Crossgen - Issue List

Quick access to the checklists for each of the Dead Universes that have been compiled.

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Knightt
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Crossgen - Issue List

Post by Knightt »

Now here is a line of books that took me by surprise in both their art and storytelling. Unfortunately I 'found' these books after the company had already circled the drain and went out of business.

I am in the process of finishing up my collection of these great books and find it to be no mean task as it may be a DU, but the books on the open market and Ebay still can command a decent price. But this applies only to complete runs and lots of three to ten issues can be bought for pennies on the dollar.

I will post TWO lists as Crossgen is rather complicated... an easy list and a hard list. I have a Sigil centiric and non-Sigil centric list. The 'Sigil' is the symbol that was used throughout the line of 'Sigil' orientated book which was supposed to last for at least ten years of storytelling. Non-Sigil centric titles were those that had nothing to do with the Sigil theme (Snake Pliskin, Lady Death, Space Ace etc).

Here is a rough draft of the CrossGen life cycle.

Cross Generation Entertainment, or CrossGen, was an ambitious American comic book publisher founded in 1998 by Mark Alessi. Before CrossGen folded in 2004 it managed to become one of the strongest independent (that is, not DC Comics or Marvel Comics) contenders in the comics industry.

In 1998 the comic book industry was at one of its lowest points. The "generation gap", the trend where the age of existing fans increased while the number of new fans decreased, became painfully evident. The more recent comic book publishers were going bankrupt, and sales figures were plummeting.

Mark Alessi and his compatriots felt that comic book industry had major problems that needed to be corrected. Most comic books were written by adult white males for adult white males. This resulted in comics that tended to reduce women to sex objects and minorities to cardboard stereotypes. Superhero comics dominated the shelves. Most comic books were set in tightly integrated shared realities with several decades worth of backstory. Often a reader had to pick up several comic book series in order to understand the full story.

In desperate efforts to attract attention comic book publishers staged company-spanning annual crossover events (which, for the most part, amounted to little more than pointless slugfests) and bizarre publicity stunts. According to Mark Alessi, all those things made it hard for a new reader to understand what was going on in the stories.

The masterminds behind CrossGen decided to avoid this. Their titles stayed away from superheroics, playing with the wide array of genres. There was a space opera (Sigil),a magical fantasy(Mystic), a folklore-esque fantasy (Meridian), a Homerian myth (The First), a Tolkeinesque fantasy (Sojourn) a samurai drama (The Path), a horror tale (Route 666), a Victorian detective series (Ruse), a wuxia comedy (Way of the Rat) and a barbarian epic (Brath). Comics like Scion, Negation, and Crux mixed different aspects of different genres while producing something completely unique. All titles featured strong female characters (many of whom were main protagonists) and non-stereotypical minority characters. Although most CrossGen titles shared common elements, such as a sigil, a presence of a Mentor and a member of the god-like First, the titles rarely interacted with each other. And, aside from Negation War, there were no company crossover events.

With focused leadership, high-quality art and writing, and sizable starting capital, CrossGen got off to a very strong start. In a matter of months CrossGen became a major publisher, joining the ranks of DC Comics, Dark Horse Comics, Image Comics, and Marvel Comics. The initial success invigorated the company. It began publishing more and more titles. It reached out to book stores, libraries and schools. CrossGen was the first company to publish its products online. In 2002, Mark Alessi proudly proclaimed that soon, CrossGen will be the number one comic book publisher.

CrossGen was famous for its unusual working conditions. As opposed to the usual comics practise of hiring all artists and writers on a freelance basis, CrossGen had their employees work in their headquarters in Tampa, Florida. Initially this attracted many famous comic artists, but soon CrossGen's financial problems would cause most of them to leave the company.

In 2003 the company found itself amidst a scandal over freelancer payments. In the process many problems that were previously swept under the rug were revealed. The company desperately tried to get its affairs in order but, as the insider news reached the notoriously fickle comic fans, sales started to plummet. The writers and the artists tried to remain on board despite the circulating rumors but as things went from bad to worse they began abandoning the company one by one.

In 2004 CrossGen was forced to file for and had ceased publishing, leaving popular series such as Sojourn, Negation War, and a few others cancelled in mid-story.

Most of the titles in the CrossGen Universe, or Sigilverse, involved characters who had mysteriously gained a sigil marking somewhere on their body, granting them unusual powers. This Sigilverse linked all of the initial CrossGen books as well as some of the later ones, arguably making it harder for casual readers to sample a series because they felt they missed something if they did not read the whole line of books. Later series from CrossGen downplayed the Sigil aspect or got rid of it altogether, but by then it was already too late.

(take the following paragraph with a grain of salt. I am sure our own John Taddeo could shed a bit more light on this area)

In July 2004, Disney Publishing was interested in using CrossGen content for books and movies but upon discovering the bankruptcy they began looking into acquiring all of the assets. On November 15, 2004 Disney revealed it had purchased the CrossGen assets for $1 million with immediate plans to capitalize on the Abadazad property by publishing four prose hardcover novels with the original writers in 2006. Currently Disney is reviewing everything they have purchased as they had not fully researched every title before the acquisition but have indicated that series could be resumed or restarted, depending on the title, with collected editions of already published work the most likely beginning. Movie and television deals that the properties had before with other studios remain intact (i.e. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang).

One of Crosgen's innovative ideas concerned selling subscriptions to its Comics delivered via the Internet rather than on paper. People could purchase a subscription at reasonable cost to view all of Crossgen's titles. Crossgen's technology was used to scan the comic book art, the result was aesthetically pleasing, reproducing the fine color of the original, but the lettering was not quite legible; this was solved by adding client side browser code so that hovering over the word or thought bubble caused it to enlarge to a readable size. Later issues had sound and special effects added. DVDs were also produced in which all web content was available on a disc but did not include the entire series but rather a TPB version.

For even MORE info on Crossgen go here:

viewtopic.php?p=537857#537857

CROSSGEN

CROSSGEN CHRONICLES 1 - 8

MYSTIC 1 - 43

SIGIL 1 - 42

SCION 1 - 43

MERIDIAN 1 - 44

THE FIRST 1 - 37

CRUX 1 - 33

SOJOURN 0 (prequel) - 34
"Sojourn collected edition" (Issues 1-3)

RUSE 1 - 26

ARCHARD'S AGENTS anthology

NEGATION 0 (prequel) - 27

NEGATION: LAWBRINGER one-shot

MARK OF CHARON 1 - 5 (mini-series)

NEGATION: WAR 1 & 2 (the mini-series)

SAURIANS 1 & 2

THE PATH 0 (prequel) - 23

WAY OF THE RAT 1 - 24
WAY OF THE RAT #1 Free Comic Book Day edition

THE SILKEN GHOST 1 - 5 (mini-series)

ROUTE 666 1 - 22

BRATH 0 (prequel) - 14

CHIMERA 1 - 4

SOLUS 1 - 8

ABADAZAD 1 - 3

EL CAZADOR 1 - 6
The Bloody Ballad of Black Tom (one-shot)

THE CROSSOVERS 1 - ?

R. A. SALVATORE'S DEMON WARS:
Trial by Fire 1 - 5,
Eye for an Eye 1 - 5

KISS KISS BANG BANG 1 - 5

BRIAN PULIDO'S LADY DEATH:
A Medieval Tale 1 - 12,
The Wild Hunt 1 & 2

Crossgen Primer (from Wizard Magazine)

Crossgen Sampler

"Customer Review Copies" (previews of the mentioned titles but have the words "Customer Review Copies" along the bottom of the covers)
Crossgen Chronicles
Meridian
Mystic
Scion
Sigil
The First


List updated 16 July, 2009

Adding THIS as a TEMP list until I get it sorted out.

MVCreations:
Dragon’s Lair #1
Masters of the Universe Encyclopedia #1
Masters of the Universe: Icons of Evil - 3 one-shots
Masters of the Universe: Power of Fear #1
Masters of the Universe: Rise of the Snake Men #1-3
Rob Zombie’s Spookshow International #1-9
Space Ace #1-3
Tales of the Realm #1-5

Archangel Studios:
The Red Star volume 2 #1-3

Hurricane Entertainment:
Snake Plissken Chronicles #1-4
Snake Plissken Chronicles Special Preview

Dynamic Forces Crossgenesis #1 autographed
(by Brandon Peterson, Jim Cheung, Joshua Middleton and Ben Lai)

Trade Paperbacks (TPB)
Meridian TPB #2--(Going to Ground) (2nd printing)

Edge Books
More info to be added soon.

Forge Books
More info to be added soon.
Last edited by Knightt on Thu Jul 16, 2009 2:26:21 pm, edited 15 times in total.

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Post by mrwoogieman »

Cool new area, thanks!

Is the Kiss Kiss Bang Bang movie that's coming out from these comics? I mean, the name would seem to indicate that right?


Just curious, never collected this line...
:hm:

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Post by Knightt »

I am not sure.... I belive so but have not confirmed it yet.

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Post by Jaknife »

ummm, welcome back?
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Post by Byrneout »

Yes, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is from the comic material.

Also, the Crossovers went through issue #12.

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Post by Knightt »

So... Kiss Kiss Bang Bang will be coming out from the Disney Studios ?

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Post by Heath »

I have a couple Crossgen books that don't appear to be on this list.

Crossgen Primer (looks like it was included in an issue of Wizard)

Crossgen Sampler

There are also "Customer Review Copies." Similar concept to the Retailer Review editions of some of the VH2 titles, except these are full size and full color on glossy paper - same as the regular comic book except for the cover markings. I don't know which books had a "Customer Review Copy" but I have Crossgen Chronicles, Meridian, Mystic, Scion, and Sigil.
I would agree with you, but then we'd both be wrong.

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Post by Knightt »

Dammit Heath you are good. I have these books also... well at least I think I have them all. Now I need to double check and add them (and what you have added here).

Thanks for the info...

I have also added Way of the Rat #1 Free Comic Book Day edition.

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Post by slym2none »

mrwoogieman wrote:Cool new area, thanks!

Is the Kiss Kiss Bang Bang movie that's coming out from these comics? I mean, the name would seem to indicate that right?


Just curious, never collected this line...
I checked out the movie site, and it doesn't seem that similar to the CG comic, but I don't know enough about either one to say for sure.

Glad I couldn't help! :D



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Post by Knightt »

List updated. I added my copy of the 'Customer Preview Copy' of The First.

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Post by Knightt »

The CrossGen story has been added to the first posting in this section. Scroll to the top of this thread to read the whole story.

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Post by dave »

there is also a book called "sojourn collected edition" it seems to be 2 or 3 issues in one binding-not sure what it is, but it's from crossgen.

how hard is it to track down sojourn #1?

don't forget the trades!
edge 1-what 13?
forge 1-13?
vector?

good work!

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Post by Knightt »

Sojourn collected edition noted and added. You are very correct dave, I even own this issue. I will have to double check though whether it collects issues 1-2 or 1-3 (prequal or what).

Hmmm the TPBs... yes. There are a lot of those out there and I have never seen a complete list of those. If I find it I will add it unless someone has a definative list.

I guess you could say we could add the DVDs of the books as well... to be complete it would go on there but is that something any of you would add to the 'list' ??

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Post by Knightt »

My Crossgen needs list has been moved to here:

viewtopic.php?t=26762
Last edited by Knightt on Mon Aug 24, 2009 12:17:44 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Post by dac55 »

Knightt if you run across any extras of these. I know my son would like to have them. Hes a Lady Death fan.

BRIAN PULIDO'S LADY DEATH: "A Medieval Tale" 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12,
The Wild Hunt 1 & 2

dac

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Post by Knightt »

Any extras are your, David !! :thumb:

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Post by dac55 »

:thumb:
Last edited by dac55 on Mon Oct 17, 2005 9:18:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Post by dac55 »

Your a nice guy Knightt. I dont think I have ever seen any of those Lady Death books buy Crossgen. If you run across any pictures let me know.

dac

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Post by Knightt »

I just happen to have one right here. It is Lady Death: A Medival Tale #1

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Post by dave »

i could find some of those for you too probably-i don't collect them.

i'm looking for a sojourn #1-never seen one! i guess those are still being hoarded-i've got all my other books for $1...

btw that collected edition is only the prequel and issue #1...i bought it today! :littlesmile:

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Post by Knightt »

Yep, I checked on that last night and forgot to post it.

The Sojourn issues are out there but as with just about all LCS owners, these MUST HAVE COLLECTORS ISSUES are overpriced. LOL

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Post by dave »

i was amazed at how easy it was to put together complete runs of the stuff i wanted...sojourn was the only book that gave me any trouble-i still lack number one and two others-but i have them (all three) in the tpb form so it's not DIRE that i get them (yet).

even though i shied away from route 666 (because of the title!) it seems to be a decent book-i like the covers and cassy? i think, is a cool heroine-so unlikely...not sure i', gonna get those issues though-
i've got complete runs on
brath
scion
sojourn (minus the three...)
way of the rat
ruse
most of the edge and forge tpb's, but no vectors yet.

good stuff.
i liked the path-very non-bart sears y'know? looks like he was reading miller's ronin...

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Post by Knightt »

At a $1.00 a book, yes you can finish and get entire runs. Me ? I am just too cheap to spend a buck a book for a Dead Universe. :) Now this may end up with me waiting years to finish all runs but I hope not. Sure, there will probably come a time when I just might say screw it and track them down no matter the cost but for right now I am 'just waiting' for these babies to flood into the cheap bins.

It's crazy... sometimes you see them for above or well above cover, sometimes cover, sometimes a buck and others for fifty cents a pop (and even thirty five cents an issue in my case). So, it is hard for me to guage at the moment just how hog wild I want to get. I have plenty of other DUs to complete and at the moment I do not seem to have any 'focus'. I probably need counseling... :P

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Post by dac55 »

Hay Knightt that Lady Death book looks nice. You know me I'm a sucker for the Bad Girls. Thanks for the look.


dac

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Post by slym2none »

One more note on the Sojourn Collected Edition - it had a VERY LOW print run, I've heard it estimated around 3000 copies. GET ONE WHILE YOU CAN!



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