Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book and manga publisher.
Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the
concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started
out by opening his first comic book store, Pegasus Books, in Bend, Oregon, in 1980. From
there he was able to use the funds from his retail operation to start his own publishing
company. Dark Horse Presents and Boris the Bear were the two initial titles in 1986 and
within one year of its first publication, Dark Horse Comics added nine new titles to
its roster, including The American, The Mark, Trekker, and Black Cross. In 2011, Dark Horse
Presents relaunched including the return of Paul Chadwick's Concrete and Steve Niles's
Criminal Macabre, as well as new talent including Sanford Greene, Carla Speed McNeil, Nate Crosby
and others.
Overview Dark Horse publishes many licensed comics,
including comics based on Star Wars, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Buffy the Vampire Slayer,
Aliens, Predator, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Conan and Who Wants to be a Superhero? Dark
Horse also publishes creator owned comics such as Frank Miller's Sin City and 300, Mike
Mignola's Hellboy, Stan Sakai's Usagi Yojimbo, Gerard Way's Umbrella Academy, and Michael
Chabon's The Escapist. Today, the comic arm of the company flourishes despite no longer
having its own universe of superpowered characters. Dark Horse also published the English translation
of Hyrule Historia in 2013. Imprints and studios
Comics' Greatest World/Dark Horse Heroes
From 1993 to 1996, Dark Horse published a line of superhero comics under the Comics'
Greatest World imprint, which was later renamed Dark Horse Heroes. After 1996, publication
of this line came to a near halt, ceasing production of any books concerning the characters
with the publication of the last crossover books involving Ghost, in the early 2000s.
Legend Legend was a comic book imprint at Dark Horse
Comics created in 1994 by Frank Miller and John Byrne as an avenue for creator-owned
projects. Its logo was a moai drawn by Mike Mignola. Later on, other creators were asked
to join them. The imprint ended in 1998. Members
Art Adams Frank Miller
John Byrne Mike Mignola
Mike Allred Paul Chadwick, Dave Gibbons, and Geof Darrow
were also on the initial Dark Horse Legend launch tour.
Dark Horse Manga Dark Horse Manga is an imprint for Japanese
manga. Publications include Akira, Astro Boy, Berserk, Blade of the Immortal, Ghost in the
Shell, Lone Wolf and Cub, Trigun and Blood Blockade Battlefront by Yasuhiro Nightow,
Gantz, Hellsing and Drifters by Kouta Hirano, Blood+, Multiple Personality Detective Psycho,
Fooly Cooly, Oreimo, and America's longest running manga series, Oh My Goddess! by Kōsuke
Fujishima. Dark Horse also publishes a number of CLAMP titles, including Clover, Chobits,
Okimono Kimono, Cardcaptor Sakura, Magic Knight Rayearth, and Gate 7. A manga magazine titled
Super Manga Blast was published by Dark Horse starting in the spring of 2000. It was discontinued
in December 2005 after 59 issues. Dark Horse also publish a number of Korean
manhwa titles, including Banya: The Explosive Delivery Man.
Maverick
Maverick was an imprint for creator owned material.
DH Press The DH Press imprint publishes novelizations
of Dark Horse's more popular comic book titles, including Aliens and Predator. DH Press has
now been absorbed by DH Books. M Press
Publications ranging from novels to film books by Leonard Maltin about John Landis, to comic
related material such as a biography of Will Eisner, to health books. They have also published
a series reprinting Playboy interviews. The M Press imprint was created to publish a diverse
list of both literary fiction and non-fiction prose for authors with a unique voice. The
newest addition to M Press is an original comic series by Tom Morello called Orchid.
Issue one is due out October 12, 2011. Dark Horse Digital
In 2011, Dark Horse launched their iOS app and online digital comics store, followed
by the release of the beta version of a native Android app in 2012. Any device with a modern
web browser can be used to read Dark Horse comics at their web store.
DH Deluxe Initiated in 1998, Dark Horse Deluxe rolled
out a line of merchandise that included model kits, toys, apparel and collectibles. Its
original purpose was to draw on Dark Horse properties but expanded to include such collectibles
as Tim Burton's Tragic Toys for Girls and Boys, Joss Whedon's Serenity, and most recently,
merchandise for the popular video-game franchise Mass Effect. Dark Horse, working with Big
Tent Entertainment and the NHK broadcasting corporation, brought Domo-kun to the United
States with a series of products ranging from Qee figurines to journals and stationery sets.
Titles
Dark Horse Comics has acquired the rights to make comic book adaptations of many popular
films and series. Some of these include Aliens, Army of Darkness, Indiana Jones, Predator,
Predators, RoboCop, The Thing, Star Wars, The Terminator, Timecop, Buffy the Vampire
Slayer, Planet of the Apes, Let Me In and Avatar: The Last Airbender.
In 2013 CCP Games announced that Dark Horse would be publishing a series of comic books
based on stories collected from players of the MMORPG EVE Online.
In 2014, Lucasfilm announced that, as of 2015, future Star Wars comics would be published
by Lucasfilm's corporate sibling, Marvel Comics. Dark Horse Entertainment
Dark Horse's production studio arm, Dark Horse Entertainment, produces films and television
shows based on Dark Horse Comics. Established by Richardson in 1992, Dark Horse Entertainment
set up shop on the lot at Twentieth Century Fox through a first-look deal with Larry Gordon
and Largo Entertainment. Dark Horse Entertainment has produced over two dozen films and television
projects. Television
The following are TV projects based on Dark Horse comic books:
The Mask Timecop
Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot The B.P.R.D. Declassified
The Amazing Screw-On Head Films
The following are feature films based on series from Dark Horse Comics:
Dr. Giggles The Mask
Timecop Tank Girl
Barb Wire Mystery Men
Virus Timecop 2: The Berlin Decision
Alien vs. Predator Hellboy
Sin City Son of the Mask
Hellboy: Sword of Storms 300
Hellboy: Blood and Iron Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem
Hellboy II: The Golden Army El Zombo Fantasma
R.I.P.D. Sin City: A Dame to Kill For
Beasts of Burden The Umbrella Academy
Chickenhare Emily the Strange
References
Further reading Richardson, Mike; Frank Miller, et al.. Dark
Horse Comics: The First Twenty Years. Dark Horse Comics. ISBN 1-59307-608-8.
External links
Official website Dark Horse Comics on Facebook
Dark Horse Comics on Google+ Dark Horse Comics on Twitter
Dark Horse Comics's channel on YouTube Things From Another World Online retailer
of comics and collectibles; sister company of Dark Horse Comics.
Dark Horse Comics at the Grand Comics Database Dark Horse Comics at the Big Comic Book DataBase
Dark Horse Comics at the Comic Book DB Dark Horse Comics at the INDUCKS
"Dark Horse Comics". The Oregon Encyclopedia. Interviews
From the Editor's Desk: Tim Ervin. Comic Book Resources. January 8, 2009.
From the Editor's Desk: Chris Warner. Comic Book Resources. January 14, 2009.
From the Editor's Desk: Diana Schutz, Part I. Comic Book Resources. January 20, 2009.
From the Editor's Desk: Diana Schutz, Part II. Comic Book Resources. January 22, 2009.
From the Editor's Desk: Randy Stradley. Comic Book Resources. February 25, 2009.
From the Editor's Desk: Shawna Gore. Comic Book Resources. March 16, 2009.