Image Universe

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Image Universe
OwnerImage Entertainment, LLC

The Image Universe is a fictional universe in which some stories published by Image Comics take place. It was introduced in the early years of the publisher, shared by the various creators who formed the Image partnership. The independent, creator-owned nature of their work led to limited interaction between their characters, and little coordination of the Image Universe as a shared setting. Instead it has mainly served as the ostensible setting of occasional crossovers between different series, including Deathmate, Image United, and The Invincible War.

Publication history[]

The Image Universe began with the founding of Image Comics in 1992, launching with series such as The Savage Dragon, Spawn, Youngblood, and WildC.A.T.s.

Image Comics' nature of allowing comic creators to retain the rights to the characters they publish with Image had led to many characters entering or exiting the Image Universe as the creators move from or to other publishers. Image co-founder and Savage Dragon creator Erik Larsen generally treats the Image Universe continuity as though each title exists in its own universe, and any crossovers between different creators' characters are events that occur simultaneously in each respective characters' universes.[1]

When Jim Lee was an Image partner, his WildStorm properties such as WildC.A.T.s, Stormwatch, Gen¹³, Union, Deathblow, Wetworks, and Backlash regularly crossed over with other Image characters, but when he sold his studio to DC Comics, this ceased.

In June 1996, Erik Larsen relaunched the original original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series by Mirage Studios with a third volume under the Image Comics banner, featuring supporting characters from other series and various crossovers with The Savage Dragon and Spawn. The series ceased publication on a cliffhanger in 1999.

There were several Image crossover mini-series in the 1990s, such as Shattered Image, Altered Image, Big Bruisers, Deathmate, Darker Image, and Splitting Image, along with the Eclipse Comics satire Spittin' Image. But only Mars Attacks Image had any direct impact on the titles represented, as the Martians' attack was also shown and referenced many times in the Savage Dragon series.

In 2009, the Image Universe had its first major crossover in several years with Image United. However, it was canceled, with Youngblood being sold to Terrific Productions. The Pact, a crossover between Invincible, ShadowHawk, Noble Causes, and Firebreather, was also produced.

In 2021, Todd McFarlane announced the mainline Spawn series to be expanded into its own shared universe, with King Spawn, Gunslinger Spawn and The Scorched.[2]

List of universes[]

References[]

  1. ^ "One Fan's Opinion: Issue #14". Comic Book Resources. 2005-11-10. Retrieved 2013-09-02.
  2. ^ a b "Todd McFarlane's SPAWN To Lead a New Shared Universe". ScreenRant. 2021-02-19. Retrieved 2021-11-24.
  3. ^ "Image Comics Launches Shared 'Bone Orchard Mythos' Horror Universe". ScreenRant. 2021-11-06. Retrieved 2021-11-24.
  4. ^ "Image Comics' Superhero Universe Collides in 'Supermassive' Crossover". ScreenRant. 2021-11-17. Retrieved 2021-11-24.

External links[]

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