Claypool Comics was formed in 1993 by Cat Yronwode. As an independent comic company, Claypool made its mark by focusing on a limited number of series. By focusing on a small number of properties Claypool was able to grow their readership, by gaining a strong fan base loyal to a particular story line. The company published 336 issues total in three main series; Elvira, Mistress of the Dark; Soulsearchers and Company; and Deadbeats. Soulsearchers and Deadbeats each had a run of 82 issues, while Elvira ran for 166 issues. In late 2006, Claypool announced that they would be ending their run of print comics in their three series due to their distributor, Diamond, dropping them because of poor sales. In April of 2007, Claypool began e-publishing their property, Deadbeats, which ran from April of 2007 until April 2013.