Revolutionary Comics
| Parent company | Infinite One, Inc. |
|---|---|
| Status | Defunct, 1994 |
| Founded | 1989 |
| Founder | Todd Loren |
| Country of origin | United States of America |
| Headquarters location | San Diego, California |
| Key people | Todd Loren, Herb Shapiro, Jay Allen Sanford |
| Publication types | Comic books |
| Nonfiction topics | Music, Biography, Sex |
| Fiction genres | Horror |
| Imprints | Carnal Comics |
Revolutionary Comics (1989–1994) was a U.S. comic book publisher specializing in unauthorized profiles of entertainers and professional athletes, as well as a line of erotic comics. Its flagship series was Rock 'N' Roll Comics. Founded by Todd Loren, Revolutionary Comics was based in San Diego.
After some success with Musicade, a mail order music memorabilia company, Loren formed Revolutionary Comics in 1989. The publisher's first title was Rock 'N' Roll Comics, a line of unauthorized comic book biographies of rock stars prompted in part by the success of a 1986 Bruce Springsteen parody comic called Hey Boss.
Early issues of Rock 'N' Roll Comics contained straight biographies in comic form and Mad magazine-style parodies. The parodies were later dropped. The line featured unlicensed biographies of rock stars, told in comic book form but geared for adults, often with very adult situations (nudity, drug use, violence, etc.). The comic sported a cover tagline reading "Unauthorized and Proud of it." Some musicians featured in the comic were supportive, while others threatened legal action. The resulting media exposure garnered Rock 'N' Roll Comics huge sales of their early issues.
A later injunction led the company to expand its distribution network outside traditional comic shops, getting their products into music and gift retail outlets which had never carried comics before. This independence from the comic book direct market served the company well, as sales continued to rise from issue to issue.
Revolutionary's only other title at first was the bimonthly Tipper Gore's Comics and Stories, an EC-inspired horror anthology which lasted five issues. Other one-shots and short-lived titles followed, but the heart of the company was Rock 'N' Roll Comics, which continued to sell large quantities.
By the early nineties, Revolutionary Comics was among the top three selling independent comic companies in the U.S. Loren brought on his father, Herb Shapiro, to be vice president of the growing company, while Jay Allen Sanford, who’d worked for Loren’s Musicade and was writing for Rock ‘N’ Roll Comics, became the line’s head writer. New music titles were launched, most notably Rock 'N' Roll Comics Magazine and Hard Rock Comics, as well as a line of "Experience" limited series, on such subjects as the Beatles, Elvis Presley, Led Zeppelin, and Pink Floyd (the latter of which the band liked well enough to include in their official Shine On CD box set).
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