Comicraft

The company was founded by Richard Starkings in 1992. Starkings had been working for Marvel UK for five years, but left London for New York, circa 1990. Lettering large numbers of pages overnight for Marvel editor Gregory Wright, Starkings decided to move away from the New York Marvel offices to California, partly hoping that the increased distance would mean increased deadlines. A year later, Starkings (now based in Los Angeles) was asked to letter issues of Marvel's premier title Uncanny X-Men.

Unable to meet the deadlines of then-editor Bob Harras, he considered faster methods of lettering, and turned to computers. Digitizing his lettering in readiness, and joining with designer John Roshell, Starkings unwittingly found that the formation of Image Comics created a perfect opportunity for his innovative lettering practices. The 'superstar artist' status of the Image founders, and the money they were able spend on production allowed Image to attract letterers from DC and Marvel, creating a vacuum made all the more stark by the concurrent comics boom inspiring companies to increase output. Although meeting resistance in some quarters (most famously from Harras at Marvel), the higher-paychecks offered by Image allowed some letterers to produce less work, further snow-balling the demand for Starkings' services.

For a name Starkings recalled a friend's carpentry business being called "Proudcraft", and the two settled on Comicraft. Overcoming the reluctance of the comics industry with such titles as Ghost Rider 2099, Astro City and Generation X, although unable to challenge the legendary Todd Klein for the "Lettering" title, Starkings and Comicraft nevertheless managed to win an Eisner Award in 1994, for "Best Publication Design" for Busiek and Ross' Marvels. The Comics Buyer's Guide and Wizard: The Comics Magazine also went against the Eisners, and named Comicraft the best letterer for 3 and 7 years in a row respectively.

Active Images

A sub-company, "Active Images" was initiated in 1995 as an online arm initially to "make Comicraft's library of comic book fonts commercially available", but in 2002 its role was expanded into the world of publishing. Active Images publishes, among other titles, Richard Starkings' own comics Hip Flask and Elephantmen.