Richard Howell entered the comics industry in 1977 with his self-published series Portia Prinz of the Glamazons.

[3] Beginning in 1980, he and his partner Carol Kalish co-edited the New Media/Irjax line of magazines.

[4] They also ran the New Media/Irjax-owned Boston-area distributor Solar Spice and Liquors,[5] named after a fictional corporation created by science fiction writer Poul Anderson.

Howell replaced Peter B. Gillis as editorial director of New Media/Irjax in June 1981.

[4] Claypool announced in July 2006 that the print end of its published line would cease, as Diamond Comic Distributors, the industry's major distribution arm, would no longer carry it.