Image Comics is moving its offices to Portland, OR in early 2017, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported.

Image will relocate its staff to the Montgomery Park Building in northwest Portland, a move which will add annual sales of over $50 million to Portland’s economy. Image will be joining fellow comics publishers Dark Horse and Oni in The City of Roses. Another comic industry business, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF), relocated from New York City to Portland this year (see “CBLDF Holds Moving Sale”).

“Image moving to Portland solidifies its place as one of the three major hubs for comics in the United States, with the other two being Los Angeles and New York,” said Charles Brownstein, executive director of the CBLDF. “And I think it makes Portland even more of a beacon for people that want to participate within the comic’s industry.”

Image publisher Eric Stephenson cited the changes in Berkeley, CA in the past 12 years, both in the economy and culture. “Oregon is a lot more business-friendly than California is,” Stephenson said, also noting that many of the company’s creators already live in Portland. “Since we have so many creators here, we’re going to be able to talk to them face-to-face instead of over the phone or email or at conventions. We’re going to keep doing what we’ve been doing, but hopefully better, thanks to our proximity to creative people.”  

Image was founded in 1992 when seven best-selling artists left Marvel to form their own company: Erik Larsen, Jim Lee, Rob Liefeld, Todd McFarlane, Whilce Portacio, Marc Silvestri, and Jim Valentino. They started with two rules: each creator retained full ownership of their work, and no partner could interfere  in the editorial or business decisions of another.  Image’s current partners are Robert Kirkman, Erik Larsen, Todd McFarlane, Marc Silvestri, and Jim Valentino.