Bill Marks

Biography

Vortex Comicsis a Canadian independent comic book publisher that began operation in 1982. Under the supervision of president, publisher, and editor Bill Marks, Vortex was known for such titles as Dean Motter's Mister X, Howard Chaykin's Black Kiss, and Chester Brown's Yummy Fur, the last of which was a pioneer of alternative comics. Vortex also earned a reputation for publishing Canadian comic book creators such as Brown, Ty Templeton, Ken Steacy, and Jeffrey Morgan. Vortex was founded by 20-year-old high school dropout William P. "Bill" Marks of Toronto in 1982, with its first title being an anthology comic of the same name. Marks recalled, " had a lot of potential for growth that I could see. I could see a revolution happening. By this time Cerebus was doing extremely well. Elfquest was a runaway success in the bookstores and on the best-seller lists. Eclipse was starting up and shortly thereafter Pacific Comics started to get quite big." Vortex received good distribution in both the U.S. and Canada. The company proved to be a major force in Canadian comics publishing throughout the 1980s.