Dark Horse is 20 years old

[Rob Allen]

Dark Horse Presents #1 was published July 6, 1986.

Here's an article that was on page one of the Business section of yesterday's paper:

http://www.oregonlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/business/115215453463240.xml?oregonian?fng&coll=7

Happy birthday to my friendly neighborhood publisher!

[Josh S]

I completely ignored them until this year, and you what? It's further proof I'm an idiot. CONAN and THE GOON are the best books out there and once I get steady cash flow I'm definately checking out CONCRETE and HELLBOY.

Happy birthday to a great publisher.

[howyadoin]

Rob, did you pick up the 25-cent pinup book they put out this week? Great stuff.

[Charles RB]

I almost said something about not really noticing Dark Horse, and then I realised my collection includes Aliens Book 1, the first five Hellboy tpbs, Judge Dredd VS Aliens, Scarlet Traces, Kingdom Of The Wicked, The Last Temptation, Godzilla and probably a bunch I own that I forgot were Dark Horse. And some I don't have look really good.

Dark Horse be doing good.

[Nikita]

DarkHorse is awesome. DC and MARVEL suck in certain areas compared to DarkHorse. DarkHorse puts out a lot of unusual stuff that DC and MARVEL would never touch. Take that DC and MARVEL!!!!! :p

[Michael P]

Any company that publishes both Hellboy and Spyboy must be doing something right.

Actually, that's a pretty good idea for a crossover.

[Shellhead]

If someone had told me 20 years ago that an independent comicbook company would still be in business after 20 years, I would have assumed that they were talking about Comico, or maybe First or even Eclipse. But Dark Horse has continued to put out decent comics over the years, long after the others faltered.

[DubipR]

I loved the days of the Legend Imprint. Some amazing books came out from them. Also the early Predator and Aliens minis were solid. And yes, I was one of the 10 people that bought all the World's Greatest Comics (16 weeks for 16 bucks).

Today, DHP has some good stuff, but nothing like they had. Only book I'm getting from them is Chabon's Escapist.

Still, 20 years is good regardless.

[K'Nort]

And yes, I was one of the 10 people that bought all the World's Greatest Comics (16 weeks for 16 bucks).

I got a complete run of that as a door prize at a con last year.


I'm currently reading Goon and BPRD and I'm sure I'm forgetting something really nifty.

It's a great company.

[Valmore]

I'm liking the new Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic book.

[Forefinger]

I love Sin City and Grendel. Thanks Dark Horse.

[Jack Zodiac]

DarkHorse is awesome. DC and MARVEL suck in certain areas compared to DarkHorse. DarkHorse puts out a lot of unusual stuff that DC and MARVEL would never touch. Take that DC and MARVEL!!!!! :p

I think DC, under their Vertigo imprint, would print plenty of stuff that Dark Horse does. They just can't, 'cause they suck, and Dark Horse got that sweet talent first. Except for Mike. He saw the error of his ways and left DC for the promised land of Dark Horse to kick his Lovecraft homage into gear.

Happy Birthday, Dark Horse!

[Iangould]

I remember picking up Dark Horse Presents #1 when it first came out.

I've met Mike Richardson and he struck me as a really nice guy as well as an exceptionally good businessman.

Honestly though, Dark Horse has seemed to me to be kinda treading water the last few years compared to the days when, for example, Aliens sold 400,000 copies and they had Frank Miller's Sin City headlining every issue of Dark horse Presents.

I know everything ebbs and flows and I'm sure Mike's still doing quite nicely for himself but I remember when Dark Horse looked like a really serious competitor to Marvel and DC. In a lot of ways I think the industry would be healthier if that were still the case.

[Kid Omega]

If someone had told me 20 years ago that an independent comicbook company would still be in business after 20 years, I would have assumed that they were talking about Comico, or maybe First or even Eclipse. But Dark Horse has continued to put out decent comics over the years, long after the others faltered.

Fantagraphics turned 30 this year.

[algertman]

Yeah, I bought the 25c issue. Nothing but art, but some of those picures are cool. Gonna frame on or two

[mrc1214]

I just started reading Dark Horse recently. I love Sin City, Usagi Yojimbo and Concrete. Dark Horse has put out some great stuff.

[Shellhead]

I love Sin City and Grendel. Thanks Dark Horse.

Grendel was originally published by Comico.

[gary bolt]

The 25 cent book has some great art in it. Love the cover.

http://images.darkhorse.com/covers/14/14033.jpg

[hoffmandu]

Bravo! HIP HIP HURRAY!

[howyadoin]

The 25 cent book has some great art in it. Love the cover.

http://images.darkhorse.com/covers/14/14033.jpgI really like the way they're sequenced, too - Mignola does the cover, Adam Hughes draws Mignola's character, Art Adams draws Hughes's character, Mahnke draws Art Adams's character...

[Weetomuncher]

It is always great to see some competition to the big publishers and Dark Horse have put out some interesting material in their time.

I don't pick up much of their output, I think the only recent title I've read from them is The Nail, a horror story about a wrestler fighting zombies from about two years ago but I still think Dark Horse has made a big contribution to the industry by picking up properties that may not have fitted in with the big two.

Hopefully Dark Horse will still be around in another twenty years.

[DonC]

I know everything ebbs and flows and I'm sure Mike's still doing quite nicely for himself but I remember when Dark Horse looked like a really serious competitor to Marvel and DC. In a lot of ways I think the industry would be healthier if that were still the case.


Competition is always healthy. It makes publishers take risks they normally wouldn't. Alas, like you said, Dark Horse is currently at low tide. Not that they don't do some amazing stuff, mind you. Just that they don't seem to be getting the recognition they used to. It's a shame, too, the stuff they're doing now is just as good as back then.


Happy birthday, Dark Horse. Behave.

[Johhny Blame]

Oh yeah, I love Dark Horse. Probably my favorite publisher. Putting out some great stuff andthey brought a bunch of manga stateside too, which is awesome.

[DWEarhart]

Dark Horse, for me, was the first alternative to the capes and tights. They had a couple of their sub-divisions that tried it, but Dark Horse has never feared change or diversity.

They've been at the forefront of bringing Manga to America, and just talent from all around the globe into the hands of people that would never have heard of them otherwise.

I'm always picking one or three things a month from them, and I'm glad they're still around and as reliable on their quality as ever.

[LtMarvel]

Happy b'day to my second favorite publisher.

I still miss Bob the Alien!

[pennywisdom]

I love Dark Horse, for all the reasons everybody's been listing, but I think they should also be given credit for being one of the oldest proponents of manga in the United States.

Manga is arguably the greatest source for truly artistic and creative comics these days and DH has really backed it. Now that Japanese comics are outselling American superhero comics (especially in youth markets), we can now more greatly appreciate what DH has done in terms of pioneering this market in America.

[ZombieKilla]

I love Dark Horse, for all the reasons everybody's been listing, but I think they should also be given credit for being one of the oldest proponents of manga in the United States.

Manga is arguably the greatest source for truly artistic and creative comics these days and DH has really backed it. Now that Japanese comics are outselling American superhero comics (especially in youth markets), we can now more greatly appreciate what DH has done in terms of pioneering this market in America.


Totally agree, they were ahead of their time. I think it's great that an indy has been able to stay around so long and play with the "big 2" and stay alive. It's b/c they're willing to take risks on books that the other companies wouldn't give the time of day.

[matt levin]

I don't go in much for splash pages--comics is panel to panel storytelling to me--and collections of comicbook covers, or single page illos rarely interest me, either. HOWEVER! for a quarter, two thin dimes anna nickel, DHP 20 years is a wonderful collection of full-page color illustrations of many DH characters, as done by 'other' creators, often swapping characters. My faves include, for instance, a Sin City page done by Stan Sakai followed by an Usagi Yojimbo page done by Frank Miller. There's Groo drawn by Paul Chadwick...preceeded by Sergio Aragones drawing (a potato-nosed) Conan. anyway, certainly for a quarter, this's a joy, and I hope others find it too.

Matt

[innocentboy]

beautiful art in this book for real.
off the top of the head, the Aliens pic was dope as hell, liking the Hellboy, the Art Adams Ghost ....

[Generic Eric]

Dark Horse has put out some really great comics over the years. My favorites Are Hellboy, The Goon, BPRD, Sin City, Concrete,Sock Monkey, Grendel and some of the early Aliens and Predator books. Dark Horse has had a lower profile over the last few years. But I feel the quality of thier books have stayed steady and consistant.