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NOW Comics
NOW Comics was a comic book publisher founded in late 1985 by Tony C. Caputo as a sole-proprietorship. During the four years after its founding, NOW grew from a one-man operation to operating in 12 countries, and published almost 1,000 comic books.
The company was headquartered in the Chicago Loop in Chicago, Illinois. Most NOW titles were the results of licensing arrangements with such companies as Columbia (Sony) Pictures, Broadway Video, ELP Communications, CBS Entertainment, Inc., Speed Racer Enterprises, and Leisure Concepts, resulting in titles like Vector, Mr. T & The T-Force, Speed Racer, The Original Astro Boy, Alias, Terminator: The Burning Earth, The Real Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II, Fright Night, Married... with Children, and The Green Hornet.
NOW Comics started in late 1985 as a sole-proprietorship, with the first publications shipping in May 1986. It became Caputo Publishing, Inc. in 1987.
In a four-year period, CPI grew from a one-man operation with annual sales of $110,000 to an international multimillion-dollar corporation, with close to 100 full-time employees and freelancers, and the #3 position in comic book market share. During this period, CPI created such cross-promotional ventures as The Real Ghostbusters cereal (with Ralston Purina) and Slimer's Ecto-Cooler Hi-C drink (with Coca-Cola Foods).
In 1989, the comics division began to lose steam, suffering from lack of focus and internal dissension. In 1990, NOW was forced to file Chapter 7 bankruptcy by Quebecor Printing and the General Learning Corporation. After being bought by General Learning, NOW Comics relaunched in 1991 as the NOW Entertainment Corporation This new infusion of over $2 million in capital catapulted the company to number five in market share within its first quarter of business, and NOW Entertainment was nominated as best new publisher of 1991.[citation needed]
In 1993, NOW and Malibu/Eternity co-published the crossover series Ninja High School featuring Speed Racer.
In 1994, the company ceased publishing after its "January 1995" releases, six months after founder Caputo left.[citation needed]
In 2003, Caputo returned, reviving the publisher as NOW Media Group, Inc. The new company, dubbed "NOW Comics 3.0" by Caputo, was re-launched as a graphic novel "self-publisher", giving creators a partnership role in the business. Books published by this iteration of NOW Comics included Vespers (an original graphic novel written and illustrated by Caputo), Vinny, the Bug Man (a 3D animated graphic novel by Chet Spiewak, including a CD-ROM), and black and white collected editions of Marc Hansen's Ralph Snart, Doctor Gorpon, and Weird Melvin series. Planned but unreleased were Mirrorwalker (collecting the originally intended two issues of the Barry Daniel Peterson and Marv Wolfman 1990 series) and Syphons (collecting volume two of the series), which was later published by Image Comics. The business plan didn't pan out and the company folded in 2005, with the corporation fully dissolved in February 2006.
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NOW Comics
NOW Comics was a comic book publisher founded in late 1985 by Tony C. Caputo as a sole-proprietorship. During the four years after its founding, NOW grew from a one-man operation to operating in 12 countries, and published almost 1,000 comic books.
The company was headquartered in the Chicago Loop in Chicago, Illinois. Most NOW titles were the results of licensing arrangements with such companies as Columbia (Sony) Pictures, Broadway Video, ELP Communications, CBS Entertainment, Inc., Speed Racer Enterprises, and Leisure Concepts, resulting in titles like Vector, Mr. T & The T-Force, Speed Racer, The Original Astro Boy, Alias, Terminator: The Burning Earth, The Real Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II, Fright Night, Married... with Children, and The Green Hornet.
NOW Comics started in late 1985 as a sole-proprietorship, with the first publications shipping in May 1986. It became Caputo Publishing, Inc. in 1987.
In a four-year period, CPI grew from a one-man operation with annual sales of $110,000 to an international multimillion-dollar corporation, with close to 100 full-time employees and freelancers, and the #3 position in comic book market share. During this period, CPI created such cross-promotional ventures as The Real Ghostbusters cereal (with Ralston Purina) and Slimer's Ecto-Cooler Hi-C drink (with Coca-Cola Foods).
In 1989, the comics division began to lose steam, suffering from lack of focus and internal dissension. In 1990, NOW was forced to file Chapter 7 bankruptcy by Quebecor Printing and the General Learning Corporation. After being bought by General Learning, NOW Comics relaunched in 1991 as the NOW Entertainment Corporation This new infusion of over $2 million in capital catapulted the company to number five in market share within its first quarter of business, and NOW Entertainment was nominated as best new publisher of 1991.[citation needed]
In 1993, NOW and Malibu/Eternity co-published the crossover series Ninja High School featuring Speed Racer.
In 1994, the company ceased publishing after its "January 1995" releases, six months after founder Caputo left.[citation needed]
In 2003, Caputo returned, reviving the publisher as NOW Media Group, Inc. The new company, dubbed "NOW Comics 3.0" by Caputo, was re-launched as a graphic novel "self-publisher", giving creators a partnership role in the business. Books published by this iteration of NOW Comics included Vespers (an original graphic novel written and illustrated by Caputo), Vinny, the Bug Man (a 3D animated graphic novel by Chet Spiewak, including a CD-ROM), and black and white collected editions of Marc Hansen's Ralph Snart, Doctor Gorpon, and Weird Melvin series. Planned but unreleased were Mirrorwalker (collecting the originally intended two issues of the Barry Daniel Peterson and Marv Wolfman 1990 series) and Syphons (collecting volume two of the series), which was later published by Image Comics. The business plan didn't pan out and the company folded in 2005, with the corporation fully dissolved in February 2006.