Slave Labor Graphics


Slave Labor Graphics is an American independent comic book publisher, well known for publishing darkly humorous, offbeat adult comics. Creators associated with SLG over the years include Evan Dorkin, Roman Dirge, Sarah Dyer, Woodrow Phoenix, Jhonen Vasquez, and Andi Watson.

Company history

Slave Labor Graphics was started in 1986 by Dan Vado, who remains the company's president and publisher.
The first book Slave Labor Graphics published was ShadowStar #3, a female superhero character previously published independently by some of Vado's friends. The company's first wave of titles were all written by Vado, with art by a variety of creators. Other early titles, such as Hero Sandwich and It's Science With Dr. Radium, were all created by friends of Vado's from high school.
Slave Labor Graphics's first major success was Samurai Penguin #1 by Vado and Mark Buck, which sold 58,000 copies in the summer of 1986. Other successes were Milk & Cheese, a comic about mean-spirited anthropomorphic dairy products by Evan Dorkin, and Johnny the Homicidal Maniac, a comic about the adventures of a serial killer by Jhonen Vasquez. In this time period, comic book speculation was rampant, so Slave Labor Graphics was able to sell its entire print run of many titles. However, at the end of the mid-1990s speculation bubble, some distributors went out of business without paying Slave Labor Graphics.
In 1995, Slave Labor Graphics added a more genre-oriented imprint called "Amaze Ink" intended to be for all audiences; the "stranger, more adult, and more difficult to categorize material" would still be published under the main "Slave Labor" imprint.
In 2005, Slave Labor Graphics entered into a partnership with The Walt Disney Company to produce comic book series based on some of its properties: Haunted Mansion, Wonderland, Tron, and Gargoyles. Its own creations, such as Little Gloomy, Kid Gravity, and The Super Scary Monster Show: Featuring Little Gloomy, appeared regularly in Disney Adventures magazine.
In September 2008, SLG remodeled its lobby to be a smaller gallery/shop which opened as Boutiki in San Jose in December 2008. The gallery/shop is still operating as of 2014 December.
In late 2010, Slave Labor Graphics established an independent record label entitled Slab Yard Sound Company.
In January 2012, editor-in-chief Jennifer de Guzman, who had been with the company since 2001, left to become the PR and Marketing Director at Image Comics.

Titles

  • Absent Friends
  • A Bag of Anteaters
  • A Lot of Love
  • Action Girl Comics #1–19
  • Adora Gone and The Electric Electric Elephant
  • Awkward
  • Autumn #1–5
  • Babyhead Magazine #1
  • Babysitter
  • Bad Art Collection
  • Barrabas #1–2
  • Bear #1–10
  • Beer and Roaming in Las Vegas
  • Bill The Clown 3 issues
  • Bloody Dreadful
  • Black Heart Billy
  • Bombaby Screen Goddess #1–3 plus a TPB
  • Byron: Mad, Bad, and Dangerous
  • Caffeine #1–10
  • Camping with Bigfoot
  • Captain Dingleberry
  • The Cat With The Really Big Head
  • Cemetarians 6 issues
  • Charm School #1–9
  • Chumble Spuzz
  • The Clarence Principle
  • Cocopiazo
  • The Comical Tragedy of Punch and Judy
  • Comic Book Heaven
  • Corporate Ninja
  • Dead Eyes Open
  • Definition
  • Dim Witted Darryl
  • Dork #1–11
  • Dr. Grave
  • Eating Steve: A Love Story
  • Egg Story
  • Elmer
  • Emily and the Intergalactic Lemonade Stand
  • Emo Boy #1–11
  • Empty Love Stories #1–2
  • Evenfall
  • Everwinds
  • Everything Can Be Beaten
  • Farewell Georgia
  • Fishmasters
  • Gargoyles 15 issues
  • Ghost Ship #1–3
  • Ghouly Boys
  • Gloomcookie #1–28
  • The Griffin
  • Halo and Sprocket #1–4
  • Haunted Mansion
  • Heart of a Corpse
  • Hectic Planet
  • Hero Sandwich #1–5
  • Highway 13 #1–10
  • Hummingbird
  • Hsu and Chan
  • I Feel Sick #1–2
  • Imp
  • Iliad #1–2
  • It's Science With Doctor Radium
  • Java Town #1–4
  • Jellyfist
  • Jet Comics #1–3
  • Jet Pack Pets
  • Johnny the Homicidal Maniac #1–7
  • Kitsune Tales #1
  • Knights of the Living Dead
  • Lenore #1–13
  • Life of a Fetus #1–7
  • Likewise #1–2
  • Little Gloomy #1–6
  • Little Gloomy Adventures one-shot
  • Little Gloomy Crypt of Creepts one-shot
  • Little Gloomy Hallowe'en Special one-shot
  • Little Scrowlie 18 issues
  • Longshot Comics, Shanne Simmons
  • Love In Tights
  • Metamorphosis Odyssey
  • Midnight Sun
  • Milk & Cheese 7 issues plus a TPB
  • Mister Blank 15 issues
  • Model A
  • The Monsters In My Tummy
  • Mr. Night
  • Murder Can Be Fun #1–12
  • MuZz
  • My Monkey's Name is Jennifer
  • Next Exit #1–10
  • Nightmares & Fairy Tales #1–23
  • Nil: A Land Beyond Belief original graphic novel
  • No Hope
  • Oblivion City
  • Oddjob #1–8
  • On the Bus
  • One Fisted Tales #1–11
  • Outlook:Grim #1–6
  • The Pants Ant Trouser Hour
  • Paris
  • Patty Cake 33 issues
  • Pinocchio: Vampire Slayer
  • Pirate Club #1–10
  • Pirate Corp$
  • The Price
  • Private Beach #1–7?
  • Punk Rock & Trailer Parks
  • The Replacement God #1–8
  • Rex Libris #1–13
  • Rogue Satellite Comics #1–3
  • The Royal Historian of Oz
  • Samurai Jam #3–4
  • Samurai Penguin #1–8
  • Samurai Penguin: Food Chain Follies #1
  • Sanctuary
  • Screenplay #1
  • Screwtooth #1-?
  • Serenity Rose #1–5
  • Seth Throb, Underground Artist
  • Shadoweyes
  • ShadowStar #3
  • Sidney Mellon's Thunderskull!
  • The Sister's Luck
  • Skaggy The Lost #1–4, trade paperback
  • Skeleton Girl Comics #1–3
  • Skeleton Key #1–30
  • Sky Ape #1–4
  • Slacker Comics #1–18
  • Slow News Day
  • Street Angel #1–5
  • Sparks
  • Squee #1–4
  • Strongman by Charles Soule
  • Suburban High Life #1-3, Volume 2 #1
  • Sugar Buzz #1–9
  • Swerve #1–2
  • The Jam #2–6, 1989–1990
  • The Super Scary Monster Show: Featuring Little Gloomy
  • Tales from the Heart #3–11, 1988 – May 1994
  • Tron: The Ghost in the Machine
  • The Trouble With Igor #1
  • True Swamp #4–5 ; first 3 issues published by Peristaltic Press
  • Truth Serum
  • Ubu Bubu #1–4
  • Ursa Minors #1-?
  • Vaistron #1–5
  • The Vesha Valentine Story
  • The Waiting Place 18 issues
  • Weird Science
  • Where's It At, Sugar Kat? #1–3
  • Whistles
  • Wonderland
  • ''Zombies Calling''