CrossGen was another Rising-Star-Goes-Bankrupt story…until today. At Comic-Con’s “Cup O’ Joe” panel with Marvel Chief Joe Quesada, an image of CrossGen’s “Sigil” logo appeared, along with the date, “2001.”
Launched in 1998 by Florida entrepreneur Mark Alessi, CrossGen burst onto the scene with a production plan different from any other comics company and a roster of broadly appealing characters and genres. By 2003, the company had spent more than it was able to pay, and CrossGen filed for bankruptcy in 2004. Disney came along and bought the company’s assets for $1 million, primarily for Abadazad, a kids’ fantasy book by J.M. DeMatteis and Mike Ploog. They released three volumes, cancelled the fourth, and CrossGen hasn’t been heard from since.
Back to Comic-Con 2010, this “teaser,” along with Quesada’s confirmation that “We’re gonna be doing some CrossGen stuff,” has comic-lovers and Marvel fans abuzz.
According to Comic Book Resources:
“We have started to work on some concepts based on the old CrossGen concepts, trying to strengthen them up, and eventually bring them to Marvel,” [Quesada] said. “It just offers us a wider variety of stories to tell than just the normal Marvel Universe kind of stories,” Quesada added later. “I think with the CrossGen stuff you’re going to see us attempt a little more genre publishing, which I think is much-needed in our imprint.”
Here’s a video depicting the teaser:
