BUBBLE Comics
(Russian: Комиксы BUBBLE) is the largest Russian comic book publisher, and the only publishing house in Russia with monthly releases of original, non-franchised comic books. It was founded in 2011 by journalist Artyom Gabrelyanov, as part of News Media. While Gabrelyanov took clear inspiration from Marvel Comics, his comics were a uniquely Russian creation: a multifaceted reflection of the country, its history, and its people.
In October 2012, BUBBLE began releasing four ongoing monthly comic book series: Demonslayernote , 'Major Grom, Red Fury, and Friar. The four titles were quickly established as sharing a common continuity, referred to as the BUBBLE Universe (or "Bubbleverse"). At Russian Comic-Con in 2015, BUBBLE announced the launch of two more comic lines, Exlibrium and Meteora, rounding out their roster to six titles. In October of that year, English-language versions of BUBBLE's comics started appearing on the on ComiXology, alongside DC Comics, Marvel comics, and Image Comics (among others).
The original four titles concluded their run in December 2016, at fifty issues each. In January 2017, BUBBLE relaunched many of its classic titles under the Second Breath initiative. The publications of this new era were written to reflect the changes in the universal setting, as well as being accessible to a broader audience: Red Fury was revamped as Allies (which greatly toned down the Fanservice), Major Grom gave way to Igor Grom (which saw the eponymous character leave police work behind), Meteora got a child-friendly spinoff with Ziggy: Space Hamster, and Demonslayer received a less lore-intensive, more reader-friendly sequel with Demonslayer vol. 2. The circulation of the new issues increased to 5,000 copies, and the synopsis pages were redesigned for the last three issues to make them unique to each episode. The covers also began to indicate the names of the screenwriter, artist and colorist, similar to Western comics.
In 2019, BUBBLE introduced the Bubble Legends line. Under the Legends imprint, the company initiated the New Bubble Heroes project, which allowed readers to compete to create a new comic book series based on an original character for the main Bubble Universe. The company also added BUBBLE Manga and Bubble Tin for publishing the company's manga and adult titles, respectively.
The third wave of BUBBLE publications, which began in 2021, was not officially announced, as most of the series not related to Major Grom have ended (and have not been relaunched) However, the launch of the third Major Grom ongoing series (Major Igor Grom) and its spin-offs (Witch, Plague Doctor, Volkov, Major Grom: Army Nation, Igor Eel), as well as titles like MIR and Falcon were regarded as the third phase. Alongside this, BUBBLE's in-house film studio also ramped up its focus on building the BUBBLE Cinematic Universe, with the production of media based on the company's original characters and comic lines.
Comics published by BUBBLE:
BUBBLE Universe
Comic Book Titles
- Atlanteans
- BUBBLE Legends
- BUBBLE School
- Cheaters
- Colorless
- Community
- Darkness
- Demonslayer
- Exlibrium
- Friar
- Editor
- Lynx
- Major Grom
- Meteora
- MIR
- Plague Doctor
- Red Fury
- Time of the Raven
- Witch
BUBBLE Legends
Legends
- Friar and Major Grom: Storming Berlin
- Dima Dubin: Provincial Vacation
- Yarg: Step Forward
- Major Grom: The Promisenote
- Rivers: No Fear
- Black Dog: His Time
- Demonslayer And Planeswalkers: New Life
- Balor And Yana: Dreamcatcher
- Sentinel: Against Time
- Master: Death Is Just The Beginning
- Theo: Crop Circles
- Exlibrium: Blank Slate
- Exlibrium: Red Line
Legends: New Bubble Heroes
- Anna
- Black Hand
- The Cell
- Don't Wake the Devil: Four Leaf Clover
- Falcon
- Impulse
- Momento Mori
- Plush Cop: The Perfect Plan
- Sister: Cookie
BUBBLE Manga
- Grey Hound
- The Ink Prince And The Book Knight
- Lady Of Radiance
- Licorice
- The Moon's Chosen One
- Tagar