Plot
The story starts in Kaga Province in 1704 with a Chinese army of thousands attacking a Japanese castle of barely a hundred. During the battle only two samurai are shown to survive, one being the main character Asukai Shiro who was knocked out under a pile of rubble. The other survivor, Masahiro informs him that Yoshiko was taken by the Chinese. Shiro then acts as Masahiro's second for ritual suicide as he does not have anything to live for. Shiro then pursues the Chinese to China and battles the warlord and his small army at his fortress after learning that Yoshiko was sold to an Arab slave merchant.
Shiro follows the Arab to Paris, where he is accosted by bigoted Frenchmen at Notre Dame, he then battles three musketeers, eventually being subdued when one hits him from the back with a barrel of wine.
Shiro is then imprisoned in Bastille. He is released under the care of a Spanish Ambassador, Don Miguel Ratera Aguilar Y Aragon who plans on using him to assassinate Louis XIV in Versailles. There he learns that Yoshiko has been bought by Louis XIV, which causes him to no longer want to complete the assassination and just leave, but Louis and the musketeers don't know that and a battle ensues. Don Miguel tries to kill Shiro after learning he will not complete the assassination and during the battle Shiro is knocked unconscious and Don Miguel leaves with Yoshiko for Spain. The last comic ends with Shiro riding from Versailles on a horse that was given to him by the musketeers.
Publication
The story spans at least three 5-issue miniseries, the first of which appeared in 2005 and was collected as a trade paperback a year later:
It included a rare prelude for the first time in color and art done by other artists, along with the 5 issues.
The second miniseries began in December 2006 and ended in mid-2007. The trade paperback was published late in 2007.
In late July 2007, Darkhorse started its Myspace Darkhorse Presents Online Comic. The first issue contained a short Samurai: H&E comic, which takes place between issues 2 and 3 of Volume 1.
Albert Francis "Al" Simmons, better known as Spawn, is a superhero appearing in a monthly comic book of the same name published by American company Image Comics, as well as in a number of films, television series, and video game adaptations set in the Image Universe. Created by Todd McFarlane, Spawn first appeared in Spawn #1.
Fray is an eight-issue comic book limited series, a futuristic spin-off of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Written by Buffy creator Joss Whedon, the series follows a Slayer named Melaka Fray, a chosen one in a time where vampires are returning to the slums of New York City, and the rich-poor divide is even greater. Volume one is drawn by Karl Moline (pencils) and Andy Owens (inks).
Sunfire is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Sunfire is a mutant and sometime member of the X-Men.
Son of Vulcan is the name of two comic book characters, one created by Charlton Comics in 1965, the other by DC Comics in August 2005. Son of Vulcan was one of the characters DC Comics purchased from defunct Charlton Comics in 1983.
Godzilla has appeared in a range of comic books that have been published in Japan and the United States.
Sojourn is a fantasy comic book series published by CrossGen. The series follows the adventures of the archer Arwyn and her companions as they battle undead dictator Mordath. Unlike other CrossGen comics, Sojourn does not center on a Sigil-Bearer, but instead depicts a villainous Sigil-Bearer whom the heroes are tasked with defeating. It ran for 35 issues from 2001 to 2004 until it was forced to end by the bankruptcy of CrossGen. For a time, this series was Crossgen's highest grossing comic.
Ron Marz is an American comic book writer, known for his work on titles such as Batman/Aliens, DC vs. Marvel, Green Lantern, Silver Surfer, and Witchblade.
Serenity: Those Left Behind is a 2005 three-issue comic book limited series published by Dark Horse Comics. It was written by Brett Matthews with Joss Whedon credited for story, illustrated by Will Conrad, and colored by Laura Martin.
Jo Chen is an American comic book artist and writer best known for her highly detailed painted comic book covers. In the Japanese comic industry she is also known by the pen name TogaQ and is known as Jun Togai.
Adriana Melo is a Brazilian comic book artist, Colorist, and penciller. She has worked on various Star Wars, Marvel Comics, and DC Comics titles. Notably, she worked on the Star Wars: Empire series. She has also worked on DC Comics' Rose & Thorn and Birds of Prey as well as Top Cow's Witchblade and Marvel Comics's Ms. Marvel. In 2018 she collaborated with writer Gail Simone on a six-issue DC miniseries featuring Plastic Man.
Shi is a fictional comic book character created by writer/illustrator William Tucci. She first appeared in Razor Annual #1 and has appeared in numerous books by various publishers ever since, most notably Tucci's own Crusade Comics and the Image Universe. Shi is a young woman of Japanese and American descent trained as a sohei warrior monk, who struggles to reconcile her Japanese grandfather's martial training with her American mother's Christian teachings. Japanese culture and spiritual themes are prominent, recurring motifs in storylines featuring her, especially as they pertain to this conflict.
Aliens is a line of several comic books set in the fictional universe of the Alien films published by Dark Horse Comics from 1988 forward. The stories often feature the company Weyland-Yutani and the United States Colonial Marines. Originally intended as a sequel to James Cameron's 1986 film Aliens, the first mini-series features the characters of Rebecca "Newt" Jorden and Corporal Dwayne Hicks. Later series also included the further adventures of Ellen Ripley, with other stories being unique to the Alien universe and are often used to explore other aspects of the species, such as their sociology and biology, and also tying into Dark Horse Comics' Predator and Aliens vs. Predator lines.
Monkeyman and O'Brien is an American comic book series created by artist Art Adams in 1993. The series was published from 1993 to 1999 by Dark Horse Comics in various types of installments including short features in anthologies, backup stories in other series, a three issue limited series, a two issue crossover series and a comic strip in the promotional newspaper Dark Horse Extra. In 1997, a trade paperback collection of the five comic issues was published.
The Umbrella Academy is an American comic book series created and written by Gerard Way and illustrated by Gabriel Bá. The first six-issue limited series, The Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite, was released by Dark Horse Comics between September 14, 2007, and February 20, 2008. It won the 2007 Eisner Award for Best Finite Series/Limited Series. A second series, The Umbrella Academy: Dallas, followed in 2008. After a hiatus the series returned in 2018 with The Umbrella Academy: Hotel Oblivion released between October 3, 2018, and June 12, 2019.
Transformers: Beast Wars is the name of several comic book series by IDW Publishing, based upon Hasbro's toy line and the original television series.
Aliens/Predator: Deadliest of the Species is a 12 issue comic book limited series published by Dark Horse Comics in 1993-1995.
Serenity is a line of comic books published by Dark Horse Comics from 2005 to 2017. It is a canonical continuation of Joss Whedon's Firefly television series and the 2005 film Serenity, which are all part of the Firefly media franchise. It was not an ongoing series; rather, it consisted of a number of miniseries and one-shots, released sporadically.
The Hellboy Universe is the fictional universe of the Hellboy comic and its various spinoffs, created by Mike Mignola. Its first appearance was in a black-and-white, four-page promotional comic by Mike Mignola with a script by John Byrne published by Dark Horse Comics in San Diego Comic-Con Comics #2, distributed at the San Diego Comic-Con. The Hellboy Universe currently spans over eighty trade paperbacks. It is also sometimes informally called the "Mignolaverse".
Resident Alien is an American comic book series created by Peter Hogan and Steve Parkhouse. The series was published by Dark Horse Comics in five installments of four-issue miniseries, followed by a six-issue miniseries, from 2012 to 2021. A seventh miniseries will be published in late 2022.
