[4] Its best-known publications include Spawn, The Walking Dead, Kick-Ass, Invincible, Jupiter's Legacy, Witchblade, The Maxx, Savage Dragon, Bone, Saga, Radiant Black and Stray Dogs.

Its output was originally dominated by superhero and fantasy titles from the studios of the founding Image partners, but now includes comics in many genres by numerous independent creators.

In the early 1990s, artists Todd McFarlane, Rob Liefeld, and Jim Lee broke successive modern sales records at Marvel Comics with Spider-Man #1, X-Force #1, and X-Men #1 respectively.

Although Liefeld shelved plans for The Executioners after Marvel threatened to both sue him and fire him from X-Force (the characters later appeared in Youngblood and their own title as "The Berzerkers"), the incident only further motivated him to pursue independent publishing.

[23] In 2022, former Incredible Hulk artist Dale Keown said that he was approached in 1992 about taking Portacio's place, but declined because his criminal record made it difficult to travel outside his home country of Canada.

[17] Image continued to expand in 1993 with new titles from both founders, such as Liefeld's Bloodstrike and Lee's StormWatch, and non-founders, including Sam Kieth's The Maxx, Larry Stroman's Tribe, Keith Giffen's Trencher, and Mike Grell's Shaman's Tears,[25] and 1963 by Alan Moore, Steve Bissette, and Rick Vietch.

[29] The use of freelancers to write or illustrate series that were owned by the Image partners led to criticism that some of them had reproduced the very system they had rebelled against, but with them in charge instead of a corporation.

"[32] In late 1993, Image hired Larry Marder, an independent cartoonist and former marketer for Chicago comics retail chain Moondog, to act as "executive director" for the publisher, ranking above Lobito and reporting directly to the partners.

[33] McFarlane told The Comics Journal that the founders had ignored Lobito's advice in the past, even when he was correct, because they didn't have confidence in his guidance due to his age and relative inexperience.

[27] Titles added in the mid-1990s included Hellshock by Jae Lee, Groo by Sergio Aragonés, Bone by Jeff Smith, A Distant Soil by Colleen Doran, and Astro City by Kurt Busiek, Brent Anderson and Alex Ross.

Described as a "home for creator-owned material as well as a safe haven from an increasingly challenging comic book market," the initial line-up consisted of Astro City, Terry Moore's previously self-published Strangers in Paradise, and a new title called Leave it to Chance by James Robinson and Paul Smith.

[36] The Image founders also continued to produce new top-selling series, such as Gen13 from WildStorm Studios in 1994, and Witchblade and The Darkness from Silvestri's Top Cow Productions in 1995 and 1996 respectively.

[37] In 1998, WildStorm launched the commercially successful Cliffhanger sub-imprint to showcase created owned titles from a new generation of popular artists, starting with Humberto Ramos, J. Scott Campbell, Joe Madureira.

Around 20% of all comic book stores went out of business in 1993, industry analyst Mel Thompson estimated, compared to the typical attrition rate of around 10% in prior years.

Many comics industry professionals blamed speculators for the market downturn, but many retailers cited Image's erratic publishing record as a key cause of fiscal strain for stores.

Khoury concluded that everyone in the industry was to blame for the comics market crash, including publishers, speculators, readers, retailers, creators, and editors.

Liefeld founded his own separate company, Maximum Press, in late 1994 largely in response to those tensions and a realization that he wouldn't always be a part of Image, he told CBR in 2001.

[57] Jim Lee sold WildStorm and its characters to DC Comics in 1998,[58][59] citing a desire to exchange his responsibilities as a publisher for the opportunity to do more creative work.

[60] Image continued to diversify, adding titles such as Brian Michael Bendis's Jinx and Matt Wagner's Mage to the company's line-up in 1997, while Valentino's Shadowline imprint published more than 12 black and white titles, including his own A Touch of Silver, James A. Owen's Starchild, Zander Cannon's The Replacement God, Mike Baron's The Badger, and Michael Avon Oeming's Ship of Fools.

[71] Other titles published during Valentino's tenure include Kirkman and Cory Walker's Invincible; Bendis's Powers; Garth Ennis, Jimmy Palmiotti, and Amanda Conner's The Pro; Jay Faerber's Noble Causes, and Warren Ellis and Chris Weston's Ministry of Space.

[64] Titles launched during Larsen's tenure include Ellis and Ben Templesmith's Fell; Casey and Tom Scioli's Godland; Richard Starkings's Elephantmen; Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie's Phonogram; and The Sword by the Luna Brothers.

In 2007, Liefeld returned to Image as a creator, as opposed to partner, to publish a new Youngblood series written by Joe Casey with art by Derec Donovan and Val Staples.

[79] MacDonald cited the publication of Saga and other new titles from popular creators like Grant Morrison, Jonathan Hickman and Ed Brubaker, along with "homegrown hits" from Image like Chew, Mornings Glories, and Thief of Thieves and Stephenson's own Nowhere Men among his accomplishments.

Saga creator Brian K. Vaughan explained that while he loved the other companies he had worked with, he wanted to maintain 100% control over the series to ensure there would be no content restrictions or interference and Image may have been the only publisher that still offered a fully creator-owned contract.

[citation needed] As of 2020[update], McFarlane's Spawn and Larsen's Savage Dragon were the longest-running creator-owned titles published by Image, with over 300 and 250 issues, respectively.

[89] However, the union's ninth goal of establishing "a collective voting option to immediately cancel publication of any title whose creator(s) have been found to have engaged in abuse, sexual assault, racism and xenophobia, homophobia, transphobia, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, ableism, etc.” proved controversial.

Vice reported that this goal was "read as a demand for a censorious panel to ensure that upcoming comics adhere to diktats of political correctness."

CBWU told Vice that the request was not an effort to dictate the content of Image publications, but to create a process to ensure a safe working environment.

[93] CBWU filed suit against Image Comics in February 2022, alleging retaliation against union members and interference with bargaining efforts.

In July 2018, Marjorie Liu won the Eisner Award for Best Writer for her work on Monstress, making her the first woman in history to win in the category.