DD HISTORY: 1994-1996

Many years before founding Devil's Due, Josh Blaylock was doing the comic book hustle, traveling to over a dozen conventions in the midwest in 1996 to promote his creation, Minotaur. Although an amateur effort, this black and white comic book was what laid the foundation that taught Josh about distribution, printing, shipping logistics, and exhibiting at conventions.

At age 16 Josh began frequenting any local convention possible (not many in the Cincinnati area), and communicating with and learning from local self-publishers. It was the '90s, and there were a plethora of small operations in the indy game, few of which lasted, but it was as valuable a crash course as any college curriculum, not only in publishing, but business in general.

Minotaur was to be released by a prominent indy publisher in late 1995, only a few months after Blaylock graduated from high school. When the book was pulled from the line-up unexpectedly, a decision was quickly made to go it alone, and Labyrinth Studios was formed. After a short term loan for $850 from his uncle to buy an ad in the Capital City Distribution catalog, and help fronting printing from his parents and part time jobs, Minotaur was released in March of '96, in all of its black and white, newsprint, paste-up design glory, and Josh never looked back.