Antarctic Press
Encyclopedia
Antarctic Press is a San Antonio-based comic book
publishing
company which publishes "American Manga" style comic books.
Founded by Ben Dunn
in 1984, Antarctic Press has produced over 850 titles with a total circulation of over 5 million. Among its titles are some of the most respected and longest-running independent comic series.
Many now-established names have started at Antarctic, with most continuing to work there, including Brian Denham, Ben Dunn
, Eisner-nominated Rod Espinosa
, Guru eFX, Joseph Wight, and Chris Bunting
. Graphic novelist Alex Robinson
serializes his first book, Box Office Poison, with Antarctic in the 1990s.
The company also produces a wide range of "how-to" and "you can" comics, instructing on many areas of comic book creation and craft.
Many of Antarctic's staple characters from titles including Warrior Nun Areala,Ninja High School
, Gold Digger
, The Courageous Princess, and Dragons Arms, came together in the 2005 How to Break into Comics, which also featured their creators in the narrative.
In April 2006, popular title Warrior Nun was re-launched as Warrior Nun Lazarus and included CGI coloring.
In the 1990s, the company also published numerous furry
comic books such as a revived Albedo Anthropomorphics
. In 1998, some of these titles moved off to a separate company, Radio Comix
.
Recently, Antarctic has announced David Hutchison's Final Girl, where voters can choose who lives and who dies in the limited series.
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...
publishing
Publishing
Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of literature or information—the activity of making information available to the general public...
company which publishes "American Manga" style comic books.
Founded by Ben Dunn
Ben Dunn
Ben Dunn is an American comic book artist. Although born in Taiwan, he grew up in Kentucky, Taiwan and San Antonio, Texas. It was in Taiwan that he was first exposed to Japanese manga. In 1984 he founded Antarctic Press, an American comic book company specializing in Manga-style titles...
in 1984, Antarctic Press has produced over 850 titles with a total circulation of over 5 million. Among its titles are some of the most respected and longest-running independent comic series.
History
Its earliest titles were Mangazine and Extremely Silly Comics.Many now-established names have started at Antarctic, with most continuing to work there, including Brian Denham, Ben Dunn
Ben Dunn
Ben Dunn is an American comic book artist. Although born in Taiwan, he grew up in Kentucky, Taiwan and San Antonio, Texas. It was in Taiwan that he was first exposed to Japanese manga. In 1984 he founded Antarctic Press, an American comic book company specializing in Manga-style titles...
, Eisner-nominated Rod Espinosa
Rod Espinosa
-Biography:Espinosa was born in the Philippines. He graduated from the Don Bosco technical college with a certificate in architectural drafting and got a degree in advertising art from Santo Tomas University in Manila...
, Guru eFX, Joseph Wight, and Chris Bunting
Chris Bunting
-Biography:Bunting's first professional comic book work was printed in Antarctic Press's Shoujo #4 in 2005. After that he released the book How to Break into Comics, also published by Antarctic Press.Bunting then went on to spearhead the Mr...
. Graphic novelist Alex Robinson
Alex Robinson
Alex Robinson is an award-winning American comic book writer and artist.-Early life:Alex Robinson grew up in Yorktown Heights, New York, and graduated from Yorktown High School in 1987...
serializes his first book, Box Office Poison, with Antarctic in the 1990s.
The company also produces a wide range of "how-to" and "you can" comics, instructing on many areas of comic book creation and craft.
Many of Antarctic's staple characters from titles including Warrior Nun Areala,Ninja High School
Ninja High School
Ninja High School is a comic book series created, written, and illustrated by Ben Dunn, and currently published by Antarctic Press. It was at first published by Eternity Comics...
, Gold Digger
Gold Digger (comic book)
Gold Digger is a manga-reminiscent comic book series, written and drawn by Fred Perry, and published by Antarctic Press. Fred came up with the initial inspiration for Gold Digger during his tour of duty in the First Gulf War, and released the debut oneshot in Antarctic Press' Mangazine, in 1991...
, The Courageous Princess, and Dragons Arms, came together in the 2005 How to Break into Comics, which also featured their creators in the narrative.
In April 2006, popular title Warrior Nun was re-launched as Warrior Nun Lazarus and included CGI coloring.
In the 1990s, the company also published numerous furry
Furry fandom
Furry fandom is a fandom for fictional anthropomorphic animal characters with human personalities and characteristics. Examples of anthropomorphic attributes include exhibiting human intelligence and facial expressions, the ability to speak, walk on two legs, and wear clothes...
comic books such as a revived Albedo Anthropomorphics
Albedo Anthropomorphics
Albedo Anthropomorphics, or Albedo for short, was a furry comic book anthology series which was credited with starting the furry comic book subgenre that featured sophisticated stories with funny animals primarily intended for an adult audience...
. In 1998, some of these titles moved off to a separate company, Radio Comix
Radio Comix
Radio Comix is an alternative comic book publishing company based in San Antonio, Texas, United States. Founded in 1996 by former Antarctic Press employees Elin Winkler-Suarez and Pat Duke, Radio Comix has published hundreds of comics from many genres, from both American-created and translated...
.
Recently, Antarctic has announced David Hutchison's Final Girl, where voters can choose who lives and who dies in the limited series.
Titles
Comic book titles include:- Albedo AnthropomorphicsAlbedo AnthropomorphicsAlbedo Anthropomorphics, or Albedo for short, was a furry comic book anthology series which was credited with starting the furry comic book subgenre that featured sophisticated stories with funny animals primarily intended for an adult audience...
- American WomanAmerican WomanAmerican Woman is the seventh album by Canadian rock band The Guess Who, released in 1970. It peaked at #9 on the Billboard Pop Albums charts...
- Bad Kids Go to HellBad Kids Go to HellBad Kids go to Hell is an upcoming film based on the best selling graphic novel of the same name directed by Matthew Spradlin.-Cast:* Ben Browder as Max* Judd Nelson as Headmaster Nash* Cameron Deane Stewart as Matt* Augie Duke as Veronica...
- Battle Girls
- Box Office PoisonBox Office PoisonBox Office Poison is a series of comic books by Alex Robinson. It was published in collected form by Top Shelf Productions in 2001. The story concerns the life and trials of a group of young people in New York City....
- Chesty Sanchez
- The Courageous PrincessThe Courageous PrincessThe Courageous Princess is a comic book written and drawn by Rod Espinosa, published by Antarctic Press. The story consists of fairy tale lands, princes, and princesses. The books had been discontinued for a fewyears, but now Rod is continuing his work on the series...
- DinowarsDinowarsDinowars: The Jurassic War of the Worlds is a comic book from Antarctic Press. It centers around Earth today beset by dinosaurs that escaped into space to avoid the ice age. Now back to claim the world as their own, mirroring the original The War of the Worlds...
- Dragon Arms
- Extremely Silly Comics
- Families of Altered Wars (includes Luftwaffe 1946)
- Fantastic Panic
- Far West
- Final Girl
- Furrlough
- Genus
- Gold Digger written and drawn by Fred PerryFred Perry (comics)Fred Perry is an American comic book artist, currently working at Antarctic Press.He is well known as author and artist of Japanese-styled comics. The series he is best known for is Gold Digger, a long-running comic anthology...
- HepcatsHepcatsHepcats was a comic book self-published in the 1990s by artist Martin Wagner. It dealt with the lives of four college students, rendered as anthropomorphic animals , and was inspired by Wagner's own college experiences....
- History of Webcomics
- AP's How to Draw Manga
- The Last Zombie
- Luftwaffe 1946
- Mangazine
- MetaDocsMetaDocsMetaDocs is a comic book from Antarctic Press. It centers around "a crack team of extraordinary doctors and surgeons" trained to save superheroes when the dust settles after an epic battle....
written by Joeming Dunn, MD, and illustrated by Rod EspinosaRod Espinosa-Biography:Espinosa was born in the Philippines. He graduated from the Don Bosco technical college with a certificate in architectural drafting and got a degree in advertising art from Santo Tomas University in Manila...
. - Mighty Tiny
- Neotopia
- Ninja High SchoolNinja High SchoolNinja High School is a comic book series created, written, and illustrated by Ben Dunn, and currently published by Antarctic Press. It was at first published by Eternity Comics...
- Pirates versus NinjasPirates versus NinjasPirates vs. Ninjas is a comedic Internet and gaming meme regarding a theoretical conflict between pirates and ninjas, generally including arbitrary "debate" over which side would win in a fight. The meme is sometimes referred to as PvN and has a long history on the Internet...
- President Evil, a zombie parody comic featuring Barack ObamaBarack ObamaBarack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
. - The Prince of Heroes
- Pose File
- RobotechRobotech (comics)Robotech comics first officially appeared in print in 1985, though Comico published the first issue of its license from Harmony Gold USA under the Macross name....
- Sarah PalinSarah PalinSarah Louise Palin is an American politician, commentator and author. As the Republican Party nominee for Vice President in the 2008 presidential election, she was the first Alaskan on the national ticket of a major party and first Republican woman nominated for the vice-presidency.She was...
vs. the World, a parody of Scott PilgrimScott PilgrimScott Pilgrim is a graphic novel series by Bryan Lee O'Malley. It consists of six digest size black-and-white volumes, released between August 2004 and July 2010, by Portland-based independent comic book publisher Oni Press. It was later republished by Fourth Estate, an imprint of HarperCollins...
. - The Science Fair
- Shanda The Panda
- ShōjoShojoThe term refers to manga marketed to a female audience roughly between the ages of 10-18. The name romanizes the Japanese 少女 , literally: "little female". Shōjo manga covers many subjects in a variety of narrative and graphic styles, from historical drama to science fiction — often with a strong...
- Steampunk Palin, a sci-fi satire featuring Sarah Palin.
- Stellar Losers
- Strangers in ParadiseStrangers in ParadiseStrangers in Paradise is a long-running, mostly self-published black-and-white comic book, written and drawn by Terry Moore. The series has reached its planned conclusion, finishing off in 2007 with issue #90 of volume 3....
- Tank Vixens
- Twilight XTwilight XTwilight X is a comic written and drawn by Joseph Wight and published under Antarctic Press. The recent miniseries Twilight X: War was colored by GURU eFX. Starting in 1989, Twilight X was initially self-published by Wight, along with Neal Gleaton and Steve Kratochvil, under the short-lived Pork...
by Joe Wight - Twilight X StormTwilight XTwilight X is a comic written and drawn by Joseph Wight and published under Antarctic Press. The recent miniseries Twilight X: War was colored by GURU eFX. Starting in 1989, Twilight X was initially self-published by Wight, along with Neal Gleaton and Steve Kratochvil, under the short-lived Pork...
- Warrior Nun ArealaWarrior Nun ArealaWarrior Nun Areala is a manga-style American comic book character created by Ben Dunn and published by Antarctic Press. First appearing in Ninja High School #38 , she has since appeared in her own comic books beginning with Warrior Nun Areala Vol. 1 #1 in December 1994...
- Weapons File
- Wild Life, a humorous slice-of-life anthology edited by Elin Winkler-Suarez which ran February 1993-April 1995 for twelve issues. Included Joe Rosales' Wildlifers and John Nunnemacher's Buffalo Wings.
- Winds of Winter
- Zetraman: Revival
Artists
Artists who have worked for Antarctic Press, past and present:- Brian Denham
- Ben DunnBen DunnBen Dunn is an American comic book artist. Although born in Taiwan, he grew up in Kentucky, Taiwan and San Antonio, Texas. It was in Taiwan that he was first exposed to Japanese manga. In 1984 he founded Antarctic Press, an American comic book company specializing in Manga-style titles...
- Lee Duhig
- Ganbear
- Joe Wight
- Fred PerryFred Perry (comics)Fred Perry is an American comic book artist, currently working at Antarctic Press.He is well known as author and artist of Japanese-styled comics. The series he is best known for is Gold Digger, a long-running comic anthology...
- David HutchinsonDavid HutchinsonDavid Hutchinson is a former English football referee. The most notable match refereed by Hutchinson was the last game of the1988-89 season between Arsenal and Liverpool, one one of the most famous games in the history of English football....
- Rod EspinosaRod Espinosa-Biography:Espinosa was born in the Philippines. He graduated from the Don Bosco technical college with a certificate in architectural drafting and got a degree in advertising art from Santo Tomas University in Manila...
- Ted Nomura
- Gianluca Piredda
- Terry MooreTerry Moore (comics)Terry Moore is a comic book author, graphic novelist and illustrator.He created the popular series Strangers in Paradise, and was involved in the founding of Homage Comics.-Biography:...
- Alex RobinsonAlex RobinsonAlex Robinson is an award-winning American comic book writer and artist.-Early life:Alex Robinson grew up in Yorktown Heights, New York, and graduated from Yorktown High School in 1987...
- Danny Fahs