Michael Catron

Michael Catron
Born	October 9, 1955 (1955-10-09) (age 56)
Nationality	American
Area(s)	Publisher
Notable works	Fantagraphics Books Apple Comics
Official website

Michael Catron (born October 9, 1955)^[1] is former publisher of Apple Comics and co-founder of Fantagraphics as well as a classically trained Shakespearian actor.

Catron met Gary Groth while they were both enrolled at the University of Maryland. In 1974, Catron and Groth put on a Washington, DC-area rock and roll convention that ended in financial failure. Nonetheless, he and Groth dabbled in music publishing with the short-lived magazine Sounds Fine,^[2] which they co-published until 1979. (During this period, Catron also worked as a public relations assistant for Mike Gold, at the time employed by DC Comics.)^[3]

In 1976 Catron and Groth co-founded Fantagraphics Books, at that point located in College Park, Maryland. They took over an adzine named The Nostalgia Journal, quickly renaming it The Comics Journal.^[4] Catron acted as Fantagraphics' co-publisher until 1985, also handling advertising and circulation for The Comics Journal from 1982–1985, when he left the company.^[3]

In 1986, Catron established Apple Comics, which began as a packager for Wendy & Richard Pini's WaRP Graphics but with its own financing structure.^[5] Soon, Apple branched out to publishing original titles, and became known for publishing war comics, particularly the long-running title Vietnam Journal (as well as many spin-offs and one-shots). Apple Comics went defunct in 1994.

References

1. ^ Miller, John Jackson. "Comics Industry Birthdays", Comic Buyer's Guide, June 10, 2005. Accessed February 1, 2011. WebCitation archive
2. ^ Matos, Michelangelo. "Saved by the Beagle," Seattle Arts (September 15, 2004).
3. ^ ^{a b} Who's Who of American Comic Books, 1928–1999.
4. ^ "...transforming it from an adzine into a magazine of news and criticism that just happened to carry advertisements." The Comics Journal Message Board :: View topic - The Comics Journal #32 (January 1977).
5. ^ WaRP Titles Now Under Apple Aegis," The Comics Journal #110 (August 1986), p. 17.

External links

• Official website

Persondata
Name	Catron, Michael
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Date of birth	October 9, 1955
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