George Caragonne

George Caragonne's career in comics began when he sent an unsolicited submission to Marvel Comics in 1984. He eventually trained under the guidance of Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter.

Caragonne wrote primarily for Marvel Comics and their subsidiary Star Comics, throughout the latter half of the 1980s. Titles he wrote included Masters of the Universe, Planet Terry, and Star Brand. He also worked in the animation field.

In 1988, after hearing that former Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter was forming Valiant Comics, Caragonne drove from California to New York, and, unannounced, knocked on Shooter's door to offer his services.[citation needed] Caragonne agreed to do work for Valiant, all while holding a full-time job.[citation needed] After Valiant was established, Caragonne wrote such titles as Captain N, The Legend of Zelda, and Punch-Out!!.

After leaving Valiant, Caragonne wrote a few freelance stories for Marvel, including a short Silver Surfer story for a custom comic produced for Charleston Chew, and a short backup tale for a Fantastic Four Annual #25 (1992).

Around this time Caragonne created a comics packaging studio called Constant Developments, Inc. (CDI). CDI optioned the rights to produce new comics featuring the 1960s superhero team T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents (from John Carbonaro, then the rights-holder). An acquaintance introduced Caragonne to Penthouse magazine publisher Bob Guccione, whom Caragonne tried to interest in publishing T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents. Guccione instead hired Caragonne to create soft-core erotica comic sections for Penthouse magazine.

Caragonne was given an office inside Penthouse's headquarters. After several sections of comics had been produced for Penthouse, Guccione directed Caragonne to produce a stand-alone comics magazine for his company; the first issue of Penthouse Comix appeared in early 1994. With stories by Caragonne and illustrations by artists that included Adam Hughes, Garry Leach, Arthur Suydam, Milo Manara, Richard Corben, Bart Sears, and Gray Morrow, Penthouse Comix was an immediate international success, and spawned a full line that included the seven-issue Men's Adventure Comix and the three-issue Omni Comix, the latter a companion to the science magazine Omni, which was also published by Guccione. (A T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents story did eventually find publication in a Guccione publication, in the first issue of Omni Comix

Subject ID: 137024