Parent company Singer Publishing Co. Founder David M. Singer Founded 1984 | Status defunct, 1986 Publication types Comic books Country of origin United States of America | |
Deluxe Comics was a short-lived comic book publishing company which published one title, Wally Wood's T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents.
Contents
History
Deluxe Comics was a division of Singer Publishing, founded by David M. Singer. It lasted from 1984 to 1986.
T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents controversy
In 1984, Deluxe began publishing Wally Wood's T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, featuring some of the best artists of the era, including George Pérez, Dave Cockrum, Keith Giffen, Murphy Anderson and Jerry Ordway. Singer claimed the group was in the public domain, a claim disputed by John Carbonaro of JC Comics. In 1981, JC Comics had acquired the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents rights from defunct publisher Tower Comics (which had gone out of business in 1969). JC Comics had published several issues of T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents in 1983, the last of which through Archie Comics' Red Circle Comics line.
A lawsuit initiated by Carbonaro was eventually settled in US District Court in favor of Carbonaro, with Singer acknowledging Carbonaro’s registered copyrights and trademark. Under the settlement, Carbonaro also received, among other things, an assignment of all rights to Wally Woods T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, previously published by Singer, and an undisclosed sum of money.
Lodestone Comics
Lodestone Comics was a sister company of Deluxe Comics and in 1985–1986 published five short-lived titles: Codename Danger, Evangeline Special, the Futurians, the March Hare, and a one-shot edition of The Honeymooners.
Closure
Deluxe Comics/Lodestone closed its doors in 1986 when several major distributors failed to pay sizeable past-due invoices.