{{Short description|Defunct American comic book publishing company}} {{Infobox publisher | name = Deluxe Comics | founded = 1984 | founder = David M. Singer | status = Defunct (1986) | image = 220px | headquarters = | country = United States | keypeople = Brian Marshall<ref name=WhosWho>{{cite web|url=http://www.bailsprojects.com/bio.aspx?Name=MARSHALL%2c+BRIAN|title=Brian Marshall entry|work=Who's Who of American Comic Books, 1928–1999|access-date=March 13, 2023}}</ref> | parent = Singer Publishing Co. | divisions = | publications = Comic books | topics = | genre = Superheroes, Crime | imprints = Lodestone Publishing, Inc. | url = }} '''Deluxe Comics''' was a short-lived comic book publishing company known for publishing one title, ''Wally Wood's T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents''. '''Lodestone Publishing, Inc.''', an imprint of Deluxe,<ref>{{cite book|last=Irving|first=Christopher|chapter=John A. Carbonaro v. David M. Singer|title=The Thunder Agents Companion|date=2005|page=75|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YdDxOJwy668C&dq=Lodestone+Comics+Deluxe+Comics&pg=PT174|publisher=TwoMorrows Publishing|editor-first=Jon B.|editor-last=Cooke|editor-link=Jon B. Cooke|isbn= 9781893905436}}</ref> published a few other series, notably taking over from other publishers such titles as ''Futurians'' and ''Evangeline''.
Notable creators<ref name=BleedingCool /> who worked for Deluxe/Lodestone included Dave Cockrum, Chuck Dixon, Judith Hunt, Rich Buckler, George Pérez, Keith Giffen, Murphy Anderson, Jerry Ordway, Keith Giffen, Robert Loren Fleming, Kyle Baker, Mike Harris, Paul Smith, and Ricardo Villagrán.
Deluxe/Lodestone operated in the period 1984 to 1986.
== History == Deluxe Comics was a division of Singer Publishing, founded by David M. Singer (11 February 1957–24 August 2013).<ref name=BleedingCool>{{cite news|title=David M Singer, Publisher of Deluxe Comics, Passes|date=August 26, 2013|first=Keith |last=Dallas|work=Bleeding Cool|url=https://bleedingcool.com/comics/david-m-singer-publisher-of-deluxe-comics-passes/}}</ref>
In 1984, Deluxe began publishing new issues of ''Wally Wood's T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents'', about a fictional team of superheroes that appeared in comic books originally published by Tower Comics in the 1960s. The singer claimed the group was in the public domain, a claim disputed by John Carbonaro of JC Comics.<ref>{{cite news|title=Blood and T.H.U.N.D.E.R.|work=The Comics Journal|number=97|date=April 1985|pages=7–11}}</ref> In 1981, JC Comics had acquired the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents rights from defunct publisher Tower Comics (which had gone out of business in 1969; Wood had died in 1981). JC Comics had published several issues of ''T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents'' in 1983, the last of which through Archie Comics' Red Circle Comics line.<ref name=Sodaro>{{cite magazine |editor-last=Malloy |editor-first=Alex G. |last=Sodaro |first=Robert J. |title=The Resplendent Sound of T.H.U.N.D.E.R.! |date=1999 |magazine=Comics Value Annual |url=http://www.thunderagents.com/rsot.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020908045923/http://www.thunderagents.com/rsot.html |archive-date=2002-09-08 |url-status=dead |via=ThunderAgents.com |publisher=Krause Publications |page=ix}}</ref>
A lawsuit initiated by Carbonaro was eventually settled in United States district court in favor of Carbonaro,<ref>{{cite news|first=Tom|last= Heintjes |author-link=Hogan's Alley (magazine)|title=Newswatch: Deluxe suspends ''T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents''; bedeviled by fake news releases|work=The Comics Journal|issue=99|date=June 1985|pages=20–22}}</ref> with Singer acknowledging Carbonaro's registered copyrights and trademark. Under the settlement, Carbonaro also received, among other things, an assignment of all rights to ''Wally Wood's T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents'', previously published by Singer, and an undisclosed sum of money.<ref name=Sodaro />
=== Closure === Deluxe Comics/Lodestone closed its doors in 1986 when several major distributors failed to pay sizeable past-due invoices.<ref name=Sodaro />
== Titles published == === Deluxe Comics === * ''Wally Wood's T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents'' (5 issues, Nov. 1984{{ndash}}Oct. 1986)
=== Lodestone === *''Codename: Danger'' (4 issues, Aug. 1985{{ndash}}May 1986) * ''Evangeline Special'' (one-shot, May 1986)<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Heintjes |first1=Tom |date=January 1986 |title=Independents news: Eclipse, First, Fantagraphics Books, and WaRP |department=Newswatch |magazine=The Comics Journal |issue=104 |page=21 |issn=0194-7869 |quote=Evangeline news: Creators Judith Hunt and Chuck Dixon have completed negotiations with various publishers, and Deluxe Comics has come up with the rights to publish ''Evangeline''.}}</ref> * ''The Futurians''<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Heintjes |first1=Tom |last2=Thompson |first2=Kim |date=February 1985 |title=Deluxe Comics adds two new titles |department=Newswatch |magazine=The Comics Journal |issue=95 |page=21 |issn=0194-7869}}</ref> (3 issues, Oct. 1985{{ndash}}Apr. 1986) * ''The Honeymooners'' (one-shot, 1986) * ''The March Hare'' (one-shot, 1986)
== Notes == {{Reflist}}
== External links == * {{gcdb publisher|id=476|title=Deluxe Comics}} * {{gcdb publisher|id=524|title=Lodestone}} * {{comicbookdb|type=publisher|id=831|title=Deluxe Comics}} * {{comicbookdb|type=publisher|id=1414|title=Lodestone Comics}}
{{Dave Cockrum}} {{comics-stub}}
Category:Comic book publishing companies of the United States Category:Defunct comics and manga publishing companies Category:Publishing companies established in 1984