One of the cooler things about Portland is how many comic book creators live here—for those of us who are into comics, it’s not unusual to see Brian Michael Bendis somewhere around town, or to run into some of the friendly peeps from Top Shelf or Dark Horse.

A bunch of Portland’s freelance comic creators have a studio here in town—formerly called Mercury Studio, they’ve renamed themselves Periscope. A bit of the press release:

Mercury Studio, the largest studio of freelance comic book creators in North America, announced today that it has a new name: Periscope. This follows a move to a new space overlooking downtown Portland, long known as a major hub of the comics industry.

“We often invited creators from all ends of the field to come by and work,” explained Jeff Parker, a Periscope member best known for his writing at Marvel Comics. “As we were looking to move to a larger space, Steve Lieber suggested we go ahead and invite some of them to have permanent desks. Now we’re a fairly thorough cross-section of the comics industry.”

“We can really pool resources and let our skills cross-pollinate,” added founding member David Hahn. ” Now it’s common to see a major emerging talent like Colleen Coover swap tips with an established veteran like Ron Randall, or Jesse Hamm assisting Matthew Clark in between his own graphic novels.”

… Periscope credits include properties like Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Fantastic Four, Spider-Man and prestigious graphic novels like Paul Guinan’s Boilerplate and Steve Lieber’s Whiteout, currently filming at Warner Brothers with Kate Beckinsale in the lead role. Upcoming [graphic novels] include the new Minx line’s Good As Lily with work by Hamm, and Meconis’ new book, Wire Mothers: Harry Harlow and the Science of Love, which has been greeted with excellent reviews.

Work by several Periscope members is currently featured at Floating World Comics Gallery at 20 NW 5th Ave in Portland.

So now you know. In related news, the Portland Mercury will soon be renamed the Portland Periscope.

Art above and below from Periscope member David Hahn.