The Studio (commune)

The Studio was the name of a small artists' loft commune formed in 1975 by four comic book artists/commercial illustrators/painters in Manhattan's Chelsea district. These artists were Barry Windsor-Smith, Jeff Jones, Michael Kaluta, and Bernie Wrightson — known colloquially as the "Fab Four".[1] The purpose of The Studio was to provide the group with a space where they could pursue creative products outside the constraints of comic book commercialism.[2]

The studio space was a converted machine shop with high ceilings.[1]

Industry journalist Tom Spurgeon commented on the broader significance and influence of The Studio in his 2011 obituary of Jones at The Comics Reporter:

The legacy of that much talent doing what was collectively very good work at a point of almost monolithic and degrading corporate influence over the kind of art they wanted to do has provided The Studio with a legacy that can be embraced even by those that didn't particularly care for the artists' output. The idea of a dedicated workplace that would allow for coercive influence one artist to another has been carried over into very nearly ever cartoonists' collective space initiative since.[2]

By 1979, the "Fab Four" had produced enough material to issue an art book under the name The Studio, which was published by Dragon's Dream.[3] That same year the members of The Studio moved on to independent projects and separate work spaces.