Comic publisher | |
Industry | Publishing |
Founded | 1998 |
Founder | Mark Alessi |
Headquarters | Tampa, Florida |
Key people
|
Mark Alessi Gina M. Villa Barbara Kesel Mark Waid Ron Marz |
Products | Comics |
Owner |
Marvel Comics (The Walt Disney Company) |
Website | www |
Cross Generation Entertainment, or CrossGen, was an American comic book publisher and entertainment company that operated from 1998 to 2004.
The company's assets were acquired by The Walt Disney Company in 2004. In July 2010, Marvel Comics, then owned by Disney, announced plans to revive CrossGen titles.
CrossGen Comics, Inc., was founded in 1998, in Tampa, Florida by entrepreneur Mark Alessi.
In 1999, the company acquired the Orlando-based multigenre fan convention MegaCon, from founder James Breitbiel. Breitbiel became CrossGen's Marketing and Distribution Director.
In January 2000, CrossGen Comics, Inc. debuted with CrossGenesis, a sneak-peek at the CrossGen universe. It provided an outline of the universe, worlds, and characters of CrossGen's flagship titles that would be released six months later. Gina M. Villa, head of creative departments, and Mark Alessi wrote a history of the Sigilverse before any comics were written. The head creative team consisted of Barbara Kesel, Mark Waid and Ron Marz. Unlike other comics companies such as DC Comics and Marvel Comics, which rely mainly on freelance writers and artists, most of CrossGen's talent were salaried employees of the company and worked out of its headquarters in Tampa. Later creators such as J.M. DeMatteis worked freelance, with CrossGen publishing finished properties. The company's publications covered a variety of genres with characters inhabiting a single shared universe.