Homage Studios Swimsuit Special #1
Published in April 1993, this one-shot pin-up special captured the WildStorm/Top Cow corner of the early Image Comics universe at its most energetic peak, gathering characters from WildC.A.T.s, StormWatch, Cyberforce, Deathblow, and Wetworks under a single cover for the first time. Beyond its cross-franchise snapshot, the issue carries genuine art-historical weight as the first published comics work of J. Scott Campbell — working here under the pseudonym 'Jeffery Scott' — whose two interior pin-ups mark the professional debut of one of the most influential good-girl artists of the 1990s and beyond. It also serves as one of the earliest documents of the Homage Studios creative community at full strength, a physical record of the period when Jim Lee and Marc Silvestri still shared studio space and their respective publishing lines were deeply intertwined.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
Homage Studios was the San Diego workspace co-founded by Jim Lee, Whilce Portacio, Scott Williams, and Joe Chiodo; Marc Silvestri joined in late 1992 to produce Cyberforce, operating there under his Top Cow banner until he departed in 1994. The Swimsuit Special grew directly out of that shared environment, functioning as both a promotional showcase and a talent-display vehicle for the studio's expanding roster of artists. It was produced in cooperation with Malibu Comics — the distributor that had backed Image's earliest output — and expanded to a 40-page count with four extra pages to accommodate a centerfold sequence. Captions throughout were written by Cynthia Sullivan, with interior art parceled across virtually the entire Homage Studios bullpen.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Published April 1993 as a 40-page full-color one-shot by Image Comics, produced in cooperation with Malibu Comics.
- Cover art by Jim Lee and Brian Stelfreeze; back cover by Marc Silvestri and Scott Williams featuring Cyblade.
- Constitutes the first published comics work of J. Scott Campbell, then credited under the pseudonym 'Jeffery Scott'; he contributed two interior pin-ups and a caricature page depicting Homage Studios staff.
- Also cited as the first published comics artwork by Brett Booth, who was discovered through the Homage Studios talent search advertised in WildC.A.T.s.
- Showcases characters spanning three Homage/Top Cow titles: WildC.A.T.s (Voodoo, Emp, Zealot, Void, and others), StormWatch (Diva, Fuji, Synergy, Fahrenheit, and others), and Cyberforce (Ballistic, Cyblade, Velocity, Ripclaw, and others), plus Deathblow and Wetworks' Red.
- Interior art credits include Joe Chiodo, Scott Williams, Victor Bridges, Scott Clark, Trevor Scott, Cully Hamner, Karl Story, Brett Booth, Chris Ivy, Alex Garner, Marc Silvestri, Whilce Portacio, Brian Stelfreeze, Joe Phillips, Adam Hughes, Jim Lee, and Jason Pearson.
- Captions for all pin-up sequences were written by Cynthia Sullivan, making her the sole prose contributor to the issue.
- The WildStorm/Aegis portion of the book's content subsequently passed to DC Comics following the 1999 acquisition of WildStorm, while the Top Cow content remains the property of Marc Silvestri.
Cast · 40 characters
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Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers
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Joining forces for a big pose-down, the members of CyberForce, WildC.A.T.S. and Stormwatch have a girls afternoon out.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).