DARK HORSE ANNOUNCES 2012 STAR WARS INCENTIVE PROGRAM!

November 1st, MILWAUKIE, OR—Dark Horse is excited to offer retailers a special stock-up incentive tied to five great new Star Wars series in 2012!

Retailers who order fifteen copies of any of the following titles will receive 5 percent off of their initial orders for that title: Knights of the Old Republic: War, Dawn of the Jedi, Knight Errant III, Darth Vader and the Ghost Prison, Blood Ties: Boba Fett Is Dead.

Darth Vader and the Ghost PrisonGhost Prison takes place a year after Revenge of the Sith and will showcase Darth Vader’s impact on the galaxy in ways fans have never seen. Darth Vader will serve the Emperor to the best of his abilities. After all, Darth Vader makes no mistakes.

Knights of the Old Republic: War—The Knights of the Old Republic video games and comics chronicle one of the most popular eras in Star Wars, making Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic—War the perfect entry point into the Star Wars galaxy!

Dawn of the Jedi—Here’s your first look at the Star Wars of 25,000 years ago—before there were lightsabers, when the ties to the Force were new, and before the Jedi spread out into the galaxy. It began with the mysterious pyramid ships—the Tho Yor—scattered to the eight corners of the galaxy, and ended with the establishment of an order that would change the universe forever.

Blood Ties: Boba Fett Is Dead—Boba Fett is dead. The most infamous hunter in the galaxy has been hunted. He’s lying, broken, on the desert floor. He’s more blaster holes than man. It’s the ultimate ending. However, this is just the start of our story. With the fall of Fett broadcast across the galaxy, someone rises to avenge him.

Knight Errant III—Jedi Knight Kerra Holt continues her one-woman crusade against the Sith from behind enemy lines on her most dangerous mission yet!

Look for Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic–War #1 in this month’s issue of the Diamond Previews catalog!

Berkeley Breathed’s Bloom County Series Continues in October

Volume five of IDW’s award-winning Complete Library now available for pre-order

Best-selling chronological collection will expand to include Outland, Opus

San Diego, CA (September 12, 2011)—The wildly successful return of Opus, Binkley, Bill the Cat and the entire cast of Bloom County continues in October with BLOOM COUNTY: THE COMPLETE LIBRARY, VOLUME FIVE, now available for pre-order. After weeks on The New York Times Best Seller list, multiple awards and nominations, and a museum retrospective, VOLUME FIVE brings readers the final chapter of Berkeley Breathed’s incredibly popular and Pulitzer Prize-winning series. And just as Breathed was drawn back to Bloom County, so will IDW finish the Complete Breathed Strip Library with the first full color, chronological reprints of both Outland and Opus, starting in 2012.

“The really funny thing about many of these past strips… is how utterly inappropriate they would be for today’s newspapers,” said Breathed. “I’m thankful there’ll be a complete record of inappropriateness now.”

BLOOM COUNTY: THE COMPLETE LIBRARY, VOLUME FIVE offers every daily and Sunday strip from November 30, 1987 through August 6, 1989, the day that Breathed, at the top of his game both critically and commercially, walked away from Bloom County. This ultimate volume features an introduction by Breathed and is also full of the annotations and behind-the-scenes antidotes from him, a hallmark for which the series has become known.

As with the first five volumes, OUTLAND and OPUS will also offer engaging comments and insights from Breathed about the strips. Each volume will contain the full run of Sunday-only strips, offering fans the first and only complete, full color, chronological collections, and featuring many of the characters from Bloom County.

“This is sort of a ‘the king is dead, long live the king’ moment for me,” said series editor Scott Dunbier, “While I’m happy the Bloom County Series is now collected, I’ll be sad to not be working on it anymore… but elated to have both Outland and Opus on the horizon!”

Breathed‘s Bloom County is one of the most popular and critically acclaimed newspaper strips of modern times. Premiering on December 8th, 1980 – a month after the election of Ronald Reagan as President – the strip brought a unique amalgam of contemporary politics and fantasy, all told with hilarious wit and humor. At its height, Bloom County was published in an astonishing 1200 newspapers, and the first collection, Loose Tails, sold more than one million copies.

Celebrating the cultural impact of this remarkable comic strip, IDW Publishing has teamed up with Breathed for the first complete and chronological collection of Bloom County. Each volume features the many quirky citizens of Bloom County—such as Opus, Bill the Cat, and Milo Bloom—while projecting Breathed’s uncanny ability to be both cynical and naïve, often at the same time. The first four volumes of BLOOM COUNTY: THE COMPLTE LIBRARY are currently available at fine bookstores everywhere, with Volume Five launching in October. The single volume of Outland will be released in April of 2012.

In addition to the print books, IDW has also released a BLOOM COUNTY application for Apple’s iPad, starting with the inaugural year, 1980-81, with more years soon to follow. BLOOM COUNTY will also launch in iBooks, shortly. Each digital edition is specially formatted, with one day’s strip per page for optimal viewing on the iPad or iPhone.

Bloom County: The Complete Library Volume Two is published by IDW under its imprint Eisner award-winning imprint, the Library of American Comics. Bloom County: The Complete Library series is edited by Dunbier and designed by Dean Mullaney.

BLOOM COUNTY: THE COMPLETE LIBRARY VOLUME FIVE ($39.99, 272 pages, hard cover, partial color) will be available in stores in October 2011. ISBN 978-1-61377-061-0. Diamond order code AUG11 0382.

BLOOM COUNTY: THE COMPLTE LIBRARY VOLUME ONE (iPad only, $7.99, December 8 1980 – December 31, 1981, partial color) is now available through iTunes [http://bit.ly/bloom-county-ipad].

Executive Assistant Lotus #2: The Hit List Agenda

Executive Assistant Lotus #2: The Hit List Agenda
by Rob Base

http://pdxcomicgeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Executive-Assistant-Lotus-2.jpg
Executive Assistant Lotus #2 The Hit List Agenda
Vince Hernandez – Story / Oliver Nome – Art / Emilio Lopez – Colors

Very few comics have the ability to read like a TV series. How many people out there reading this thought The Walking Dead would really be a compelling “TV” show?

Executive Assistant Lotus feels more like a USA primetime TV program in the vein of Burn Notice or In Plain Sight and yet with all the dialogue, the comic’s action is hard hitting and engaging.
I really don’t want to give away any details of the story. Lotus will have many fans of Marvel Comic’s Elektra drooling for more.
Lotus maybe in over her head but finds ways to do much butt kicking that will keep fans reading till the final issue.
Here’s hoping that Executive Assistant Lotus gets her own TV show next fall.

 

The Original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Return!

The Original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Make a Triumphant Return to Comics!

 

New “Heroes on a Half-Shell” Series Debuts in August
with TMNT Co-Creator, Kevin Eastman

 

Starting in August, IDW’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles will kick off with a brand new installment of the original series, led by Eastman and co-writer Tom Waltz (Silent Hill: Past Life, Infestation: Outbreak). Phenomenal new-comer Dan Duncan will bring the Turtles to life with dynamic interior art, while Sam Kieth and Walter Simonson provide eye-catching covers for issues one and two, respectively. Eastman will also provide layouts for Duncan‘s art, as well as variant covers.

This first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series will feature new and exciting storylines that maintain the “turtle power” core beloved by millions of fans. Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, and Raphael reunite to bring their ninja aptitude and teenage attitude in these all-new, action-packed adventures based on the original series. The first story arc will tell the origin story of the Turtles and introduce a new villain, the fearsome mutant alley cat, Old Hob. Featuring a cast of familiar characters, including Master Splinter, April O’Neill, Casey Jones, and true to the spirit of the original comics created by Eastman and Peter Laird, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are bigger and badder than ever, and ready to rock old and new fans alike.

IDW and Nickelodeon have a long-term partnership to offer an all-new installment of the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics and graphic novels. IDW’s new comics are part of a larger initiative to bring Turtles to a new generation of fans, starting with these new storylines from the original series that recapture the magic of the original Turtles comics. Additionally, in fourth quarter 2012, Nickelodeon will premiere a new CG-animated version of the wildly popular Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise.