Shadowline

Shadowline, Ink is a partner studio of Image Comics established by Image co-founder Jim Valentino. The name is an homage to Valentino's character, ShadowHawk.

History

Shadowline was officially created in December 1992 when the logo first appeared on the inside front cover of Jim Valentino's ShadowHawk #3. The first book to sport the logo on its cover was Shadowline Special #1 (October, 1994).

In January 1997, Shadowline became more commonly referred to as the “Non-Line” with the publication of A Touch of Silver #1. The name referred to the fact that the comics in the line at that time were not in any way aligned with one another. There was no singular universe or line. Hence, non-line.

On August 25, 1999 Jim Valentino became the publisher of Image Comics and while he did not publish his own work (so as not to create a conflict of interest), other books in the Non-Line continued. When Erik Larsen eventually took over as the publisher, Valentino returned to the Non-Line and to publishing his own work.

Shadowline (Epic Comics)

The Shadowline Saga is a comic book imprint from Epic Comics that was published in its original incarnation from 1988 to 1990. It was created and edited by Archie Goodwin.

The Shadowline Saga was Marvel's first attempt at creating a mature-themed line of superhero comics. Further, it was the first line produced by Epic Comics utilizing a pre-conceived shared universe concept. The central concept tied all of the titles together, allowing them to serve as one unified crossover. The line could either be read as individual title(s) or the entire line of titles could tell a much broader story when read together chronologically.

Original era

The Shadow Dwellers were a race that were almost human. Their evolution paralleled humanity, though they evolved swifter and a great deal better. Meanwhile, humans evolved in far greater numbers. After reaching maturity, Shadow Dwellers would not age any further, until they had reproduced. This provided a natural balance, preventing their potential immortality from leading to overpopulation.