Editors and writers with New Media included Carol Kalish, Richard Howell, Peter B. Gillis, Kurt Busiek, Don and Maggie Thompson, James Van Hise, Peter Sanderson, Max Allan Collins, Ron Goulart, Will Jacobs and Gerard Jones, Steve Perrin, and Roy Thomas.
[4] After Phil Seuling established the direct market in 1972, his company Sea Gate Distributors maintained a virtual monopoly on comic book distribution, until a lawsuit brought by Irjax in 1978.
[2] Irjax sued the comic book publishers DC, Marvel, Archie, and Warren for their anti-competitive arrangement with Seagate.
[3][5] As a result of the lawsuit Irjax gained "a sizeable chunk of the direct-distribution market,"[2] with distribution centers in Boston and Tampa.
[12] Geppi took over New Media/Irjax's office and warehouse space and had to "sort out the good customers from the bad overnight," negotiating with creditors to continue Schuster's distribution business as Diamond Comic Distributors.
[13] In addition to their comics distribution business, in 1975 Hal and Jack Schuster set up a publishing operation, originally producing periodicals for comics/fantasy/science fiction enthusiasts.
The brothers' first publishing venture, Irjax Enterprises, lasted from 1975 to 1977, releasing one publication each summer, on such subjects as Star Trek and Howard the Duck.
[14] They hired Carol Kalish, Richard Howell (doing double duty since they were still helping operate Solar Spice distribution), and Peter B. Gillis (as editorial director), and announced a slate of new titles, most of them professionally produced fanzines.
The series focuses on comic characters, TV shows, rock groups, or movies, mixing text pieces with photos or drawings.
[24]Files Magazine also covered Marvel and DC heroes; article authors included Martin Cannon, Edward Gross, Glenn A. Magee, Doug Murray, John Peel, and James Van Hise; with Schuster serving as editor and publisher.
Pioneer published softcover books in a pop culture vein similar to New Media; many volumes were written by James Van Hise.