Dark Horse Comics

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Please help improve this article by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page. (October 2008)

Dark Horse Comics

Type	Comic publisher
Founded	1986
Founder(s)	Mike Richardson
Headquarters	Milwaukie, Oregon, U.S.
Key people	Mike Richardson
Industry	Comics
Website	DarkHorse.com

Dark Horse Comics is one of the largest independent American comic book publishers, behind dominant publishers Marvel Comics and DC Comics.

Mike Richardson, the owner of several comic book shops in the Portland, Oregon metropolitan area, began to publish in 1986 with an anthology series called Dark Horse Presents, investing profits from his stores into Dark Horse Comics. The publisher is based in Milwaukie, Oregon. Richardson opened his first comic book store, Pegasus Books, in Bend, Oregon in 1980.

Contents 1 Overview 2 Imprints and studios 2.1 Comics' Greatest World/Dark Horse Heroes (1993 - 1996) 2.2 Legend (199? - 1998) 2.2.1 Members 2.3 Maverick (1999 - 2002) 2.4 DH Press 2.5 M Press 3 Titles 4 In other media 4.1 Television programs 4.2 Films 4.3 Video games 5 Notes 6 References 7 External links 7.1 Interviews

[edit] Overview

Dark Horse publishes many licensed comics, including comics based on Star Wars, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Aliens, 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, Katsuhiro Otomo's Akira and Michael Chabon's The Escapist. Today, the comic arm of the company flourishes despite no longer having their own universe of superpowered characters.

[edit] Imprints and studios

[edit] Comics' Greatest World/Dark Horse Heroes (1993 - 1996)

From 1993-1996, Dark Horse published a line of superhero comics under the Comics Greatest World imprint, which was later re-named Dark Horse Heroes. After 1996, publication in 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.

[edit] Legend (199? - 1998)

Legend was a comic book imprint at Dark Horse Comics created in the 1990s 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.

[edit] Members

• Art Adams
• Frank Miller
• John Byrne
• Mike Mignola
• Mike Allred
• Paul Chadwick and Geof Darrow were also on the initial Dark Horse Legend launch tour.

[edit] Maverick (1999 - 2002)

Maverick was an imprint for creator owned material.

[edit] DH Press

Their DH Press imprint publishes novelizations of their more popular comic book titles, including Aliens and Predator.

[edit] M Press

Quirky 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. Managing editor is Robert Simpson.

[edit] Titles

[edit] In other media

Dark Horse's film arm, Dark Horse Entertainment, produces films and TV shows based on Dark Horse Comics. In March 2008, Dark Horse announced that they had signed a three-year first look deal with Universal Studios.^[1]

[edit] Television programs

Following are TV projects based on Dark Horse comic books:^[2]

• The Mask (1995 TV series)
• Timecop (1997 TV series)
• Trigun (1998 TV series)
• Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot (1999-2001 Animated series)
• The B.P.R.D. Declassified (2004 TV movie)
• Hellboy: Sword of Storms (2006 Animated TV movie)
• Hellboy: Blood and Iron (2007 Animated TV movie)

[edit] Films

Dark Horse Comics has acquired the rights to make comic book adaptations of many popular film series. Some of these include Aliens, Indiana Jones, Predator, RoboCop, Star Wars, and The Terminator. Following are the feature films based on series from Dark Horse:^[3]

• Dr. Giggles (1992)^[4]
• Timecop (1994)
• The Mask (1994)
• Barb Wire (1996)
• Mystery Men (1999)
• Virus (1999)
• Alien vs. Predator (2004)
• Hellboy (2004)
• Sin City (2005)
• Son of the Mask (2005)
• 300 (2006)
• Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007)
• Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008)
• El Zombo Fantasma (2010)

[edit] Video games

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Dark Horse Comics: The First Twenty Years (by Mike Richardson, Frank Miller and others, 384 pages, Dark Horse, March 2008, ISBN 1593076088)

[edit] External links

• Official website
• Things From Another World, online retailer of comics and collectibles, sister company of Dark Horse Comics
• Dark Horse Comics at the Grand Comic-Book Database
• Dark Horse Comics at the Big Comic Book DataBase
• Dark Horse Comics at the Comic Book DB
• Dark Horse Comics in the Oregon Encyclopedia

[edit] Interviews

This sections includes a list of references or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations where appropriate. (April 2009)

• FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK: Scott Allie, Comic Book Resources, January 6, 2009
• 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