History of SilverWolf and GMC

The following is from the In Discussion editorial that appeared in Tink #1 and was written by Kristoffer A. Silver. It is the best account of what happened to SilverWolf and about the beginning of GMC.

In Discussion

As I said before, this publication is meant to keep readers of GMC Comics current with the developments of this company and its affiliates. I realize that there are many questions that you may have. I will answer as many as I can in order of the most important. There will always be those questions which will never be answered in a column such as this because they are far too specific. Those type of questions may be submitted to me personally and I will answer them in a like manner.

What happened to Silver Wolf? That's easy. I wasn't being paid for my product. Companies such as Crown, Glenwood, and Comics Express went bankrupt owing Silver Wolf over thirty thousand dollars. Other distributors simply didn't intend to pay and still others even claimed they didn't receive the project although shipping invoices show that they did. It became obvious that I was throwing good money after bad. I stopped; I would have been either a fool or stupid if I hadn't.

A number of people who worked at Silver Wolf became disenchanted when they realized that they would no longer be part of the comic book industry. They were knocked of the imaginary pedestal that they had set themselves upon. I became the object of their frustration. So be it; I cannot worry myself over childish temper tantrums.

A few years later, one Mr. Dale Quick approached me with pie in the sky offers that would bring Silver Wolf Comics back to the market. When the deal was finally struck, a mole hill had been made of the mountainous offer. I wasn't impressed, but it was an opportunity. Within months I realized my error as Mr. Quick drove Greater Mercury Comics to the brink of disaster and then, irrevocably beyond. I had warned him about late books and empty promises to artists. He was running a business that was, from the beginning, beyond his limited capabilities.

As the exclusive writer, per my contract, I was supposed to plot and script the stories. At no time did the supposed owner ever even so much as offer to help me put together the books which were his entire responsibility in the first place. In fact, the situation had deteriorated in its infancy such that at the very beginning I was doing everything, insomuch as I was even writing his editorials that appeared on the inside of the front covers.

Needless to say, I was greatly disappointed but the worst was yet to come. When Mr. Quick realized he was heading for bankruptcy he attempted to force me to work with his investor, disallowing all of Mr. Quick's debts including the payment owed to me for scripting over thirty of the books I had completed to date at his request. Essentially, knowing that I had no real chance of collecting my fees from from such a person as this, I retracted my character rights by default of Mr. Quick's lack of production and made a trade that allowed me to take possession and ownership of the name "Greater Mercury Comics" and all work submitted to date.

From the verge of bankruptcy I pulled this company back to its feet, out of the red and into the black.

Venusian Press was an obvious step which I had tried to steer Mr. Quick toward, but without success. As you can see now, with Psych-Path and Tink, it was a sound and successful concept.

I am currently working Greater Mercury's universe into a tight continuum. My comic characters, novel characters, and even those characters of mine from motion picture submissions, including Deadly Metal purchased by Twentieth Century Fox, will all have their place in this universe. Also, it appears that I will be picking up the rights to some promising movie based characters which will be incorporated directly into my universe.

This universe will expand to tell the story that the readers are demanding. My standards for artwork have increased dramatically over the past few years and even months and I expect these standards will be retained in the new stories to come.

Venusian press will expand to handle those quality publications that need a home which respects the creators' rights and those same creators' need to receive a paycheck.

No business is fail safe, but Greater Mercury Comics is based upon a solid foundation. It should be here for decades.

-Kristoffer A. Silver