Lochlanach Comics (Grand Union)

Lochlanach Comics is a comic book publishing company located out of Birka, Tjust and is the Ascomanni Union's largest comic book publisher; and is also one of the largest and most popular publishers in the world. Founded in 1903 by local Birka native Aron Johansson and a friend he had met in university by the name of Klas Wang. Johansson was an aspiring artist and was credited for his unique drawings that could blend both a cartoonish style and a very olden serious artwork. Wang was already in his third year of university wanting to be an author to publish one of his books. Though Wang's book was well received by his professors, they noted that he was very heavy in the book with detail of the background and the characters, instead of working on more dialogue and progressing the plot of said stories. As they reached the end of the year, when Johansson was having trouble coming up with a muse, he read a section of his roommates' book, and began drawing and detailing the first chapter scene by scene. Eventually, Wang found out his roommate was using his book to find inspiration for his drawings; though instead of being furious of his roommate and friend stealing his work, he saw something that could help blend his talent for writing and his friend's unique style of drawing together.

Start of Something Great
Eventually Wang and Johansson got to work on rewriting and drawing Wang's novel he wished to publish. Though Johansson had an idea to help see if people actually wanted to buy his book, they planned to release the first chapter of the book as its own separate issue, and would sell them to the students and professors on campus. They sold roughly 63,000 issues of the first chapter alone, out of the possible 110,000 students on campus. Johansson and Wang eventually released a full version of their book with roughly 71,000 of the students buying the full book. Wang and Johansson made enough money to actually pay for their entire tuition and more to save for the rest of their life. This might have been a one time issue had a Jutland native had not seen the potential in the artist and author. Ola Clausen famous owner of Jutland Printing, the Ascomanni Union's largest publisher of books, cartoons, and newspapers; had flown both Wang and Johansson out to Jellings and offered them a contract to publish the chapters of their book into special issues to help expose the book to a much larger audience and improve Jutland Printing's falling readership and revenue. Wang and Johansson eventually struck a deal to provide them with a majority of the profits from the profit of the issues and full creative control of any future issues they would write.

The official release of "The Tales of the North, No. 1" was released and to great success, and Jutland Printing's highest profit and readership that day. The readership and profit continued as the issues continued to be featured, many loving the new stylized look and writing style to retell the stories of Thor. As Wang and Johansson were reaching the end of Wang's original book, wondering what they could do with Thor, Johansson suggested writing stories of the other various Norse deities and stories into the comics until they reached the event of Ragnarok, the end of time in Norse mythology. Wang hired on more staff for both writing and artist work to help under take such a large project. Though there were some stories that never had Thor in them, they were still printed under the "The Tales of the North" name to make sure readership and sales didn't drop. Though some of these stories weren't as popular as the specific stories of Thor, they still had a large readership base, Wang and Johansson were praised for their ability to make many of the Norse Gods to stand out in the comics, most notably Loki, Freya, and Odin. After three years of the project, they eventually reached the event of Ragnarok in their story lines, a full twelve issue series that would detail the events of Ragnarok. Again, Wang and Johansson were met with great success, earning several awards for the entire "Tales of the North" series. Though Wang, had no real intention of continuing the issues, he was eventually persuaded by Johansson, when he was informed they basically had free range what to do with the comics, and the characters of Norse mythology. They could create whatever stories they wanted, put the characters in whatever situation they wanted to, and even put them in their time; Johansson believed it would be a great read for many and great for Wang to make his own stories and not be restrained by source material. Both Wang and Johansson would continue to be the heads of their respective departments and key parts of Lochlanach Comics, until their eventual deaths.

Synopsis of Comics
The original synopsis for the comics was retelling the tales of the old legends in the new Wang-Johansson style, and then establishing an end point to where they could create their own point with the respective comic lines "end of days" event, i.e., Raganrok.

Currently right now the comics are set in modern day, with the region's specific gods dealing with the villains both in the mortal realm of "Terra" and their respective realms. Though crossover between the various comic issues have become more, and more common since the 80s, as they saw more creative and potential ideas with the various heroes and villains facing each other or teaming up.

Ascomanni Legends
The main storyline running in the Ascomanni Legends issues is the "unholy alliance" of Loki's children; Fenrir, Hel, and Jörmungandr pulling in alliances with many of the undesired other races that roam across Yggdrasil. Such as the Dökkálfar and Ymir, and his mighty race of the Jötnar.

It is currently left to; Odin, Freya and her Valkyries, Tyr and Ullr, and the remaining Asgardians to defend the various realms of Yggdrasil, and prevent Loki's children from invading Midgard (Terra/Earth). Meanwhile Thor has teamed up with the Tuatha Dé Danann of Eire, to fight back the Demon King, Balor and his Fomorian subjects, to bring Loki back to Asgard and help fight back his children.

Champions of the Pantheon
In the Champions of the Pantheon, Zeus was slain in combat after being tricked by his resurrected father Cronos, leaving Mount Olympus divided in who should rule next. Eventually Ares was able to claim victory after beating both Hades and Poseidon in fair combat and making claim and proving he was the only true child of both Zeus and Hera. Though as he was one of the most hated of the Champions, his current rule only affects a few. With the title of King of the Champions, his powers were equal to that of Zeus, meaning his fire could reach Terra in seconds and burn the lands to ash if not handled correctly and his already proficieny in war and combat are unmatched.

Currently Ares rules Olympus with his Queen Athena, a shock to many even herself; but a smart move on his part to make his exact opposite his greatest ally. Ares and Athena's rule currently presides over those who trust Athena or do not despise Ares. Such as: his mother Hera, half sister Artemis, childhood friend Aphrodite, husband of Aphrodite Hephaestus, healer Asclepius, son of Aphrodite Eros, Ares' youngest sister Hebe, and various other subjects. His two challengers to his throne are Zeus' brothers Hades and Poseidon with their own faction of gods and goddesses behind them. Currently in Hades' faction stands: Champion of the common man Hercales, his wife Persephone, nature loving Pan, one of fertility Demeter, and his various subjects of The Underworld.

Current Issues
Current running issues as of 2015, and by rank of popularity
 * 1) Ascomanni Legends (1903-)
 * 2) The Almighty Thor (1907-)
 * 3) Loki, The Trickster God (1947-)
 * 4) Odin Allfather (1921-)
 * 5) Queen of Valkyries Freya (1965-)
 * 6) Fenrir Unbound (1979-)
 * 7) Tyr & Ullr, Glorious Law Givers (1932-)
 * 8) Underworld Goddess Hel (1954-)
 * 9) Father of Frost, Ymir (1988-)
 * 10) Champions of the Pantheon (1923-)
 * 11) King of Gods Ares (1988-)
 * 12) God of all Oceans, Poseidon (1927-)
 * 13) Apollo & Hermes (1990-)
 * 14) Hades, Underworld Chronicles (1961-)
 * 15) Goddesses of Olympus (1992-)
 * 16) * Aphrodite, Goddess of Love
 * 17) * Huntress Artemis
 * 18) * Counselor Athena
 * 19) Heroes of Sand (1948-)
 * 20) Anubis, Death Walker (1948-)
 * 21) Weaver of Fate, Neith (1975-)
 * 22) Broken God Osiris (1956-)
 * 23) Elementals (1981-)
 * 24) * Earth Guardian Geb
 * 25) * Sky Guardian Isis
 * 26) * Fire Guardian Ra
 * 27) * Water Guardian Sobek
 * 28) Beastials, Anhur & Bastet (1983-)
 * 29) Tales of the East (1968-)
 * 30) Journey of the Monkey King, Sun Wukong (1968-)
 * 31) Guan Yu, Saint of War (1974-)
 * 32) Rama and Avatars (1983-)
 * 33) Defenders of Mortals (2000-)
 * 34) * God of Rivers, He Bo
 * 35) * Earth's Greatest Guardian, Hou Yi
 * 36) * The Third Lotus Prince, Ne Zha
 * 37) Purifying Flame, Agni (1997-)
 * 38) Kali, Highness of Destruction (1990-)
 * 39) Setting Sun (1988-)
 * 40) Sun Set Soldiers (1988-)
 * 41) * God of Rain, Tlaloc
 * 42) * Howler Ozomatli
 * 43) * Moon Queen, Awilix
 * 44) * Hidden Jaguar Sun, Xbalanque

Defunct
Current defunct issues as of 2015
 * The Tales of the North (1903-1907)
 * God of War Ares (1948-1988)
 * King of Gods Zeus (1923-1988)
 * Apollo (1955-1990)
 * Hermes (1955-1990)
 * King of the Underworld Hades (1936-1961)
 * Aphrodite, Goddess of Beauty (1959-1980)
 * Tales of the Hunt, Artemis (1960-1988)
 * Athena, Wisdom for All (1952-1991)