Dark Horse

Just to forestall a heart attack by Mike Richardson, I'll spoil the answer right here: YES. The reason the question even came up is some dissension following Dark Horse's win in the Diamond Awards for "Best Manga Publisher," which, given the wide ranging publisher programs of Viz, Yen and TokyoPop was surprising, to say the least, as Johanna explained:

Dark Horse tells us that Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson's awesome BEASTS OF BURDEN series will return in 2011. Good news!

Marketing Coordinator Aaron Colter tweeted and social networked yesterday that he and Dark Horse had parted ways. Colter was a whiz at Twitter and Facebook and all the other ways we talk today, and managed these fuctions for DH, but he also was, shall we say, irreverent -- not perhaps the best image for a respected publisher. At any rate, maybe posting stuff like the attached image was a tweet too far.

February has only 28 days, but is jam-packed with lots of great graphic novels and related titles! Warning... looking at what appears so far on BarnesAndNoble.com, the rest of 2011 is going to be just as amazing! Click this link to discover more! (Sweet Kirby Crackle! Corto Maltese, in English, from Rizzoli?!) Better start shopping for bookshelves now.

Sierra Hahn and Dave Marshall have been promoted to full editors at Dark Horse Hahn has edited many media tie-ins and original series, while...

So, this month is a bit light. There are always some significant titles every month, so here's the list for January.

The influential and historic DARK HORSE PRESENTS anthology -- last seen as an online anthology available on MySpace and later adapted to print --...

Well here we are, the final month of the year. Most publishers have already launched their big titles last month, so that titles would be...

When Dark Horse announced their digital comics initiative back at NYCC, they went about it in a different way from most other publishers. Instead of partnering with an existing storefront like comiXology, they decided to use their own webstore and application to sell comics -- and at the $1.49 price point. There was also talk of add-ons that made going to the physical comics shop a part of the experience. Since then details have been sketchy, but today Dark Horse released the first information on the program, via a mailing to retailers in the Diamond Daily. A bit of the information was also released to the press, including the plan to release ORIGINAL digital material -- but only to those who purchase brick and mortar comics.

This book reminds me of the past, but not in a wistful, thinking-back-on-your-first-time-getting-laid way. It’s more a first-time-getting-caught-jerking-off-by-your-mom sensation. -- from NICK GAZIN’s COMIC BOOK...

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.)