[2] According to a 1999 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, The Company was originally formed primarily to engage in the acquisition, development and production of entertainment feature film and special-interest videocassette programs, and the marketing of these programs in the home video rental and sell-through markets.
Due to increasing competition in the videocassette market, resulting in declining profitability, the Company de-emphasized this segment of its business....[1]In 1990,[3] J2 Communications bought National Lampoon magazine and all its related properties (including the science fiction and fantasy comics magazine Heavy Metal) from then-owners Daniel Grodnik and Tim Matheson,[4] who had acquired the properties in a hostile takeover in 1989.
[8][3][9] In May 1992, Kevin Eastman, co-creator of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, bought Heavy Metal magazine from J2 Communications, becoming its new publisher.
[10] J2 Communications almost immediately licensed out the "National Lampoon" brand to other companies who wished to make films and similar projects.
[a] Although this enterprise salvaged the company from bankruptcy,[12] some believe it damaged the reputation of National Lampoon as a source of respected comedy.