DC Comics Acquires Comic Book Publisher WildStorm Productions

Posted on October 6, 1998

DC Comics has signed an agreement with noted Publisher/Artist/Entrepreneur Jim Lee to acquire his comic book publishing company WildStorm Productions, and has entered into a long-term agreement with Lee to operate WildStorm as a creative unit of DC, it was announced by Paul Levitz, publisher and executive vice president, DC Comics.

While WildStorm will continue to produce titles under the Homage, Cliffhanger, and eponymous WildStorm imprints, they will also work on projects based on the world-famous DC characters as well as create new characters. All the creative areas of WildStorm will continue to operate under Lee's direction from their current offices in La Jolla, California, with responsibility for non-editorial functions shifting to DC.

"Jim Lee brings to DC his incredible talent, a devoted audience, an exciting line of titles, and an entrepreneurial track record of creating, developing, and producing creative material in varied media," said Levitz. "We all look forward to working closely with him, and watching him and his talented team work their magic."

Lee has been one of the major creative forces in comics for the past decade, from important contribution as the artist of Marvel's X-Men at the height of its popularity, to his role as one of the founding partners of Image Comics, a talent-owned company which swiftly became the third largest publisher of comics. Lee has created many characters, including the heroes of GEN-13 and his most recent creation, Divine Right. When Image was founded in 1992, Lee established WildStorm Productions as his publishing operation within the Image collective. WildStorm publishes Lee's work and that of a wide range of other talented creators.