Dark Horse Presents | |
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Publication information | |
Publisher | Dark Horse Comics |
Schedule | Monthly |
Format | Ongoing series |
Publication date | Volume 1 July 1986 – September 2000 MDHP July 2007 – August 2010 Volume 2 April 2011 – May 2014 Volume 3 August 2014 – April 2017 |
No. of issues | 157 (Volume 1) 36 (MDHP) 36 (Volume 2) 33 (Volume 3) |
Dark Horse Presents was a comic book published by Dark Horse Comics from 1986. Their first published series, it was their flagship title until its September 2000 cancellation. The second incarnation was published on MySpace, running from July 2007 until August 2010. A third incarnation began in April 2011, released in print form once again. [1]
Dark Horse Presents was conceived as an anthology title and was the first comic to be released by the newly formed Dark Horse Comics in 1986. The first issue featured Black Cross on the cover and featured the first appearance of Paul Chadwick's Concrete . The title became successful thanks to the increasing popularity of Concrete which quickly became the regular cover feature for much of the first few years of the title.
Concrete eventually spun off into its own title, and this was something which would happen to several characters and stories appearing in Dark Horse Presents. These included John Byrne's "Next Men" comic book, as well as Frank Miller's Sin City stories, with the first "Sin City" story (later retitled "The Hard Goodbye") being serialized within the pages of the comic. The title also contained stories featuring Dark Horse's licensed comics, Aliens and Predator, as well as a Buffy the Vampire Slayer story.
Dark Horse Presents was Dark Horse's longest running title, and provided a mix of material from established and new creators. The title ended with issue #157 in September 2000.
Winner of the Eisner Award for "Best Anthology" - 1992, 1994
Winner of the Harvey Award for "Best Anthology" - 1992, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1998
Dark Horse Presents was revived online through the social networking website MySpace. The first issue of MDHP featured new talents as well as well-known writers like Joss Whedon and Ron Marz. MDHP ran from August 2007 to July 2010, a total of thirty-six issues which were collected in six trade paperbacks.
Dark Horse Presents returned as an eighty-page anthology comic on April 20, 2011 with all-new stories including a Concrete story by Paul Chadwick, a Mr. Monster story by Michael T. Gilbert, a Crimson Empire story from the Star Wars universe, a new strip called Marked Man by Howard Chaykin, a strip called Blood by Neal Adams (his first work for Dark Horse), and a sneak peek of Frank Miller’s prequel to 300, Xerxes. Two covers were available for the first issue, one featuring Concrete and the other featuring Xerxes. The new DHP has seen the revival of a number of older Dark Horse properties, including Ghost (leading to the launch of a new monthly title) and Ron Randall's Trekker.
Dark Horse's May 2014 solicitations for the 36th issue announced "...Living legends Mike Mignola, Stan Sakai, and Jaime Hernandez all contribute to this final issue of Dark Horse Presents", [2] although the following day Bleeding Cool reported this was merely the end of the comic in the eighty-page format, and it would return with fewer pages at a later date. [3]
Winner of the Eisner Award for "Best Anthology" – 2012, 2013, 2014
Winner of the Harvey Award for "Best Anthology" – 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015
Beginning in August 2014, Dark Horse Presents returned as a forty-eight-page book. [4] According to Dark Horse's Mike Richardson: "The main reason is that for three and a half years we've been producing eighty pages a month – that's about ten different features – and it's time to make it a little easier on ourselves". [5] This volume ended in 2017 with issue 33. [6]
Frank Miller is an American comic book artist, comic book writer, and screenwriter known for his comic book stories and graphic novels such as his run on Daredevil, for which he created the character Elektra, and subsequent Daredevil: Born Again, The Dark Knight Returns, Batman: Year One, Sin City, and 300.
Stan Masahiko Sakai is a Japanese-born American cartoonist and comic book creator. He is best known as the creator of the comic series Usagi Yojimbo.
Matt Wagner is an American comics artist and writer who is best known as the creator of the series Mage and Grendel.
Concrete is a comic book series created and written by Paul Chadwick and published by Dark Horse Comics.
Vincent Patrick Deighan, better known by the pen name Frank Quitely, is a Scottish comic book artist. He is best known for his frequent collaborations with Grant Morrison on titles such as New X-Men, We3, All-Star Superman, and Batman and Robin, as well as his work with Mark Millar on The Authority and Jupiter's Legacy.
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"The Hard Goodbye" is the first story in the American Sin City Comics series. It was serialized, as "Sin City", in the comics anthology Dark Horse Presents by Dark Horse Comics and named "The Hard Goodbye" in the trade paperbacks. It was created by Frank Miller, and led to a metaseries that has been adapted into a movie.
Geofrey "Geof" Darrow is an American comic book artist, best known for his work on comic series Shaolin Cowboy, Hard Boiled and The Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot, which was adapted into an animated television series of the same name. He worked as a concept artist and storyboarder for The Matrix series of films. Darrow's approach to comics and art has been cited as an influence by a multitude of artists including Peter Chung, Frank Quitely, Seth Fisher, Eric Powell, Frank Cho, Juan José Ryp, James Stokoe, Chris Burnham, Aaron Kuder, Nick Pitarra,
Paul Chadwick is an American comic book creator best known for his series Concrete, about a normal man trapped in a stone body.
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Michael Terry Gilbert is an American comic book artist and writer who has worked for both mainstream and underground comic book companies.
The Umbrella Academy is an American comic book series created and written by Gerard Way and illustrated by Gabriel Bá. It follows a dysfunctional family of adopted superhero siblings with bizarre powers attempting both to save the world and find their place within it. Published intermittently by Dark Horse Comics, the comic is released in six to seven issue limited series, typically lasting six issues. Since 2007, three volumes have been published, as have two spin-offs. The fourth volume of the main series is currently in development.
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Mike Richardson is an American publisher, writer, and producer. In 1986, he founded Dark Horse Comics, an international publishing house located in Milwaukie, Oregon. Richardson is also the founder and President of the Things From Another World retail chain and president of Dark Horse Entertainment, which has developed and produced numerous projects for film and television based on Dark Horse properties or licensed properties.
Diana Schutz is a Canadian-born comic book editor, serving as editor in chief of Comico during its peak years, followed by a 25-year tenure at Dark Horse Comics. Some of the best-known works she has edited are Frank Miller's Sin City and 300, Matt Wagner's Grendel, Stan Sakai's Usagi Yojimbo, and Paul Chadwick's Concrete. She was known to her letter-column readers as "Auntie Dydie". She was an adjunct instructor of comics history and criticism at Portland Community College.
Negative Burn is a black-and-white anthology comic book published beginning in 1993 by Caliber Press, and subsequently by Image Comics and Desperado Publishing. Edited by Joe Pruett, Negative Burn is noted for its eclectic range of genres, mixture of established comics veterans and new talents, and promotion of creative experimentation.
Robert "Bob" Schreck is an American comic book writer and editor. Schreck is best known for his influential role as editor and marketing director at Dark Horse Comics in the 1990s, co-founding Oni Press, and for his subsequent stint as editor for DC Comics. He is currently the Deputy Director of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.
Gabriel Bá is a Brazilian comic book artist best known for his work on The Umbrella Academy, Casanova, and Daytripper. He is the twin brother of fellow comic book artist Fábio Moon.
Fábio Moon is a Brazilian comic book artist best known for his work on Casanova. He is the twin brother of fellow comic book artist Gabriel Bá.
Rafael Albuquerque is a Brazilian comic book creator primarily for his artwork on titles such as DC Comics' Blue Beetle and as illustrator and co-creator of American Vampire. Though primarily a penciler and inker of interior comic art, he has also done work as a cover artist, colorist and writer.