American comic book company
Dynamite Entertainment is an American comic book publisher founded in 2004 by Nick Barrucci[1] in Mount Laurel, New Jersey, known for publishing comic book adaptations of licensed feature film properties, such as Army of Darkness, Terminator, and RoboCop; licensed or public domain literary properties such as Zorro, Dracula, Sherlock Holmes, Alice in Wonderland, Red Sonja, Tarzan, and John Carter of Mars;[3] and superhero books including Project Superpowers, which revived classic public domain characters,[4] and original creator-owned comics like The Boys.[5][6]
Creators who have produced Dynamite's books include Alex Ross, John Cassaday, Matt Wagner, Garth Ennis, Howard Chaykin and Frank Miller. Dynamic Forces, a distribution of Dynamite's comics and books, announced a partnership with Diamond Distribution in 2008, when Diamond had the rights to publishing the international versions of books made by Dynamite Entertainment.[7]
History
Dynamite Entertainment was founded by Nick Barrucci in 2004, initially publishing one comic: Army of Darkness,[1] a miniseries it published through Devil's Due Publishing until it began self-publishing its own titles later that year. After devoting itself to publishing only Army of Darkness, which included a second miniseries, Dynamite published Red Sonja, starting with a 25-cent issue #0. It sold 240,000 copies. Issue #1 of Red Sonja, the first to sell at the full cover price of $2.99, sold 100,000 in initial orders, securing a stable position in the American comic book industry.[8] By 2009, Dynamite was publishing 14–20 comic books and 2–10 collections per month.[6]
Dynamite focuses primarily on comic book adaptations of licensed properties, such as Sherlock Holmes, The Lone Ranger, and Red Sonja. The company also publishes original titles like Project Superpowers, and creator-owned comics like The Boys.[6]
Among its adaptations are those based on classic literature such as Alice in Wonderland,[9] Dracula,[10] and Zorro;[11] television series such as Xena: Warrior Princess[12] Battlestar Galactica,[13] and Buck Rogers,[14] and films such as Darkman,[15] The Good, the Bad and the Ugly,[16] RoboCop,[17] Highlander,[18] and the Terminator franchise.[13]
Its film adaptations also include those of classic monsters such as Dracula,[19] Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, Frankenstein's Monster, and the Wolfman.[citation needed]
The company gradually built its graphic novel program with titles like Howard Chaykin's American Flagg!, reprints of Marvel Comics' Red Sonja series, and material by creators like Jim Starlin and Jae Lee.[6]
In addition to publishing crossover storylines in which characters from these various properties meet, such as Terminator/RoboCop,[20] and Vampirella/Dracula: Unholy!,[21] Dynamite has also produced intercompany crossover books with other publishers. One, titled "Monster War", was released through Image Comics in 2005, and consisted of several titles that pitted the classic monsters against Top Cow published characters Witchblade, the Darkness, Magdalena, and Tomb Raider.[22] The other was a 2006 crossover between DC Comics' Red Sonja/Claw The Unconquered: Devil's Hands.[23]
In February 2007, Dynamite Entertainment acquired the publishing rights to Garth Ennis' creator-owned series The Boys after the book was cancelled six months into its run by DC Comics' WildStorm imprint.[5]
In 2009 Dynamite announced it would publish new comics featuring Lee Falk's The Phantom.[24]
In 2010, Dynamite began publishing comic books based on The Green Hornet, beginning with a miniseries written by Kevin Smith and followed by Green Hornet: Year One, which was written by Matt Wagner, and another written by Brett Matthews.[25]
In May 2010, Dynamite Entertainment acquired Chaos! Comics' library, which included and all of that publisher's associated assets, with the exception of Lady Death. Among these properties were the publishing labels Black Label Graphics, Infinity Comics, and the properties Evil Ernie, Smiley The Psychotic Button, Chastity, Purgatori, Jade, Omen, Bad Kitty, Cremator, Lady Demon.[26]
In October 2013, Dynamite announced it would launch a line of comics based on titles originally published by Gold Key Comics, the first of which would be Magnus: Robot Fighter, The Occult Files of Doctor Spektor, Solar: Man of the Atom, and Turok.[27]
In July 2016, author Andy Mangels stated in a New York Times interview that he was writing a new intercompany crossover mini-series for the company, in conjunction with DC Comics, Wonder Woman '77 Meets the Bionic Woman, which brought together the Lynda Carter television version of the Amazon superhero with Jaime Sommers, the cyborg super-heroine played by Lindsay Wagner in the 1970s TV series, The Bionic Woman.[28][29] The series was released in that December.[30]
In July 2019, Sony Pictures Television and Amazon Studios premiered an adapted television series of The Boys for Amazon Prime Video after a brand licensing agreement was granted by Dynamite.[31][32]
In 2022, Dynamite announced a deal with Disney to create a new line of comics based on various properties, including Gargoyles (TV series) with spin-offs including a Halloween Special, Dark Ages mini series, and Quest mini series, and Darkwing Duck with spin-offs including Negaduck and Justice Ducks, as well as Disney Villains characters including Maleficent, Scar (The Lion King), Hades (Disney) and Cruella De Vil. They also have the first comic book series on Lilo & Stitch and will be the first American publisher of The Nightmare Before Christmas comics
In October 2023, Dynamite announced a deal with Warner Bros. Discovery to create a new line of comics based on various properties, including Thundercats, Space Ghost, Jonny Quest, The Powerpuff Girls, The Wizard of Oz, The Flintstones, and We Bare Bears.[33]
Thundercats #1 sold over 170K copies.[34]
