I’ve compiled a gallery of preview art from some exciting upcoming titles from our friends over at Dark Horse. New work is on the horizon from the likes of Mike Mignola, Caitlín R. Kiernan, the creators of the Stargate franchise, and many more. Dark Horse is also teaming up with HBO for some exciting Game of Thrones news. So sit back, relax, and read the previews below, or CLICK HERE to see to the gallery of incredible cover art work from these Dark Horse comic titles.
Amala’s Blade Coming to Dark Horse Presents
Dark Horse Comics has announced a brand new three-part story from Steve Horton (DC Holiday Special, Superman 80-Page Giant) and Michael Dialynas (Popgun, Trinkets), which will appear in Dark Horse Presents #9 – Amala’s Blade.
Amala was once chosen as a child to be the spiritual leader for her country, to unite the Purifiers and Modifiers and prevent war. She fled into the night. Twenty years of war later, she makes a living as an assassin, but her past is ever ready to catch up to her. Aboard a massive pirate ship, Amala stalks the fearsome pirate captain Cha’Kooh … but the voices in her head, manifesting as ghosts, keep getting in the way!
Amala’s Blade will be featured in issues 9, 10 and 11 of Dark Horse Presents.
Writer and letterer Steve Horton describes Amala’s Blade as “the steam punk-with-swords epic that I’ve been dying to tell.”
Dark Horse Presents Number 9 will be out February 22nd, 2012.
Dark Horse and Bioware team up for new Dragon Age digital comic series
Dark Horse Comics recently announced an all-new digital comic series based on BioWare’s dark fantasy RPG series, Dragon Age. Written by Dragon Age Lead Writer, David Gaider, and featuring original art by Chad Hardin (Stan Lee’s The Traveler, Web of Spider-Man, The Spirit), the deep and fascinating lore surrounding the Dragon Age universe will unfold, as new adventures will come to light in the comic series.
The thrilling, six-part series will feature a riveting story that takes fans of the critically-acclaimed Dragon Age franchise deeper into the RPG’s mythology. Readers will follow Alistair, Isabela, and Varric, three important heroes from Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age II, as they travel to Antiva, a nation ruled by deadly assassins. The comic series’ heroes will embark on an epic journey to uncover one of the greatest secrets in the history of Thedas while encountering a dangerous prison break and the mysterious and feared Witch of the Wilds.
Dark Horse Comics will release the six-part comic series exclusively at digital.darkhorse.com starting February 22, 2012.
Caitlín R. Kiernan’s Alabaster finds a home at Dark Horse
Caitlín R. Kiernan is the author of numerous works of dark fantasy and science fiction, including nine novels, several comic-book series – including Sandman spinoff The Dreaming – and over two hundred published short stories and novellas. Now, she brings her tales to the land of Dark Horse Comics with Alabaster.
Alabaster is based on Caitlín R. Kiernan’s fan-favorite Dancy Flammarion stories, a dark fantasy series centered around a female teenage protagonist of striking appearance and hidden, terrible depths. For nearly as long as she can remember, seventeen-year-old Dancy Flammarion has fought monsters, cutting a bloody swath through the demons and dark things of the world, aimed like a weapon by a merciless seraph, more taskmaster than guardian.
Part continuation, part re-imagining, the series begins with Dancy making and breaking an oath in the name of her seraph, who subsequently abandons her. Injured and alone, Dancy has to find her own way for the first time in her life—and the wolves are closing in.
Alabaster will first appear in Dark Horse Presents #9 (on sale February 22, 2012), followed by the five-issue miniseries Alabaster: Wolves, which throws readers into Dancy’s world with a bang, strips away her seraph, and introduces the two characters who will become her long-term supporting cast. Alabaster: Wolves #1 is on sale April 11, 2012.
Alabaster features art work by Eisner Award–nominated artist Steve Lieber and cover art by Greg Ruth.
Stargate creators start manufacturing Dark Matter
Fresh off their long tenure on Stargate, one of television’s most successful science-fiction epics, series writers Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie flex their comic-book storytelling muscles to create a thrilling new science-fiction universe for Dark Horse Comics.
Dark Matter begins as a derelict ship floats in space, its troubled crew awakened from stasis with no memories of who they are or how they got onboard. Their search for answers triggers the vessel’s deadly security system, awakening a relentless android bent on their destruction. Facing threats at every turn, they will have to work together to survive a dangerous voyage charged with vengeance, redemption, betrayals, and ultimately, hidden secrets best left unknown.
Dark Matter #1, the first in a four-issue mini-series with artwork by newcomer Garry Brown, went on sale January 11, 2012.
HBO and Dark Horse team up for Game of Thrones-themed product line
One of the most popular and critically acclaimed cable television shows of 2011 was Game of Thrones, created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss for HBO. The hit series is based on A Song of Ice and Fire, the best-selling fantasy novel series by George R. R. Martin.
Dark Horse Deluxe, in partnership with HBO, are creating a vast Game of Thrones product line that will debut this spring, leading up to the show’s second season premiere in April. Licensed product categories derived from the series will span a large range, including statues, busts, action figures, prop & jewelry replicas, barware, stationery, along with other collectibles.
Based on the best-selling fantasy book series A Song of Ice and Fire, by George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones debuted on HBO in March 2011. In a land where summers span decades and winters can last a lifetime, trouble is brewing. From the scheming south and the savage eastern lands, to the frozen north and the ancient Wall that protects the realm from the darkness beyond, two powerful families are engaged in a deadly cat-and-mouse game for control of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros. As betrayal, lust, intrigue, and supernatural forces shake the four corners of the Kingdoms, their bloody struggle for the Iron Throne will have unforeseen and far-reaching consequences.
Barbiere and Radl’s White Suits invades Dark Horse #11
From the Cold War to the present day, a mysterious group of killers known as the White Suits have left their bloody fingerprints throughout modern history. Making their Dark Horse Presents debut, Frank Barbiere and Luke Radl turn back the clock to a time of Iron Curtain brutality with The White Suits.
When a young girl trying to scrape by in a crime-ridden late-1980s Moscow ghetto encounters one of the Suits during a mob deal gone wrong, she is forced to make a decision that will change her life forever – or end it.
Dark Horse Presents #11 goes on sale April 18, 2012.
Five new B.P.R.D. (Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense) titles coming in 2012
The epic story line that began back in 2010 with B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth: New World is coming to a head in 2012. Dark Horse announces the most ambitious B.P.R.D. publishing schedule yet, with five new titles and some of the most earth-shattering events in the history of the series.
First up, this February comes B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth: The Long Death, written by Mike Mignola and John Arcudi, with art by James Harren (Abe Sapien: The Devil Does Not Jest, Heralds). A team is sent to the deadly woods from New World to investigate a new series of disappearances, but they discover more than just the monster responsible, as loyalties are questioned and tensions mount!
March will see the release of B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth: The Pickens County Horror, written by Mike Mignola and Scott Allie, with art by Jason Latour (Wolverine, Scalped) and an all-new cover by Becky Cloonan! This chilling two-issue series brings a B.P.R.D. crew into the grips of a backwoods vampire clan hiding out in a Gothic southern home.
Next, in May comes B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth: The Transformation of J. H. O’Donnell, pairing Mike Mignola with Scott Allie again for the discovery of what drove the Bureau’s expert on ancient foes to near madness after a mission with Hellboy twenty-four years earlier. This supernatural thrill ride features art by B.P.R.D. newcomer Max Fiumara (Amazing Spider-Man) and a cover by Becky Cloonan.
That same month features the return of the regular B.P.R.D. team of Mike Mignola, John Arcudi, and Tyler Crook, with B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth: The Devil’s Engine. The Zinco Corporation again rears its ugly head after a devastating earthquake, pitting Devon and Fenix in an uneasy alliance against bat-faced monsters and the evil empire’s other mad-science experiments! Additionally, this new series will feature covers by former Hellboy artist Duncan Fegredo.
Finally, Cameron Stewart returns to the B.P.R.D. universe in June with B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth: Exorcism! In this story we learn more about Ashley Strode’s evolution as an agent after she meets up with a familiar face for a series of exorcisms in a rural Indiana town. Mike Mignola and Cameron Stewart team up to share writing duties, with pencils by Cameron and covers by Viktor Kalvachev.
B.P.R.D. is sure to be the most-talked-about series of the coming year, as the team stands at the brink of the end of the organization and the world itself.
Axe Cop returns in March
Axe Cop returns with a collection of exciting and unpredictable stories written by the endlessly inventive six-year-old Malachai Nicolle and drawn by his Eisner Award–nominated thirty-year-old brother, Ethan Nicolle.
This stellar volume collects eight Axe Cop stories previously published online and features “Stolen Pizza, Stolen Lives,” a crossover special with fellow webcomics superstar Dr. McNinja! It also contains the Halloween story “The Night Monster” and a special Christmas episode, “The Power of Christmas”! Axe Cop joins his comrades Uni-baby, Bat Warthog Man, and Dinosaur Soldier to fight bad guys and restore justice for kids—and grownups—everywhere.
Axe Cop Volume 3 goes on sale March 28, 2012.
Dark Horse announces biggest Free Comic Book Day ever
Dark Horse rolls out the announcement of all four titles that will be featured in two different comics to be given away to thousands of fans on May 5, 2012.
First comes a special flip book featuring both Felicia Day’s gaming web series turned comic, The Guild, and Dark Horse’s best-selling comics continuation of Joss Whedon’s iconic television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer! Buffy has never needed a vacation as badly as she does now, with the world overrun with zompires and other fallout from Season 8. After an old friend suggests a relaxing getaway from all things that go bump in the night, it turns out to be harder than she could ever expect for a Slayer to get a day off.
Felicia Day, creator of The Guild, continues to bring on the funny with high jinks from her diverse group of gamers when the Guildies struggle to find a meeting place they can all agree on. A little in-game battle becomes the deciding factor, and the circle follows the decree of the winner: the beach?!
Next up is one of the biggest flip books we’ve ever published, when Zack Whedon brings you tales of the coolest guy in the galaxy and the most charming rebel in the ’verse! That’s right; we’ve paired Star Wars with Joss Whedon’s Serenity.
Han Solo and Chewbacca have a falling-out after a deal with their slickest—and shadiest—customer goes bad. But when the client gets designs on the Millennium Falcon, Han and Chewie present a united front that can’t be beat!
Meanwhile, Captain Malcolm “Mal” Reynolds is no stranger to jobs gone wrong himself. But when the chips are down, he’s able to rely on the amazing, odd, and diversely talented crew of Serenity.
Dark Horse Free Comic Book Day 2012: Four great stories for the price of, well, none.
Buffy Season 8 gets hardcover treatment
Series creator Joss Whedon brought Buffy the Vampire Slayer back to life with this comics-only follow-up to Season 7 of the television show. Now the wait is finally over for Buffy fanatics everywhere as Dark Horse announces the deluxe, oversized, dust-jacketed hardcover collection of Buffy Season 8.
This hardcover edition contains the first two arcs of the series (Buffy Season 8 #1–#10), written by Joss Whedon and Brian K. Vaughan (Y: The Last Man, Runaways), with art by the acclaimed Georges Jeanty. It includes two one-shots, a cover gallery, and exclusive, never-before-seen sketch material.
After the destruction of the Hellmouth, the Slayers—newly legion—have gotten organized, but it’s not long before new and old enemies begin popping up. Buffy, Xander, Willow, and a very different Dawn are introduced to the season’s big bad, Twilight, and are only beginning to understand the incredible reach of this mysterious threat. Meanwhile, rebel Slayer Faith teams up with Giles to handle a menace on the other side of the Atlantic.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8 Volume 1 goes on sale May 30, 2012.
Not long after, Buffy Season 9 will also be making its way to a collected series. Written by series creator Joss Whedon and Andrew Chambliss of the CW’s The Vampire Diaries, Freefall collects Buffy Season 9 #1–#5. That series goes on sale August 1st.
Dark Horse Presents The Return of Nexus
Dark Horse Comics announces the return of Nexus in Dark Horse Presents #12. The fan-favorite title returns with its team of creators, Mike Baron (The Badger) and Steve Rude (The Moth), in their respective positions of writer and artist. Baron and Rude created Nexus in 1981 and have been continuing their canonical tale for thirty years. The Eisner Award winners will craft a brand-new three-part story for readers eager to quench their thirst for what’s next to come in the Nexusverse.
Dark Horse Presents #12 goes on sale in May of 2012.
New projects from Matt Kindt and Gilbert Hernandez
Dark Horse Originals is proud to announce two new amazing series from critically acclaimed creators Matt Kindt and Gilbert Hernandez.
Matt Kindt outdoes himself in his bold new espionage series, Mind MGMT. Reporting on a commercial flight where everyone aboard lost their memories, a young journalist stumbles onto a much bigger story, the top-secret Mind Management program. Her ensuing journey involves weaponized psychics, hypnotic advertising, talking dolphins, and seemingly immortal pursuers, as she attempts to find the flight’s missing passenger, the man who was Mind Management’s greatest success—and its most devastating failure. But in a world where people can rewrite reality itself, can she trust anything she sees? If you think you know what Matt Kindt can deliver, you haven’t seen anything yet.
Comics luminary Gilbert Hernandez envisions his strangest, most thrilling future yet in Fatima: The Blood Spinners, a horrifying new take on zombies. A drug called “spin” offers the wildest trip imaginable, followed by its users’ inevitable, rapid deterioration into undead flesh eaters. Despite the side effect, the drug is so popular that the human population is dying out! With no cure to be found, the beautiful, lovesick Fatima may be the only thing standing between the survivors and the apocalypse. Get ready for four issues of zombies, drug lords, and gorgeous women.
Also, announced last week was multiple Harvey and Eagle Award winner Peter Bagge’s Reset, which leads off the Dark Horse Originals variant-cover program.
- Reset #1 is on sale April 18, 2012, and features a variant cover by Matt Kindt.
- Mind MGMT #1 is on sale May 23, 2012, and features a variant cover by Gilbert Hernandez.
- Fatima #1 is on sale June 20, 2012, and features a variant cover by Peter Bagge.
Check out a gallery of covers and sample art from these Dark Horse projects, below.
