Dark Horse Comics
Image Comics was founded in 1992 by disgruntled creatives at Marvel and DC. They were frustated and tired of not being able to produce the work they wanted, and for not being paid adequately for their creations. At the time, Marvel and DC made significant amounts of money on items associated with the creations (think clothing, toys, films), and were unwilling to share the revenue.
With the loss of these creatives, Marvel and DC lost significant resources, and saw some very lean years in comic book writing and art. They have since recovered, and expanded from that point.