Texas Comics was an American short-lived independent comics

Comics

Comics denotes a hybrid medium having verbal side of its vocabulary tightly tied to its visual side in order to convey narrative or information only, the latter in case of non-fiction comics, seeking synergy by using both visual and verbal side in...

 company set up in 1983 by several Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

 based comic book fans, who had worked together before on the Comics Informer fanzine

Fanzine

A fanzine is a nonprofessional and nonofficial publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon for the pleasure of others who share their interest...

. It had licenced the then popular superhero

Superhero

A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...

 series Justice Machine

Justice Machine

The Justice Machine is a fictional team of superheroes originally created by Michael Gustovich and appearing in comic books from many small publishers in the 1980s and 1990s.-Publication history:...

 from its creator, Mike Gustovich after his previous publisher, Noble Comics had closed.

Texas Comics had planned to bring out a bimonthly Justice Machine series, but in the end it only produced one comic, the Justice Machine Annual. This however was significant because it contained the first appearance of Bill Willingham

Bill Willingham

Bill Willingham is an American writer and artist of comics.-Career:Willingham got his start in the late 1970s to early 1980s as a staff artist for TSR, Inc., where he illustrated a number of their role-playing game products...

's Elementals, as well as a crossover between the Justice Machine and the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents

T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents

T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents is a fictional team of superheroes that appeared in comic books originally published by Tower Comics in the 1960s. They were an arm of the United Nations and were notable for their depiction of the heroes as everyday people whose heroic careers were merely their day jobs...

, a famous 1960s superhero team originally published by Tower Comics

Tower Comics

Tower Comics was an American comic book publishing company best known for Wally Wood's T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, a strange combination of secret agents and superheroes; and Samm Schwartz's Tippy Teen, an Archie Andrews clone...

. The Elementals were supposed to become a bimonthly series as well, alternating with the Justice Machine. After Texas Comics folded, both series were taken over by Comico Comics

Comico Comics

Comico: The Comic Company was an American comic book publisher, headquartered in Norristown, Pennsylvania. Its best-known comics include the Robotech adaptations, the Jonny Quest continuation written by co-creator Doug Wildey, and Matt Wagner's Mage: The Hero Discovered and Grendel...

.

Sources

• Scoop! interview with Keith Wilson, one of the founders of Texas Comics, which mentions the company in passing.
• Justice Machine Annual #1