Since this months challange involves Valient Comics (which I must confess was not one of my favorites) I was wondering what companies you all really enjoyed but went under anyway.

I used to love Comico back in the 80s, when they had the Elementals and the Justice Machine.

Dood it's been so long I don't know who's out and who's in anymore.

I read Image...............

some marvel, some DC, very lil Darkhorse, very lil Vertigo, then odd assortments of stuff that was given to me.

Say oops for me!

Recently, I've been going through old back issues of "Ralph Snart" from NOW comics. Back in the day they did Married...with children, Ghostbusters, and Green Hornet books, but their biggest claim to fame is probably the series "Terminator-Burning Earth", which featured painted covers by a young rising artist named Alexander Ross.

I'd have to agree with you TangentRunner about missing Comico, the Elementals was one of my favorites.

Also have to mention First Comics for American Flagg, and for my boy, the martial artist with multiple personality disorder - The Badger.

Jus passin through, but First comics all the way

I have fond memories of Aircel comics: the first issues of "Warlock 5" were what brought on my first serious bout of comic collectiing. Some of the stuff that came out of Eclipse Comics was pretty good, too ("Airboy", "DNAgents", "ESPers", "Groo the Wanderer").

I gotta go with First Comics.Grimjack was a fantastic read.

Ultraverse by Malibu Comics!

Let's see...Marvel and DC have been defunct for about 10 years (but don't know it - artificial life support) but they were never my favourites anyway. AC Comics has died 16 times in the last 17 years, so I don't know if they qualify. I'll go with the Golden Age and say Fox and Fiction House, and Warren when they had Gonzales doing Vampirella...

I had this one series called Plasum ( can't remember the company) but it was a short run mini series about a few normal humans who were taken to an alien world where they were grafted with some form of Bio weapon that gave them mutant powers like light manipulation and the like

I liked The Spirit, and Megaton Man from the now defunct Kitchen Sink Press.

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Plasm/Warriors of Plasm was published by Defiant comics -- until they were litigated out of existence by Marvel, who had rushed "Plasmer" to print (in the UK only) just in time for the lawsuit.

Gotta love Google (especially since they're planning to rule the Earth). Here's a link for the curious:

http://www.shooterswork.com/defiant.htm

Dreamwave was doing some great Transformers stuff before they went Chapter 11. I'm sorry to see them go.

Well there are many I miss but I guess if I had to pick just one I guess It would be Malibu Comics I just miss
"The UltraVerse!"
I so much knew it was the way of the Dinosaur when Marvel bought them out!

First Comics with Scout, Grimjack and American Flagg, followed closely by Comico with Elementals (Bill Willingham does such GREAT work it's a shame he doesn't do Elementals anymore. Lately he's been doing stuff for DC- Batman's "War Games" and 'Day of Vengeance', on top of taking over the writing reigns on 'Robin'... FYI) and the Maze Agency.

I don't remember who did it... but there was a comic put out called HeroBear. It was very Calvin and Hobbes-esque about a boy and his stuffed bear. It was a neat premise... but never made it past issue #1.

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Herobear and the Kid was done by Mike Kunkels. It was a very sweet and well-drawn comic. I have the first issue, but I think you are right that it didn't make it much past the first issue.

There is a great status/maquette of it that regularly comes up on eBay. Here's one:

http://cgi.ebay.com/MIKE-KUNKELS-HERO-BEAR-AND-KID-BEST-FRIENDS-STATUE_W0QQitemZ6011290209QQcategoryZ348QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

(Note: I'm not selling it, nor am I affiliated in any way with the person who is)

I've got it and it is a great sculpt (if you are in to that sort of thing).

For a 2-year period, I went on a crazed eBay binge and bought every comic-related statue and maquette I could find. Now I have a den full of them and I'm not sure what to do with them all. Luckily, Heromorph has replaced my eBay addiction. It's much cheaper to collect manips and they take up much less room!

As for comic companies that I miss, First Comics and Comico would definitely be up there at the top.

And, I don't know if they're still around, but who didn't love Deep Sea Comics, publishers of one of the greatest comics of all time 'Reid Fleming, World's Toughest Milkman'!

(Now there would be a good subject for a manip. I always thought Jim Belushi would be a good cast choice. Any takers?)

I remember Reid Fleming. A friend of mine once designed a tatto of him for someone.

Comico is still my favorite, but a close second is Continuity Comics, also from back in the 80s. . .strangly enough a decade I couldn't stand, except for the comic books.

(For give my spelling, I haven't finished my first cup of coffee yet)

I must be old. GOLD KEY Comics was my favorite defunct line. They were an operation of Dell Comics who gained independence and produced some really neat books.
--> Wally Wood produced two grim and utterly merciless issues of TOTAL WAR, which he then left when Gold Key wanted to tone it down a little. Still, as M.A.R.S. PATROL: TOTAL WAR it was still a unique look at a contemporary war fought in modern America.
--> Russ Manning did a great run on TARZAN and various spinoff books.
--> SPACE FAMILY ROBINSON was a unique comic book, a non-militaristic space exploration book. Dan Spiegel's artwork gave a mind-opening array of aliens, their ships, and their worlds.
--> MAGNUS ROBOT FIGHTER was Russ Manning's scifi take on Tarzan.
--> TUROK SON OF STONE actually predated Gold Key by several years but it flourished, giving us a great epic of Indian warriors trapped in a valley filled with prehistoric life, from dinosaurs to cavemen.
--> DOCTOR SOLAR MAN OF THE ATOM was GK's superhero book. A physics or chemistry lesson hidden in every adventure tale.
--> BORIS KARLOFF and TWILIGHT ZONE, two horror books that did pretty well despite being saddled with pre-Warren CCA limits.
--> RIPLEY'S BELIEVE IT OR NOT, an anthology of true weird happenings.

--And a host of entertaining one-shots like--
FIREBALL XL-5
G8 AND HIS BATTLE ACES
DOC SAVAGE
JOHN STEED AND EMMA PEEL (someone else had the name "Avengers" apparently)
KING KONG (which I stupidly did not buy at the time because it cost 35 cents, which iI thought was ridiculously expensive!)

Gold Key had no ads for the first several years of their life. Which meant the back cover was a reprint of the cover art, minus the cover text. This was wonderful, as the Gold Key covers WERE PAINTED! AND BY REAL BOOK ILLUSTRATORS! Classics Illustrated was the only other company using painted covers at the time.

When TSR was in their 1980s ascendency, they were thinking of buying the Gold Key properties and reviving the comics line. Unfortunately/Fortunately nothing came of that plan. A couple years later, Jim Shooter's Valiant Comics bought MAGNUS, SOLAR, and TUROK. Drastically revamped to appeal for the Dark Age of Comics, they lacked the charm of the originals.