The weekend just got away from me.  Now, on to this week.  Everyone knows the direct market was born in the 80s.  And with it came a publishing boom that brought all sorts of news books to the market.  One of those publishers was Blackthorne.  I was all ready to make fun of them until I realized they had some good books.  Who knew?

Serius Bounty Hunter #1, November 1987

Ok, not all of the books were good.  Take this one about a real serious bounty hunter.  Ugh!  But, prior to this there really were some great books.

Bizarre 3-D Zone, 1986

Pencils/Inks: John Pound

Now this is a great cover.  It's certainly bizarre and sets the tone for the material inside perfectly.  It doesn't hurt that John Pound was one of the great Underground artists either.

Adventures In Mystwood #1, August 1986
Pencils/Inks: John Arthur Williams
Sadly there was only on issue of Mystwood every produced.  I can't even imagine how hard it would be to find a copy.  But it might be worth the effort if the cover, which is fantastic, is any indication of the art on the inside.

Atomic Man Comics #2, February 1987
Pencils/Inks: J.B. Bonivert
Yes the title is silly but I guarantee the art is fantastic.  From here, Bonivert would go on to illustrate an issue of Mr. Monster.  Recently his art has been seen in the Graphic Classics series.  If you like really stylized stuff then you will love this.

Nervous Rex #7, July 1986
Pencils/Inks: William Van Horn
And finally, we have William Van Horn.  This may not look like much but it is one funny book.  I know because I have a copy!  From here, Van Horn went on to illustrate the adventures of Uncle Scrooge and Donald Duck for years.  He's a great artist and storyteller.  As with most of the books this week, good luck finding them in the back issue bins.




For a publisher that I was going to make fun of, I certainly found lots of great things.  Even though Blackthorne wasn't around long, there small publishing history had some great books.