Image Comics was founded in 1992 as a home for creator-owned comic properties; in other words, a publisher where writers and artists could publish their comics without having to sacrifice the copyright to their IP. With other comics publishers, such as Marvel and DC, the publisher is the credited author, and the writer is simply a staff member, thus relinquishing any ownership they might have over their work. Image sought to alter that landscape, and boy did they pull it off.