The History Of First Comics
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ก.พ. 2025
- Beginning in 1983, a new company named First Comics would begin publishing a variety of interesting titles. Their line-up included: Grimjack by John Ostrander and Timothy Truman, Nexus by Mike Baron and Steve Rude and, most notably, the influential American Flagg! by Howard Chaykin. However, within eight years, First Comics was out of business.
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#ModernAge #Comics #FirstComics #Grimjack #Nexus #TheBadger #AmericanFlagg #Starslayer #Whisper #E-Man #OverlordComics
Holy crap, this is like holy grail of indie comics. I didn't even know that so many of these great titles shared the same publisher.
Can't think of a publisher of a decent amount of titles that had the consistent quality that First had
I always admire how influential First Comics really was. Besides the American Flag example you mentioned, they also published the first comic to use digital art with their series Shatter, Mars introduced a lot of unique ideas that would influence the Sci-fi genre such as uploading one’s mind to a computer to control it, they were one of the main publishers to help popularize graphic novels, and many other examples.
This looks very interesting like an American Hevey Metal. I gotta check some of these books out.
Nexus = Best continuing series of the '80s. Simply masterful.
My Lone Wolf and Cubs are from First. I'm not sure I have anything else from them, but I love what I have.
Found your channel by accident today, but I'm loving it. I've got it playing while I work on stuff in my studio.
Excellent! I hope it continues to be entertaining throughout the day and, hopefully, the comings months/years.
I have a pile of Grimjack comics within a few feet of me that is somewhat short of a full set. I'm working on it.
There are no Vids on TH-cam about Nexus or Grimjack.... At last i have found one !!! Thanks !!!
Grimjack was one of my favorite characters. I also picked up the first few issues of Shatter when I was in middle school.
Grimjack is the best comic ever published. Period.
I remember owning & reading the Dreadstar graphic novel The Price when I was a kid. It was the very first time I ever read a comic that aspired to photorealistic graphics like Alex Ross would do years later, and I curse the day I lost it. It was one of the most beautiful comics I have ever read.
Incidentally, at one major scene in that book bears a striking resemblence to the moment when Anakin Skywalker discovers his dying mother in Attack of the Clones...
The Price was reprinted by Marvel's imprint, Epic Comics, as Dreadstar Annual #1. It can be picked up for less than $5 if you want another copy of that story.
Definitely need to buy those omnibus editions of Grimjack and Jon Sable.
I had quite a few of the First comics titles including nearly the full run of Grimjack, (including the starslayer issues that Grimjack was the back up stories) which was one of my favorite indie titles.
Nexus and Badger were always top of my reads/rereads.
As a whole the entirety of the First Comics line were first rate putting it near the top of the heap of independent companies.
Thanks for this video, this earned my sub.
I love your review videos. Thanks so much to explain all this fantastic backstage stories. I have a few comics from First and i never understood how groundbreaking they were by publishing Lone Wolf and Cub back in the eighties.
Howard Chaykin was very influenced in world view to the novels of Dean Ing, especially the Quantrill stories-- Chaykin doing the cover art. Year one of Flagg, for the most part, was fantastic, and then it took a nose dive as Chaykin clearly didn't care anymore.
Grimjack was one of the greatest story arcs in all comics, surviving Truman's departure. In many ways, John Ostrander did a sword and sorcery version of Robert B. Parker's Spenser novels, with Grimjack being a darker version of the detective, and Blackmacjac a lighter version of Hawk.
Jon Sable freelance was a much better Grell creation than Starslayer, with another great and prolonged story arc of an aging Cold War mercenary eventually finding love and redemption and even justice for his murdered family.
I love "The Badgee" So glad somebody did a video about First comics. My favorite publisher. I have complete runs of several of their titles.
Thanks for this. I'm a huge E-man fan, and Joe & Martin had a great run at First with this title. I also kept up with American Flagg and Jon Sable. Never did get into Nexus, but in retrospect, from everything I've read on the character, I really missed out.
any chance of a stand alone Grimjack retrospective??? This series deserves more recognition
Yes! Now, if the whole series would be digitally remastered I'd appreciate that greatly.
@@StrangeBrainParts I agree. that would be awesome
Thanks for covering this topic! I love comics history i didn't know before
Nexus has one of the greatest superhero costumes of all time
Wow I guess I forget how much great stuff they published I love the Omni bus Jon sable books always a huge fan of grell and chaykin and I really miss Ostrander and Truman not to mention all the other incredible talent they housed
Concise mini documentary, as I’ve come to expect from you! First was only on the periphery of my memory. I was a full on Marvel zombie then.
Also, I just watched your Q&A video from July. Well done. I would like to invite you to come on my live chat show on Wednesday and/on collaborate on a video or more. Let me know.
Oh, I would be honoured to be a part of your chat show. Or, possibly, a collaboration.
Great! My email is deathlok1974@gmail.com we can figure out details
I will email you in a bit!
i really appreciate the video. All I knew about their demise was the end stages where IIRC, First didn't understand that unsold stock to bookstores would have to be bought back and that rookie move was what put a stake in their heart. All kid-me knew way back was that the last issue of Nexus had the message of "We'll be back with deluxe miniseries and kewl stuff" and then never hearing from them again. I ended up fishing out titles like BADGER GOES BERSERK and HAMMER OF GOD from the quarter bin. They really could have been as big as Dark Horse and still around today if not for the lawsuits.
I found a mother load of 1First Comics years back and never stopped loving them! Even did a video comic of Sable's Origin back when I first experimented with my channel.
They were the finest publisher of comic books at the time the medium was at the pinnacle of its creativity -- around 1983 to 1985.
I can see all the effort you put on your videos.
Thank you, sir. I do try my best.
Joe Staton, not Stanton. Awesome video, nonetheless!
So many excellent books by wonderful creators! ...I forget just how great they were.
I still treasure my "First Comics" colour printing of the; Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! Rare and expensive to come by today and coloured the original TMNT run decades before the series was reprinted by IDW (in the original black & white mind you)
Great video! I always new about Nexus, but thought it was a Marvel tittle. I should read it sooner than latter
Another plus is that you can literally watch Steve Rude blossom into an Eisner Award winning artist on this title.
Please do one of these on Eclipse
That sexy 79s jam had me in tears.
I certainly collected all of Warp since moving to Chicago, where the plays were produced. I'd be curious to see those play scripts. Or even a production, but I doubt that's coming
Indeed! I looked everywhere for a copy of the play(s) but couldn't find anything online.
I found out about First after they folded and their comics were sold in 3 for $1 bag. Still have all of them.
And now I live in Chicago, where these books were originally published if I've gathered correctly. One would hope I could find the rest.
Great. I used to have a bunch of comics from this line
They had some great characters? I love my Jon Sable tpb and i would like to get all of this companies stories one day because not only are the stories within the tpb amazing but the art is exceptional!!!
I only just recently discovered that Moore had a multi-issue run on American Flagg. Aside from Elric, Lone Wolf and a little Sable, did not have much to do with First. I was much more into Comico at the time, i guess Grendel and Elementals had alot to do with that.
Yes he did! I believe he did a back-up feature for a few issue then wrote a three-part arc, I believe. The issues in question are #21-#27.
Love The Badger. One of the craziest and funniest comic books of all times. A must read for anyone who’s interested in inovative and transgressive stories. American Flagg, Nexus, Grimjack, John Sable Freelancer…these are the reasons why First is my favorite indie publisher of the 80s.
The Badger was freakin great! One of the first “independent “ comics I ever read. The Roach Wrangler was a memorable villain…
Disappointed you do not give any mention to their title Psychoblast. While it was a short run, I enjoyed it and would have liked to hear how that fit into the company's history.
Great info. Thanks for sharing. I just found your channel and subbed you.
1First is great- I have many old issues of Nexus, Grim Jack & The Badger. Good stuff.
As well as Dreadstar & American Flag
You should read "The Accidental Superpower","The Absent Superpower" and "Disunited Nations" by Peter Zeihan.
Enjoying this but one quibble: It's Staton, not Stanton.
And I LOVE that you bring up that DARK KNIGHT basically wouldn't be the comic we know without AMERICAN FLAGG. I was a teen then and even I noticed that, but I've never seen anyone else bring it up. Chaykin deserves a LOT more credit for his influence on 80s comics than he gets. Though DC did bring him in to do THE SHADOW and BLACKHAWK, both popular and influential in their own right.
Miller was great in that period, but his leaps forward were based on other people's innovations: Moebius and Goseki Kojima and various European cartoonists with RONIN, and Chaykin in DARK KNIGHT. He makes something of his own, but it's intensely in debt to those and people give Miller the credit.
I agree with you. Chaykin deserves much more credit than he gets...from fans, that is. Some professionals are quite outspoken about his influence.
You've picked up one of my vocal quirks. It is impossible for my tongue to properly say, "Staton." I have the same issue with J.M. DeMatteis. For some reason I can't say, "J.M." It always comes out as, "Jim." Otherwise, yeah, you're absolutely right about the mispronunciation.
My full set of the original Grimjack series is now complete, including the Demon Knight GN, The Gift and Crossroads. I now just need to replace my copies of Killer Instinct.
I bought every issue of nexus badger & grimjack. Loved all the books
i mainly enjoyed marvel comics i bought badger #40 on accident for a dollar at a used book and video game store they had cheap and good titles and i needed to start and i got it today i don't know what its worth or what i should start with as a beginner at 13
I never gave Nexus a shot. Really want to check it out now.
I seen grim jack , badger , and Mars comics at my library
That swinging music though
Nice job
American Flagg was unlike anything that had come before. Haven't read it in a long time, but I loved Chaykin's art. Grim jack was excellent, been a Truman fan ever since (wasn't Coyote a First Comics title?). I'd forgotten that Dreadstar moved from Epic, but I lost interest in the title once it became standard superhero fare.
Never read Nexus nor Badger, but I want to now. Damnit.
It's interesting that you describe American Flagg as "left-leaning." I always thought Rueben was semi-fascist.
My local shop carried almost all the independent titles. Reckon I was spoiled.
Coyote was from the Marvel imprint, Epic Comics. As for American Flagg! being left-leaning, I believe Chaykin described himself as a bleeding heart liberal at the time and that the comic reflected his beliefs. However, I'm not sure where I read or heard that, so I may be misremembering. I would concede that Rueben is a possible fascist, but I think the overall tone of the comic leaned left.
I love when I agree with the first sentence of a video!
If I'm remembering correctly, the TV show Magnum P.I. stole stories from John Sable, and there was a lawsuit.... The 80's were a long time ago...
Just discovered this serise very good
As for news stands it was the fact comics didn't want to raise prices
Zombie Ants? Thats a sad ending (revival).
Lol I am such a dumbass for seeing that Gogang warning at the beginning and skipping to the end despite having read American Flagg!
Yes they were good times to be a reader.
That "Adult Situation" got me jumpin LOL!!!
So nostalgic! NEXUS!!!
Bah! Hardly a nod for Dynamo Joe, one of the best scifi series of the era.
I enjoyed their Moorcock adaptations by Mignola and Kayanan.
Hey Brain. Can I be on your show? Nexus and Badger.
Wow I used buy warp great book
Nexus was amazing !
The demise of First Comics was one of the great tragedies of the comics industry.
Didn't First comics publish Dynamo Joe?
first comics so underrated
Evangeline was a favorite of mine
My favorite so far
Thanks, Joshua! Good to see you're still around.
I loved First Comics 😻
the independent comic companies were 1' of the best thing to happen in the mid 80's giving lame a%$ marvel & DC a good run for the $$$ , j' sable freelance , the badger , grimjack , time beavers , adolescent adrenaline junkies , jonah hex , the unknown soldier , american flagg , lone wolf & cub , scout ,
In the first issue Nexus straight up murders and assassinates the first person he sees , then someone tries to stop him and Nexus has the nerve to tell him “ it was self defense “ when the guy wasn’t even a threat to him at all , if it was punisher that did that I wouldn’t care as much because that’s Frank Castle lol but Nexus is a hypocrite behind a costume . Granted that was the first issue I read from the omnibus but I just expect to see more hypocrisy from this character
If only they could have held out a few more years for the independent boom of the 90's.
When you read First stories it's understandable they would sue Marvel because they knew they were making amazing content and it wasn't talent that was beating them....
Starslayer (Y)
Joe Staton. Only one N. Stay-ton, not Stan-ton.
Were the strange colors in First comics meant like that or did the inks fade or change color over time? I can't tell if it's the case or if they decided to go absolutely crazy with the burnt sienna
For the first three or four years of their existence, I had every comic and graphic novel that First Comics published. I was betting at the time that of the many comic publishers starting up around that time, First would be the one that was around twenty years later. Oh well...
Dynamo Joe is my favorite FIRST COMIC. I love E-Man, but consider it not a real part of the FIRST family.
Me: Hey, I just discovered a comic from this publisher I didn't know about and I like it. I am curious on the history.
The history: At one point or another, it was screwed over by Marvel in some capacity.
Me: Marvel, could you go one second without fucking over another company...?
Like seriously though, I like Defiant, Marvel screws them, I like Ultraverse, Marvel screws them, I like First Comics (have Nexus trades and Starslayer comics) and Marvel screws them. Between all the videos exploring the history of comic books, I completely understand why Alan Moore gave the main Marvel universe the designation of 616, the True mark of the beast if I am using the correct phrase. They apparently really screwed up the industry, pushed people out who made competing companies and in some way caused issues for the other competitors their shitiness didn't create.
😃👍
Niceee
I like the concept art and titles in there covers, but after just proof reading them. The comics hardly had any action, but just tons of dialogue. To the name a few e-man, whisper, grim put me to sleep. Zzzzzzz.
In one form or another, I have the entire Dreadstar series. Starlin's story had a satisfying conclusion while also opening the door for Peter David to take over, whom I thought also did a good job. I can tell you that the story ends kinda abruptly at the third to last issue, while the last two issues were filler. The miniseries that Malibu published a few years later finished Peter David's story, but was not...good. Starlin's story though was a roller coaster for me when I had read them in high school and I fondly remember it.