Editing Slave Labor Graphics (section)

==Company history==
Slave Labor Graphics was started in 1986 by [[Dan Vado]],<ref name=Speakeasy>"Newspeak: Slave Labor in California," ''Speakeasy'' #65 (Aug. 1986), p. 4.</ref> who remains the company's president and publisher.

The first book Slave Labor Graphics published was ''ShadowStar'' #3, a female superhero character previously published independently by some of Vado's friends. The company's first wave of titles (''Samurai Penguin'', ''Barrabas'', ''Lee Flea'', and ''The Light'') were all written by Vado, with art by a variety of creators.<ref name=Speakeasy /> Other early titles, such as ''Hero Sandwich'' and ''It's Science With Dr. Radium'', were all created by friends of Vado's from high school.{{citation needed|date=April 2017}}

Slave Labor Graphics's first major success was ''Samurai Penguin'' #1 by Vado and Mark Buck,<ref name=Speakeasy /> which sold 58,000 copies in the summer of 1986.{{Citation needed|date=August 2007}} Other successes were ''[[Milk & Cheese]]'', a comic about mean-spirited [[anthropomorphic]] dairy products by [[Evan Dorkin]], and ''[[Johnny the Homicidal Maniac]]'', a comic about the adventures of a serial killer by [[Jhonen Vasquez]]. In this time period, comic book speculation was rampant, so Slave Labor Graphics was able to sell its entire print run of many titles. {{Citation needed|date=August 2007}} However, at the end of the mid-1990s speculation bubble, some [[Direct market|distributors]] went out of business without paying Slave Labor Graphics.{{Citation needed|date=February 2007}}

In 1995, Slave Labor Graphics added a more genre-oriented [[imprint (trade name)|imprint]] called "Amaze Ink" intended to be for all audiences;<ref>"Newswatch: Slave Labor Announces New Format," ''The Comics Journal'' #177 (May 1995), p. 33.</ref> the "stranger, more adult, and more difficult to categorize material"{{citation needed|date=April 2017}} would still be published under the main "Slave Labor" imprint.

In 2005, Slave Labor Graphics entered into a partnership with [[The Walt Disney Company]] to produce comic book series based on some of its properties: ''[[The Haunted Mansion|Haunted Mansion]]'', ''[[Alice in Wonderland (1951 film)|Wonderland]]'', ''[[Tron]]'', and ''[[Gargoyles (TV series)|Gargoyles]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newsarama.com/SLG/Disney/Vado_Disney.html|title=Dan Vado on SLG's Disney Deal|publisher=[[Newsarama]]|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050827023725/http://www.newsarama.com/SLG/Disney/Vado_Disney.html|archive-date=2005-08-27}}</ref> Its own creations, such as [[Little Gloomy]] (1999–2005), Kid Gravity (2003–2007), and [[The Super Scary Monster Show: Featuring Little Gloomy]] (2005–2007), appeared regularly in ''[[Disney Adventures]]'' magazine.<ref>[http://news.toonzone.net/article.php?ID=15534 NYCC: Slave Labor Graphics' Dan Vado Talks Disney Licensed Comics] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070310184024/http://news.toonzone.net/article.php?ID=15534 |date=2007-03-10 }}. February 26, 2007</ref>

In September 2008, SLG remodeled its lobby to be a smaller gallery/shop<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jj_kDkt1ARg SLG Office Beutification Adventure Part Two] uploaded on September 2, 2008 by Dan Vado. Retrieved 2014 December 21.</ref> which opened as Boutiki in San Jose in December 2008.<ref>[http://www.slgcomic.com/Boutiki-Opening-a-Success_df_321.html Boutiki Opening a Success!] blog posted December 12, 2008 by  Jennifer de Guzman. Retrieved 2014 December 21.</ref> The gallery/shop is still operating (with name of [[Art Boutiki]]) as of 2014 December.<ref>[http://www.artboutiki.com/ The Art Boutiki] website. Retrieved 2014 December 21.</ref>

In late 2010, Slave Labor Graphics established an independent [[record label]] entitled '''Slab Yard Sound Company'''.<ref>[http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2010/11/slg-publishing-gets-into-the-music-biz/ SLG Publishing Gets Into the Music Biz]. November 22, 2010</ref>

In January 2012, editor-in-chief Jennifer de Guzman, who had been with the company since 2001, left to become the PR and Marketing Director at [[Image Comics]].<ref>[http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2012/01/jennifer-de-guzman-to-handle-pr-and-marketing-at-image/ Jennifer de Guzman to handle PR and marketing at Image] January 17, 2012</ref>