Thanks to Dark Horse comics we are getting The Complete Works Of Milo Manara. If you have never heard of this artist before here is a quick bio.
Maurilio Manara – known professionally as Milo Manara – (born September 12, 1945 in Lüsen (Luson), South Tyrol) is an Italian comic book writer and artist, best known for his erotic approach to the medium.
The Manara Library Volume One is a 59.99 hardcover with a foreward by Frank Miller, available from Dark Horse Comics
AMALA’S BLADE COMES TO DARK HORSE PRESENTS IN FEBRUARY 2012!
November 1st, MILWAUKIE, OR – Dark Horse Comics is proud to announce a brand new three-part story from Steve Horton (DC Holiday Special, Superman 80-Page Giant) and Michael Dialynas (Popgun, Trinkets) appearing 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 & #11 of Dark Horse Presents.
“Amala’s Blade is the steam punk-with-swords epic that I’ve been dying to tell,” says Steve Horton, writer and letterer. “Thanks to the extraordinary and talented artist Michael Dialynas, we’ve brought Amala to life. Thanks to Dark Horse Comics, we’ve found an amazing and supportive publisher for our three-issue run in Dark Horse Presents. This story has heart, sword fighting, sarcasm, revenge, pirates, technologically modified villains, a girl steam punk heroine, and a robotic pirate monkey. What more do you need?” says Horton.
Dark Horse Presents #9 is out February 22nd, 2012!
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 Prison—Ghost 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!
DEBUTS IN DARK HORSE PRESENTS #7
October 27, MILWAUKIE, OR—Brandon Graham, creator of King City and Multiple Warheads and writer of Prophet, one of the series in the heavily NYCC-hyped Extreme Studios relaunch, will be making his Dark Horse Presents debut in issue #7!
“A man loses his voice—his voice goes off to see the world. Years later the man dies and the voice that walks like a man hears the news and returns home. The Voice has to deal with all the personifications of the man’s doubts, secrets, and ideas that are left behind.
“It’s got doubts using tuning forks like guns and ideas that smash the light bulbs over their heads like they were bottles in a bar fight,” says Graham.
Graham’s work is widely known and followed through his blog, http://royalboiler.wordpress.
Stay tuned for more about original stories premiering in Dark Horse Presents!
Dark Horse Presents #7 is on sale December 21, 2011, and also contains brand-new Age of Reptiles, Skeleton Key, and Hellboy stories.
OOTH #201
2:00 – 3:00 IDW: The Big Panel! – Darwyn Cooke & Scott Dunbier celebrate the release of Parker: The Martini Edition, and reveal a top secret new image!
Room 103A
2:00 – 3:00 Thom Zahler – Love & Capes
2:00 – 3:00 Chris Ryall – Zombies vs Robots
*Ask about the convention exclusive Zombies vs Robots Hardcover!
3:30 – 5:30 Darwyn Cooke – Richard Stark’s Parker
*Ask about the convention exclusive Parker: The Martini Edition!
6:00 – 7:00 Steve Niles & Bernie Wrightson – Monstrous Book of Steve Niles & Bernie Wrightson, Frankenstein: Alive, Alive
*Ask about the convention exclusive Monstrous Book of Steve Niles & Bernie Wrightson!
11:00 – 12:00 Ben Wagner – Baja
12:00 – 1:00 Steve Niles & Bernie Wrightson – Monstrous Book of Steve Niles & Bernie Wrightson, Frankenstein: Alive, Alive
*Ask about the convention exclusive Monstrous Book of Steve Niles & Bernie Wrightson!
1:00 – 3:00 Darwyn Cooke – Richard Stark’s Parker
*Ask about the convention exclusive Parker: The Martini Edition!
3:00 – 4:00 Livio Ramondelli – TRANSFORMERS
STAN SAKAI HONORED WITH YEAR OF THE RABBIT EXHIBIT!
October 25, MILWAUKIE, OR—Earlier this year, Usagi Yojimbo creator Stan Sakai was named the 2011 Cultural Ambassador by the Japanese American National Museum. Shortly thereafter, the JANM opened their Year of the Rabbit exhibit—the most comprehensive collection of Sakai’s work to date.
Stan Sakai has won several Eisner Awards and has received over twenty Eisner Award nominations. Prior to Dark Horse’s long run on the series, there were thirty-eight Fantagraphics issues, sixteen Mirage issues, a summer special, and four color specials. Dark Horse’s Usagi Yojimbo #141 marks the landmark two hundredth overall issue of master storyteller Stan Sakai’s beloved series, and the rabbit ronin celebrates with a special story perfect for new readers, “200 Buddhas”! With a ruthless gang terrorizing his small town, a humble stonecutter receives a vision and sets out to carve two hundred stone figures. Just as he has finished the 199th, a long-eared stranger comes to his door seeking shelter from the rain!
“In a perfect world, everyone would read Usagi Yojimbo.”
—Greg McElhatton, Comic Book Resources
The Japanese American National Museum is the largest museum in the United States dedicated to sharing the experience of Americans of Japanese ancestry. The founding of the museum is a story of high hopes, remarkable achievements, frustration, and, ultimately, success. The JANM is located in Los Angeles, and the Year of the Rabbit exhibit closes its doors October 30, 2011 – http://www.janm.org/exhibits/
Usagi Yojimbo #141 is on sale October 26, 2011!
Follow Dark Horse comics on Twitter @DarkHorseComics
By Juan C Pineda
(a bit of back story before you read this ) Our comic book review Bill Liston was suppose to meet up with Comic Nation Tv’s Juan C Pineda and Shakil Assi. Also for some reason Shak didn’t receive an email conformation so I gave him mine.
Billy didn’t show up so it was Shak and me. We stood online for a few minutes, they checked ID’s to make sure we were over 21. Then as we walked in they checked our names on the guest list. I gave my name and I was on the list, then the guy asked Shak for his name and he said “Greenwood” so he was good to go. Just inside the entrance was a table of video game magazine
giveaways…and another copy of the guest list. I scrolled down and found “Assi, Shakil”. Looks like they got his RSVP after all. I
suggested we call Ed so he could check in as “Assi, Shakil” One more check in spot so they can put on wristbands and then into the gallery. They set up the stage right by the front with rows of chairs and cameras set up. Shak and I found a spot in the center a few rows back. Each chair had more video game magazines. The cute chick next to me said it was open bar! 42 Below vodka was a sponsor so it was on. I laid my jacket on the chair to save my spot, it actually was not that crowded, there were a few empty chairs around us.Heading up to the bar they had a few pre-mixed drinks ready to serve. Perusing their drink menu I chose “42 and Twisted” Vodka, grapefruit juice, bitters, sprite, something else and all sorts of goodness. Right by the bar, X-Box (another sponsor) had setup a few game demos of Forza Motorsport 4, you could sit in these race car style chairs and use the steering wheel and pedals for a true racing car experience except for the crashing and dying…what? Too soon? They made the announcement that the panel will start soon so I went back to my chair between Shak and the cute chick. Some dude went up
and welcomed everyone to the panel. Asked if we were fans for the obligatory cheer. Then he introduced an “exclusive” clip…which turned out to be the opening scene from LAST SUNDAY’S season opener. He knew we caught on to that so he had to joke that it was an exclusive clip from something that was on tv last week. Kirkman and Hardwick were running late so talked to some people in the audience…mostly the hot blond in the front row actually.
(picture taken by drunk photographer)
Finally Hardwick and Kirkman show up to cheers and applause. They sat down and started being witty and charming and mentioned something about Sasquatching. I imagine it’s a similar talk that takes place on “The Talking Dead”, a show Chris Hardwick hosts on AMC.com on Sunday night after Walking Dead. Most of the conversation centered around the major differences between the comic book and the tv series, such as Shane being alive on the series and dead in the comics….oh, SPOILER ALERT! Never mind. Then they took questions from the audience which pretty much centered around the same thing. Also a few comments of adulation from the fans about how Kirkman single handedly brought back the zombie and even helped a woman get over her zombie phobia. I have a phobia of people with phobias of imaginary creatures.More comments and mutual admiration of manly beards and then it was time to move on to the meet and greet. Fans stood on line for a chance to bask in the presence of the Kirkman and the Hardwick while I stood on line for more drinks. Did I mention it was open bar? Not only was it open bar but they were giving out free hamburgers! The crowd pounced on these juicy morsels like….well….zombies. Also I played on the Forza driving game demo with drink in hand…Texas style. After the meet and greet, Kirkman and Hardwick managed to magically disappear…and so did the cute chicks, so it was Shak, me and men with manly beards. That’s when we made our exit. All in all a good evening, I got to learn a bit more about the creative process behind the comic and TV series, Shak got to learn a little about me and I got to learn about Shak’s tolerance for alcohol. I still don’t know what Sasquatching is.
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-
By Rob Base
Since the advent of Comics there have always been Monsters. Up till recent memory Nothing had been as cool and as dark as the books from EC comics (thanks in part to real life monster Dr Fredrick Wertham).
With the advent of the “comics code” the years following would see the monsters that had shaped the fears in the backs of comic book readers minds taken on a new role as anti-hero or misguided souls or even worse glittery puffy love crap! The worst example is the vampire who becomes a wimpy feeling emo kid. our beings from beneath the bed have been reduced to the comical role.
Monsters have become the butt of jokes!
Yet with the amazing talent of comic pioneers like Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing, Neil Gaiman’s Sandman and even Mike Mignola’s Hellboy monsters have regained their honor and become fully fledged Icons.
Criminal Macabre is a one shot that lives up to the aforementioned titles.Here is the breakdown of the comic as detailed by Dark Horse: Cal McDonald and his army of ghouls are pitted in an epic battle against the terrifying female vampire Salem, who has a deep personal connection to Cal, and her horde of monsters. With little hope of victory for either side, Cal must make his final stand to take Salem back to hell!
The art is streamlined and fresh and the dialogue lives up to the challenge.At times it flows as if you are reading a script based off any classic Tarantino film.The first three pages that were sampled to us show great promise and seem like a title that could contend against books like the Goon and Hellboy! Dark Horse seems to have a possible runaway hit with this title. The only drawback,it being a one shot comic!
Let’s hope the book does well and we can get a follow up regular ongoing series in the near future!
