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Top Cow Productions (TCP) is an American comics publisher, a partner studio of Image Comics founded by Marc Silvestri in 1992. ==History== During early years of Image Comics, which was founded in 1992, co-founder, Marc Silvestri shared a studio with Jim Lee, where he created his first creator-owned comic book, ''Cyberforce'', as part of Image's initial line-up. After setting up his own studio, Top Cow Productions, he expanded into other comics, launching ''Codename: Strykeforce'', a new ''Cyberforce'' series and various spin-offs. The company attracted several professionals including artist Brandon Peterson, writer Garth Ennis and former Marvel staffer David Wohl. It also helped launch the careers of various writers and artists, such as Christina Z., Joe Benitez, Michael Turner and David Finch. Benitez, Turner and Finch have since worked for DC and Marvel Comics. In 1996, Top Cow briefly departed from Image during a power struggle with Image associate Rob Liefeld until Liefeld left the company shortly after.〔Dean, Michael. ("The Image Story, part 3" ). ''The Comics Journal''. 2000 Retrieved April 20, 2007.〕 At the same time, Top Cow was moving more into the fantasy genre. New properties were ''Witchblade'' (where Turner had his first big success) and ''The Darkness'' (where Marc Silvestri returned to artist duties). Thanks to the success of ''Witchblade'' Top Cow was able to expand, adding to its line with titles that included ''The Darkness'', ''Magdalena'', ''Aphrodite IX'', and others. Silvestri was heavily involved in training and developing new talent through the studio and Top Cow was known for a time for its "house style". In addition to company owned properties Top Cow has from time to time worked with creators to develop creator-owned properties. These properties have included '' Turner's Fathom'' which eventually ended up at Aspen Comics, and Joe's Comics, created exclusively for J. Michael Straczynski, which included ''Rising Stars'' and ''Midnight Nation''. Top Cow is also known for bringing ''Tomb Raiders Lara Croft to comics, with various graphic novels written and drawn by some of the industry's best known creators, including Dan Jurgens, Paul Jenkins, and artist Andy Park. The cartoon ''Battle of the Planets'' is another licensed property in which Top Cow has invested, collaborating with cover artist Alex Ross. In 2006, Top Cow made a business agreement with Marvel Comics to use several of their licensed properties in their own series, with characters including Wolverine and the Punisher, appearing in crossovers (Darkness/Wolverine and Witchblade/Punisher). Also, as part of this agreement, several Top Cow artists are to provide art chores on various Marvel series, such as Tyler Kirkham (''Phoenix: Warsong'' and ''New Avengers/Transformers''), Mike Choi (''X-23: Target X''), and Silvestri himself (X-Men: Messiah CompleX). At the 2007 San Diego Comic Con an announcement was made by Marvel Comics extending the deal into 2008. They have also used Kick Starter to fund some of the comics. At the 2007 New York Comic Con it was announced that Top Cow will be one of the first major comics publishers to offer online distribution, through a partnership with IGN.〔(NYCC 07/D2: Hawkins corrects/clarifies Top Cow Digital Comics ), February 25, 2007, Newsarama〕 The initial titles offered will be ''Tomb Raider'' #1–50, ''The Darkness'' #1–50 and ''Witchblade'' #1–50, at around $1 per issue.〔(SD Comic-Con 2010: Strange and Wondrous Things Brewing at Top Cow )〕 They have also announced a deal with Zannel to license their comics as mobile comics.〔(BAM! KAPOW! BOOM! Zannel And Top Cow Team Up To Fight Mobile Boredom ), September 14, 2007〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Top Cow Productions」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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