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Mike Richardson(born June 29, 1950) is an American publisher, writer, and producer. In 1986, he foundedDark Horse Comics,an international publishing house located inMilwaukie, Oregon.[2]Richardson is also the founder and President of the Things From Another World retail chain and president ofDark Horse Entertainment,[3]which has developed and produced numerous projects for film and television based on Dark Horse properties or licensed properties.[4]
Mike Richardson | |
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![]() Richardson at theNew York Comic Con | |
Born | Portland,Oregon,U.S. | June 29, 1950
Nationality | American |
Area(s) | Writer, Publisher |
Notable works | |
Awards | |
www |
In addition, he has written numerous graphic novels and comics series, including:The Secret,Living with the Dead,andCutas well as co-authoring two non-fiction books:Comics Between the PanelsandBlast Off!.[5]
Early life
editMike Richardson was born on June 29, 1950, inPortland, Oregon.His family moved to Milwaukie, a suburb of Portland, in 1955. He is a graduate ofPortland State University,where he majored in art and played for the university basketball team.[6]
Career
editWhile in college, Richardson built a list of clients as a freelance artist and had planned on starting an art agency under the name Dark Horse Graphics. In 1980, Richardson quit his job producing art and designing products for a furniture company located in Portland and moved to Bend, Oregon, with his wife, Karie, and their newborn daughter, Michelle. He used a credit card with a $2,500.00 limit to open a small, pop culture retail store. The store’s name, Pegasus Fantasy Books, was chosen off a list of twenty suggestions he submitted to the State of Oregon when applying for a DBA registration. The store opened for business on January 1, 1980. After a name change to Things From Another World in 1993, the original store grew into a chain with as many as eleven locations in three states, including Universal Studio’s CityWalk inLos Angelesand Sony’s Metreon inSan Francisco.[7]The success of the on-line TFAW retail site led to a decision to limit expansion plans and, reduce the number ofbrick-and-mortarlocations, in favour of increased emphasis toward online sales.
Dark Horse Comics
editRichardson frequently hosted writers and artists at signings in his retail stores. He repeatedly heard these creators complain that they did not own or control the characters they created, a general practice continued from the industry’s earliest days. He began envisioning a comics publishing company that offered intellectual property rights to comics creators. Dark Horse Comics was born, and with the help of Richardson's friend and writerRandy Stradley,released its first publication,Dark Horse Presents#1, in July 1986. Richardson paid 100% of the book’s profits to the creators featured in the book. Hoping to sell 10,000 copies in order to break even, DHP #1 topped the 50,000 sales mark. The company quickly grew from there. Paul Chadwick’s Concrete graduated from the pages of DHP into its own title and became a critical, as well as financial, success. Many of the titles and characters created in the early days of Dark Horse were created, written, or plotted by Richardson and Stradley.
Over the years, Dark Horse published creator-owned projects such as Frank Miller and Geof Darrow’sHard Boiled,Miller’sSin Cityand300,Mike Mignola'sHellboy,and Eric Powell’sThe Goon.Richardson’s interest in Japanese pop culture led to Dark Horse’s early entry into the Americanmangascene. The company achieved success with major Japanese titles, includingKazuo KoikeandGoseki Kojima'sLone Wolf and Cub,Katsuhiro Otomo'sAkira,andMasamune Shirow'sGhost in the Shell.Following these successes, Dark Horse importedHiroaki Samura'sBlade of the ImmortalandKosuke Fujishima'sOh My Goddess!to the United States, where the series have become two of the longest-running Japanese manga titles in the country.
In 1988, Dark Horse introduced a series based on theJames CameronfilmAliens.Breaking from comic tradition, the series was presented as a direct sequel, continuing the adventures of the film's main characters and related directly to the film’s plot. This approach was repeated by Dark Horse in subsequent series based on films such asTerminator,Predator,Star Wars,andAliens vs. Predator.This approach to film properties has become standard in the comics industry. Dark Horse is currently the largest privately owned comics company in North America.
Along with his other activities, Richardson continues to write comics. In 2014, his collaboration withStan Sakai,47 Ronin,was placed on the American Libraries Teen Reading List.[citation needed]
Dark Horse Entertainment
editEarly on, Dark Horse Comics received attention from the film industry, with producers and studios attempting to option the publisher's titles. From the beginning, Richardson's goal was to keep Dark Horse and its creators as involved in the development of its titles for entertainment as possible. It quickly became apparent that the only way to assure involvement was to act as a producer on those projects. In 1989, Richardson met producer Larry Gordon, who had heard about the company through his creative executive,Lloyd Levin.Gordon offered him the chance to get involved with a small horror film he was developing, As a result, Richardson set up Dark Horse Productions, later to become Dark Horse Entertainment, and received a co-producer credit on Many Cota’s Dr. Giggles. Two of Richardson's creations,The MaskandTimecop,followed in 1994 and both topped the box office charts. In 2008, Richardson received an Emmy as Producer of the John Landis directed documentary, Mr. Warmth, The Don Rickles Project. Richardson and DHE have been involved in producing more than 30 film and television projects since 1992.[citation needed]
Personal life
editRichardson is married with children. He namesCharles DickensandJames Ellroyas his favorite writers, andThe Beatles'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Bandas his favorite album. He is also fond of basketball, guitars, and fine wine.[8]He resides inLake Oswego, Oregon.[citation needed]
Nominations and awards
edit- 1997RazzieNomination forBarb Wire
- 1999Eisner AwardsNominated Best Comics-Related Book –Comics Between the Panels– (author withSteve Duin)
- 2007EmmyNomination forHellboy: Sword of Storms
- 2008Emmy AwardWon for Best Variety, Music, or Comedy Special –Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project(producer)
- 2010Overstreet Hall of FameFor contributions to comic book art.
- 2010 Governors' Gold Award – State of Oregon for Contribution to the Arts
- 2012Eisner Awards:Won for Best Anthology –Dark Horse Presents(editor)
- 2012Harvey Awards:Won for Best Anthology –Dark Horse Presents(editor)
- 2013Eisner Awards:Won for Best Anthology –Dark Horse Presents(editor)
- 2013Harvey Awards:Won for Best Anthology –Dark Horse Presents(editor)
- 2014Eisner Awards:Won for Best Anthology –Dark Horse Presents(editor)
- 2012Harvey Awards:Won for Best Anthology –Dark Horse Presents(editor)
- 2014Eisner Awards:Nominated for Best Limited Series –47 Ronin(writer)
- 2015American Library Associationnamed Richardson's47 Roninto its Great Graphic Novels for Teens list
Bibliography
editComics
editEditor
edit- Cheval Noir(#1–23 1989)
- Aqua Blue: The Blue Planet(1990)
- The Adventures of Luther(#1–9, 1990,ISBN978-1-59307-725-9)
- Indiana Jones & The Fate(#1–4, 1991)
- Andrew Vachss’ Hard Looks(#1–10, 1992, 1-56971-209-2)
- Andrew Vachss' Hard Looks(1996)
- Dark Horse Presents(volume 2, #1–30, 2011)
- Dark Horse Presents(volume 3, #1–15, 2014)
Writer
edit- Boris the Bear(#1–12, 1986)
- Wacky Squirrel(#1–4, 1987)
- Wacky Squirrel Halloween Special(1987)
- Wacky Squirrel Summer Fun Special(#1, 1987)
- The Mark(1987)
- Godzilla(#1–6, 1988)
- Insane(#1–2, 1988)
- Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis(#4, 1991,ISBN978-1-87857-436-7)
- Aliens: Countdown(1991)
- Predator: The Bloody Sands(story, 1992)
- Aliens: Newt's Tale(1992)
- Comics Greatest World(#1–4, 1993)
- Will to Power(#1–12, 1994,ISBN978-1-59307-364-0)
- The Mask: The Official Movie Adaptation(1994)
- Star Wars: Crimson Empire(1998,ISBN978-1-56971-355-6)
- Terror of Godzilla(1999)
- Star Wars: Crimson Empire II: Council of Blood
- Star Wars: Crimson Empire: Council(1999,ISBN978-1-56971-410-2)
- Aliens: Genocide(story, 2000)
- The Dark Horse Book of Hauntings: Gone(2003)
- Adventures of the Yellow Jacket(Monarch of the MoonDVD insert comic)
- Cravan: Mystery Man of the 20th Century(2005,ISBN978-1-59307-291-9)
- Living With The Dead(2007,ISBN978-1-59307-906-2)
- The Secret(#1–4, 2007,ISBN978-1-59307-821-8)
- Cut(2008,ISBN978-1-59307-845-4)
- Return of the Gremlins(2008,ISBN978-1-61655-669-3)
- The Occultist(2012,ISBN978-1-59582-745-6)
- Star Wars: Crimson Empire(2012,ISBN978-1-56971-355-6)
- 47 Ronin(2013,ISBN978-1-59582-954-2)
- The Atomic Legion(2014,ISBN978-1-61655-312-8)
- Father's Day(2014,ISBN978-1-61655-579-5)
- Underground(2014,ISBN978-1-61655-416-3)
- Deep Gravity(2015,ISBN978-1-61655-619-8)
- Echoes(2016)
- 51 Deep(2016)
Books
editFilmography
editFilm
editTelevision
editYear | Series | Executive Producer | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1995–1997 | The Mask: Animated Series | ||
1997–1998 | Timecop | ||
1999–2001 | Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot | ||
2012 | Dark Horse Motion Comics | Internet series | |
2015–2017 | Dark Matter | ||
2019–present | The Umbrella Academy | ||
2021 | Coyote | ||
2021–present | Resident Alien | ||
2022 | Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles |
References
edit- ^Inkpot Award
- ^Mike Richardsonat theBig Comic Book DataBase
- ^Mike Richardsonat Dark Horse
- ^Interview by Bob Andelman
- ^"ICv2 Interview".Icv2.RetrievedAugust 5,2013.
- ^"Dark Horse Comics".Portland State University Library.RetrievedMay 29,2022.
- ^"About Us".Things From Another World.RetrievedJanuary 4,2023.
- ^Comics Buyer's Guide#1669, September 2010, Page 82.
External links
edit- Mike RichardsonatIMDb
- Mike Richardsonat theGrand Comics Database
- Mike Richardsonat the Comic Book DB (archived fromthe original)