Penthouse Comix was initially an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 mass-market, magazine-sized comic book

Comic book

A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...

, published by Penthouse International

Penthouse (magazine)

Penthouse, a men's magazine founded by Bob Guccione, combines urban lifestyle articles and softcore pornographic pictorials that, in the 1990s, evolved into hardcore. Penthouse is owned by FriendFinder Network. formerly known as General Media, Inc. whose parent company was Penthouse International...

 from its inception in spring 1994 through July 1998, and thereafter by General Media Communications, parent company of Penthouse

Penthouse (magazine)

Penthouse, a men's magazine founded by Bob Guccione, combines urban lifestyle articles and softcore pornographic pictorials that, in the 1990s, evolved into hardcore. Penthouse is owned by FriendFinder Network. formerly known as General Media, Inc. whose parent company was Penthouse International...

magazine. Initially edited by writers George Caragonne

George Caragonne

George Caragonne was a writer of comic books, primarily for Marvel Comics and their subsidiary Star Comics, throughout the 1980s...

and Horatio Weisfeld

Horatio Weisfeld

Horatio Weisfeld is a writer/editor/publisher who co-founded mass-market comics magazines and developed other media properties. His creation of often irreverent commercial entertainment follows in the footsteps of his father, Irwin Weisfeld, a writer and manufacturer of ubiquitous mid-late 60s...

, it ran 32 issues plus one special edition. Foreign versions of Penthouse Comix continue to be published.

Original American publication history

After a 3-installment trial run as an insert feature in Penthouse Magazine, Penthouse Comix was expanded into a standalone magazine. The first issue, a 96-page, color, glossy magazine, appeared in spring 1994. It featured work by Adam Hughes

Adam Hughes

Adam Hughes is an American comic book artist who has worked for companies such as DC Comics, Marvel Comics, Dark Horse Comics, Lucasfilm, Warner Bros...

, Garry Leach

Garry Leach

-Biography:Garry Leach studied Graphic Design at St. Martin's School of Art. He was first noted for his early work for 2000 AD, which was mainly on one-off stories featuring Dan Dare and M.A.C.H. 1. He then became a fan-favourite for his work on the series The VCs.In 1981 he joined Dez Skinn's...

, Kevin Nowlan

Kevin Nowlan

Kevin Nowlan is an American comic-book artist who works as penciler, inker, colorist and letterer.He has been called "one of the few artists who can be called 'artists's artist'", a master of the various disciplines of comic production, from "design to draftsmanship to dramatics".-Biography:Kevin...

, Mike Harris

Michael Harris

Michael Harris is an award-winning Canadian author, investigative journalist, and radio personality who hosts an afternoon radio talk show, "Michael Harris Live", on Ottawa-based CFRA, and was a columnist for The Ottawa Sun newspaper until March 2011.Born in Toronto, Ontario, to Audrey McDonald ...

, Arthur Suydam

Arthur Suydam

Arthur Suydam is an American comic book artist and musician. He has done artwork for magazines including Heavy Metal, Epic Illustrated and National Lampoon, while his comic book work includes Batman, Conan, Tarzan, Predator, Aliens, Death Dealer, and Marvel Zombies.-Illustration:Suydam has...

, Jordan Raskin, Horacio Altuna

Horacio Altuna

Horacio Altuna is an Argentine comics artist.-Biography:Born in Córdoba, Altuna made his debut in the comics world in 1965 for publisher Editorial Columbia...

, and Milo Manara

Milo Manara

Maurilio Manara – known professionally as Milo Manara – is an Italian comic book writer and artist, best known for his erotic approach to the medium.-Career:...

. Subsequent issues contained work by more top comic book artists: Richard Corben

Richard Corben

Richard Corben is an American illustrator and comic book artist best known for his comics featured in Heavy Metal magazine...

, Tony Salmons

Tony Salmons

Tony Salmons is an American alternative comic book artist, film storyboard artist and character designer.-Biography:Born in Rolla, Missouri, Salmons grew up in Casa Grande, Arizona, with stops in New York City and San Francisco...

, Bart Sears

Bart Sears

Bart Whitman Sears is an American artist and author, originally from Syracuse, New York.Sears has lent his unique style and creative ideas to multiple industries, including but not limited to: Comics , Toys, and Computer Games...

 and Gray Morrow

Gray Morrow

Dwight Graydon "Gray" Morrow was an American illustrator of paperback books and comics.-Biography:Born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Morrow is best known as art director of Spider-Man between 1967 and 1970 and as illustrator of the syndicated Tarzan, Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon and Prince Valiant comic...

. Early issues eschewed any view of hardcore sex in favor of common nudity and satiric

Satire

Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...

 humor.

Sold on newsstands, the periodical debuted in a squarebound magazine format 27.5 centimeters high and 20.7 cm wide. With issue #11, the size was reduced to 26.7 cm high and 20.4 cm wide. From issue #26 to the end of its run, Penthouse Comix was published at standard modern comic-book size, with saddle-stitching, card-stock covers and glossy interior pages. Issues #6-7 were published in both a magazine-size newsstand edition and a comic-book sized direct-market edition for sale in comic-book stores.

Two additional titles were later added to the line: The seven-issue Men's Adventure Comix (cover-titled Penthouse Men's Adventure Comix) (April/May 1995 - April/May 1996), and the three-issue (March/April 1995 - Oct./Nov. 1995) Omni Comix, the latter a companion to the science magazine Omni Magazine.

Censorship

In June 1994, Canadian authorities warned that they would prohibit distribution of issue #2 (July/August 1994) because of
"six panels of comics dealing with the subjugation of women and other sexual themes." Some European countries also altered a story that featured Hitler (under laws which prohibited depiction of the Nazi leader). Carragonne then went out of his way to inflame the issue by prominently featuring a Swastika on the cover of Penthouse Comix #3; although the cover was clearly modeled on 1960s pulp men's magazine covers (which routinely featured Nazi villains) for foreign markets, the Swastika was altered to become an 'X' and depictions of Hitler's head and Swastika ring (in one story written by Caragonne) were replaced with a smiley face.

Merchandising

In 1996, RC Cards issued a boxed set of Penthouse Comix trading card

Trading card

A trading card is a small card, usually made out of paperboard or thick paper, which usually contains an image of a certain person, place or thing and a short description of the picture, along with other text...

s. The 27 standard cards were accompanied by a chase card of Penthouse Pet Emerald Heart; a 1,000-limited-edition Alphonso Azpiri autograph card; and an Adam Hughes

Adam Hughes

Adam Hughes is an American comic book artist who has worked for companies such as DC Comics, Marvel Comics, Dark Horse Comics, Lucasfilm, Warner Bros...

 Hericane promotional card. The set included art by Hughes, Julie Bell

Julie Bell

Julie Bell is an American painter. A fantasy artist and wildlife artist, she is a former bodybuilder and fantasy model for her husband, painter Boris Vallejo.-Career:...

, Ernie Colón

Ernie Colon

Ernie Colón is an American comics artist, born on July 13, 1931,Colón was born in Puerto Rico and began his professional career at Harvey Comics as a letterer. He later worked, uncredited, as an artist on titles including Monster in My Pocket, Richie Rich and Casper the Friendly Ghost...

, Glenn Fabry

Glenn Fabry

Glenn Fabry is an Eisner Award-winning British comics artist known for his detailed, realistic work in both ink and painted colour.-Biography:...

, Frank Frazetta

Frank Frazetta

Frank Frazetta was an American fantasy and science fiction artist, noted for work in comic books, paperback book covers, paintings, posters, LP record album covers and other media...

, Mark Texeira

Mark Texeira

Mark Texeira is an American comic book artist. Classically trained as a painter, Texeira broke into the comics field in the early 1980s.-Career:Mark Texeira was born and raised in New York City...

, Boris Vallejo

Boris Vallejo

Boris Vallejo is a Peruvian-born American painter. He immigrated to the United States in 1964, and he currently resides in Allentown, Pennsylvania. He frequently works with Julie Bell, his wife, painter, and model....

, and others.

Downfall of US version

Editor-in-Chief George Caragonne was prone to erratic behavior and eventually purged Managing Editor Weisfeld. Thereafter, artwork and money began to disappear from the Penthouse Comix office, top line artists abandoned the project, and overall quality and sales declined. Caragonne was eventually accused of embezzlement by Penthouse, fired and committed suicide in the summer of 1995. General Media then seized control of its comics-related publishing from the deceased Caragonne's packaging company and installed Dave Elliott

Dave Elliott

Dave Elliott is a former English professional footballer and manager.A midfielder, he began his career as an apprentice at before moving to and . In 1975 he joined as player/manager and made 21 Football League appearances in the 1975–76 season before joining as player/manager...

 as editor. The Penthouse Comix line was whittled to one magazine. Elliott edited the remainder of the magazine's run, largely printing sub-par material which had been contracted by Caragonne after Weisfeld's departure. General Media went bankrupt a short time later.

Foreign editions

Foreign versions of Penthouse Comix initially reprinted the material from the American magazine but later began contracting for new material by top non-American creators, such as Jordi Bernet

Jordi Bernet

Jordi Bernet Cussó is a Spanish comics artist, best known for the gangster comics series Torpedo and Jonah Hex.-Career:He was born in Barcelona, the son of a Spanish comic book artist, Miguel Bernet....

 and Enrique Sánchez Abulí

Enrique Sánchez Abulí

Enrique Sánchez Abulí is a Spanish comics author, well known for his participation in the Spanish comics industry. His most famous work is the darkly comical gangster comics saga Torpedo in collaboration with Jordi Bernet....

. Foreign additions of Penthouse Comix continued publishing long after the US version ceased. Overseas editions of Penthouse Comix have been published in England, France, Italy, Germany, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and Mexico. The Spanish edition of Penthouse Comix celebrated its 100th issue in 2010.