Many things changed the comic book industry in the early eighties but none more than Pacific Comics, a San Diego-based firm founded by Steve and Bill Schanes. Pacific had an amazing rise and fall, and on the way up, they had the top execs at DC and Marvel scurrying about, trying to make their companies "creator-friendly." By the time Pacific (and a few other like companies) had crashed and burned, comics were a somewhat better field to work in…and for some, no longer a field from which one had to escape.
For that and other reasons, the saga of Pacific is an important story so I want to direct you to this historical piece written by Jay Allen Sanford, who worked there for a time. A few "facts" do not jibe with my understanding but most of it seems pretty sound. Thanks to Rob Rose for pointing it out to me.