It all started with Valiant Comics. Jim Shooter (once the Editor-in-Chief of Marvel Comics) had recently got canned.
Disappointed, disgruntled but never discouraged, Jim sought out other opportunities in the publishing field.
He joined with Valiant Entertainment and began a series of comic books based on Nintendo properties with some success.
But, Jim wanted back in the comic book arena and after securing the publishing rights of Gold Key Comics’ original superhero characters he introduced Valiant Comics.
Magnus Robot Fighter and Solar Man Of The Atom were introduced in twin mini-series. The response was encouraging so Jim started publishing a few original tiles such as Harbinger and X-O Man of War with aid of Bob Layton and Barry Windsor Smith.
Suddenly he found himself with some hits on his hands. Comic book readers loved the titles and because the initial print runs of each title was small, demand was huge and prices escalated.
This caught the attention of other publishers, including Marvel and DC, and spawned a number of new comic book publishers: Malibu Comics being one of them.
When comic book readers hear the name George Perez they usually associate him as an artist whose work is primarily in DC and Marvel Comics. That’s true, but it’s also true he has done a considerable amount of work outside ‘The Big Two.”
Malibu Comics’ Ultraforce consisted of heroes from other Malibu Comics titles: Prime, Topaz, Prototype, Pixx, Ghoul and Hardcase who were lead by the mysterious Contrary.
The first issue sets up their first conflict and cements the individuals as a team.
George turned out some of his best work for Malibu. He seemed to have found a new creative surge. Unfortunately Malibu Comics would be one of the casualties of the comic book crash brought on by speculators.
Marvel Comics purchased Malibu not so much for its characters but for its facilities on the West Coast and its computer coloring technology.
Ultraforce #1 can be purchased for around cover price.
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