For many comic book fans, 2012 was a year of superhero reboots, sequels and prequels. In The New 52, Before Watchmen and Marvel Now!, familiar caped crusaders were given new origin stories, costumes and identities — with mixed results.

But in an industry dominated by recycled ideas, one indie publisher breathed new life into graphic novels. Image Comics launched some of the best titles of the year — among them Saga, Fatale and Hell Yeah— all while staying true to its unique creator-centred model.

“There is a renaissance of creator-owned storytelling happening right now,” said Nathan Edmondson, author of Dancer, published in 2012 by Image.

“A lot of creators have gone and told the Spiderman, the Batman story they’ve wanted to tell and they’re bursting at the seams with creativity. They see that readers want new ideas, and Image is the best home for that to happen.”

When Image was founded in 1992, it was revolutionary. A group of popular comics creators, frustrated by restrictive licensing rules forced upon them by Marvel, decided to start their own imprint.

Two decades later, the publisher remains one of a kind. Image allows authors complete reign over storytelling — no editors, no oversight — and full ownership of all intellectual property rights.

It works like this: first, Image has to agree to publish and distribute your comics. Then, you are responsible for finding an artist, producing the series and doing some of your own marketing.

There’s no money up front, so it means a greater risk for the creator — but potentially, a much bigger payoff later on. Robert Kirkman’s zombie comic series The Walking Dead has been adapted into a hit AMC television show, to which he owns all the rights.

“It is a really interesting and really important model in the comics industry right now,” said Calvin Reid, head of the comics department at Publisher’s Weekly.

He noted that nothing like Image exists in the book publishing world, because authors of non-fiction and novels have long been entitled to intellectual property rights.

“The phrase ‘creator-owned’ really only applies to comics, because comics has a history as a work-for-hire industry,” he said.

Marvel and DC typically hire writers and artists to produce the newest Spider-Man or Superman series, paying a steady paycheque and — in recent years — offering some royalties on sales.

But when a creator takes an original idea to the Big Two, their rights are much less clear. Typically, the author will sell the rights to their characters, while retaining royalty interests.

The year was rife with controversies over creators’ rights. In February, DC announced Before Watchmen, a new series of prequels based on the 1987 masked vigilantes created by Alan Moore. At the time, Moore fumed, “I don’t want money. What I want is for this not to happen.”

Then in October, Laura Siegel, daughter of Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel, wrote an open letter to fans imploring them to support her family’s 15-year quest to regain a portion of the copyright to the Man of Steel.

The comics industry is less exploitative than it was in the rough-and-tumble 1930s — when Siegel and Joe Shuster sold Superman to DC for $130. But in the current economic climate, mainstream publishers have become less likely to gamble on new ideas, said Reid.

“As the traditional comics industry becomes more conservative about what they’re going to publish, you’re finding more top creators going to Image,” he said.

Brian K. Vaughan, Grant Morrison and Ed Brubaker are among the top creators who turned to Image to publish new series this year — resulting in wildly inventive stories that couldn’t have been told anywhere else.

There’s Vaughan’s Saga, about star-crossed alien lovers on the run from intergalactic bounty hunters, or Brubaker’s Fatale, a supernatural noir. Then there’s Morrison’s singular Happy!, featuring a pedophilic Santa Claus and an invisible talking horse.

Publisher Eric Stephenson, who has been at the helm since 2008, said Image doubled its sales in 2012 from the previous year.

“We’ve done it by focusing on new creativity, not re-launches and re-hashes,” he said, adding that Marvel Comics is owned by Disney and DC is owned by Warner Bros.

“Image Comics is a comic book company. We don’t make movies, we don’t make toys,” he said. “I think the creators who want to control their own destiny. . . appreciate that we’re an alternative.”

But Edmondson, who has published six series with Image and will release The Ultimate Iron Man for Marvel in the spring, called the creator-centred model a “double-edged sword.”

He said it can be tough to find artists to work for free before the book is published, without being able to guarantee profits later. He added the lack of editorial oversight can backfire — all writers need reining in sometimes.

“It’s like starting a small business versus getting hired,” he said. “At Image, you have to be prepared to be your own editor and be your own boss.”

But in a year where the next superhero reboot movie felt perpetually around the corner, Image offered a refreshing reprieve. For imaginative stories and one-of-a-kind art, Image Comics was the publisher of the year.

The best new Image Comics series of the year

Saga, by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

Fatale, by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips

The Manhattan Projects, by Jonathan Hickman and Nick Pitarra

Mara, by Brian Wood and Ming Doyle

Happy!, by Grant Morrison and Darick Robertson

Mind the Gap, by Jim McCann and Rodin Esquejo

Hell Yeah, by Joe Keatinge and Andre Szymanowicz