Dark Horse

Back to the previews, we're proud to present a peek at Bryan Talbot's Grandville Mon Amour, a steampunk talking animal mystery mash-up, or as Talbot puts it:

Grandville Mon Amour pits Detective Inspector LeBrock of Scotland Yard against an old adversary and ruthless urban guerrilla, Edward "Mad Dog" Mastock. It's a fast-paced, Hitchcockian steampunk thriller.

If you've been following Talbot's career at all you know he's one of the most eclectic storytellers in the medium, producing a string of amazing graphic novels that show a range of emotion and imagination few can match -- from Grandville to The Tale of One Bad Rat to Alice In Sunderland and the previous Grandville. This is no exception.

While in other places the indie periodical comic has languished, Stan Sakai and Usagi Yojimbo do not question, they just do. After five publishers and 26 years, this story of a wandering rabbit samurai in Edo period Japan has become one of the longest-running and best loved independent comics of all time. With a loyal home at Dark Horse since 1996 and 24 collections published, the Usagi saga has become a continuing epic of heroism, betrayal and romance, with a large cast of characters who weave in and out of Usagi's life. It's comics world building at its purest, and all-ages in the best way. A new issue is out this month that serves as a jumping on point (although truthfully, Sakai is such a strong storyteller that you can always catch up just by jumping on -- check out how the first page of the preview sets up the situation so you can just keep on going.)

Jason Little's second Bee book is coming soon from Dark Horse. Want!

In the spirit of the season, Evan Dorkin, Jill Thompson, and Mike Mignola provide an Eisner-heavy creative lineup for the Beasts of Burden/Hellboy One Shot which is on sale THIS WEEK and there's even a preview.

And speaking of Hellboy, the new Mike Mignola strip in USA Today has just started. Nothing beats the original.

At yesterday's Dark Horse panel, more details of their digital initiative were announced. It will be proprietary, available on every web browser, and sold for iPad and iTunes. (However, Apple only accepts prices that end in .99 -- one of the controlling things that folks were complaining about on Thursday --- so it's not entirely clear how that will work. There will be 170 titles available at first, with some titles available day and date.

Announced only via tweet from retailer Chris Butcher at this morning's Diamond retailer's breakfast. Dark Horse is announcing exclusive in-store downloads for those buying their digital comics, which will be priced at $1.49, according to Milton Griepp yesterday.

Dark Horse has a battalion of signings and creators and two exclusives: a limited edition Hawaiian Print Domo and a limited printing Xerxes Lithograph! Get 'em while you can!

Wow, this is going to be a VERY crowded schedule! There are a ton of things to do throughout New York Comic-Con and no matter what you choose, you're sure to get a little cultural edification, whether it's comics of Kirby Krackle. There are so many events and parties we had to slit this into two. We'll have Saturday's line-up later on.

Young Chloe Moretz is adding to her geek cred by starring as yet another cartoon character, Emily the Strange, Deadline reports. Originally created as a clothing line mascot by Rob Reger, Emily is a cat-loving goth girl (like there is any other kind) who had expanded into print and graphic novels. An Emily comic is published by Dark Horse, and DH head Mike Richardson will be one of the producers.

Kari Yadro has joined Dark Horse at the new job of events and community manager, a position which will oversee both convention appearances and events and social networking channels. Yadro was formerly at Barnes & Noble. PR below:

The following is a selection of new titles due to be published in September 2010.

There is no particular order to the titles presented below.

This list is not comprehensive, as there are over 275 graphic novel titles scheduled for this month. If you would like to browse them at your leisure, click here. Instead, I have selected titles which caught my interest. These are not necessarily titles I will purchase, but which I will definitely look at once they arrive at my local comics shop or bookstore. Please be advised that publication dates are not set in stone. Also, your local comics shop might receive copies before your local neighborhood website or library. Links connected to publishers will link to the publisher's website, sometimes to the exact title. Links for the ISBN-13 (also known as the Bookland EAN) will take you to the title as featured on BarnesAndNoble.com . I consider my tastes to be rather eclectic. If you feel I've neglected or slighted a title, publisher, or creator, please feel free to mention it in the comments below.

Monthly lists such as this will be posted at the end of the previous month. I will also be posting specific subject lists (comic strips, comics history and surveys, superheroes...) for each season, but these will not have a set schedule.