Tundra Publishing

Type	Comic publisher
Founded	1990
Founder(s)	Kevin Eastman
Headquarters	Northampton, Massachusetts
Industry	Comics

Tundra Publishing was a Northampton, Massachusetts-based comic book publisher founded by Kevin Eastman in 1990.¹

Overview

Tundra was meant to provide a venue for high-quality work by talented cartoonists and illustrators. Its publications were noted in the trade for their high production values, including glossy paper stock, full-color printing, and non-saddle-stitch binding. Notable works published by Tundra include:

• Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics
• Dave McKean's Cages
• Steve Bissette's horror anthology Taboo, where portions of Alan Moore's From Hell (with Eddie Campbell) and Lost Girls (with Melinda Gebbie), as well as Neil Gaiman's unfinished Sweeney Todd (with Michael Zulli), were first serialised
• Mark Martin and Jim Woodring's children's comic Tantalizing Stories, where most of Woodring's early Frank stories appeared
• Mike Allred's Madman Adventures
• Mark Bodé and Larry Todd's continuation of Vaughn Bodé's Cobalt 60
• Al Columbia's first solo comic book, Doghead

Tundra UK

In 1991 a British arm of the company, Tundra UK, opened in London. Led by Dave Elliott, an editor at Deadline and a founder of Atomeka Press, the UK branch worked with creators already on board with Tundra in the US as well as developing new projects. Tundra UK's titles included:

• Peter Milligan and Brendan McCarthy's controversial graphic novel Skin
• White Trash by Gordon Rennie and the late New Zealand artist Martin Emond
• Lazarus Churchyard by Warren Ellis and D'Israeli
• The Lords of Misrule by John Tomlinson and Gary Erskine
• The anthology Monster Massacre, featuring work by Simon Bisley, Dave Gibbons, James O'Barr, Henry Flint, Dave Elliott, Doug Braithwaite and Kevin O'Neill

Closure

Despite its ambitious start, Tundra never became a profitable enterprise. It closed its doors in 1993 after burning through $14 million in three years.² Kitchen Sink Press acquired its holdings³; it reprinted popular Tundra publications such as Understanding Comics and continued to publish some Tundra series such as Taboo.

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