Dark Horse in the Headlines 12/29/10

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Dark Horse in the Headlines 12/29/10

12/29/2010 4:56pm

Just when you were beginning to wonder if you'd ever see an informative and entertaining blog post chock-full of Dark Horse-centric links again… Wham! Your friendly neighborhood link column is back and better than ever! Well…it's back. I'm certain of that much.

Dark Horse Publicity Coordinator Jim Gibbons here, well-rested after a wondrous week of holiday vacation, and I've got an insane amount of news, previews and reviews to highlight from the past two weeks. In the interest of maintaining my sanity, I'll save some of the sifting effort and simply lay out the links in alphabetical order by book or comic title… sound like a plan? Good. Let's get things rolling with some news about Axe Cop!

Axe Cop
With the release of Malachai and Ethan Nicolle's first Axe Cop collection on December 22, it seems everyone's been rediscovering and writing some really nice things about the lauded webcomic. MTV Geek ran down 10 reasons why Axe Cop is a "must buy" and named it one of their Best Webcomics and Digital Comics of 2010." Fellow MTV site Splash Page also named Axe Cop its "Best New Webcomic of 2010," comics blogger Sean T. Collins featured the series in his end-of-year "Comic of the Year of the Day feature and the Alt Text column on Wired's Underwire blog named it one of the best new webcomics of 2010, as well! Is there anyone who doesn't like the comics magic the Nicolle brothers have been working this year?!

You can also catch interviews with Ethan at iFanboy and CBR's Robot 6, not to mention a preview of the book on ComicAttack.net!

Beasts of Burden and Blacksad
Dark Horse's two books featuring the shaggiest of protagonists have been making the recommendation rounds on a number "Best of" lists. Beasts of Burden was highlighted on School Library Journal's "Best Comics for Kids" list and Blogomatic 3000's "Top 10 Graphic Novels and Trade Paperback Collections" list while the Beasts of Burden/Hellboy issue was dubbed MTV Splash Page's "Best One-Shot Issue" of the year. Beasts also received a wonderful review on a recent Funnybook Babylon podcast!

As for Blacksad, accolades aplenty were also the order of the day. Comics Worth Reading wrote a glowing recommendation, SF Site ranked the anthropomorphic noir tale as one of its best books of 2010 and MTV Geek listed it as one of its Top 10 Collected Editions of 2010.

The Book of Grickle
Another book that gained some big praise was Graham Annable's Book of Grickle. Drawn.ca listed the tome of hilarious cartoons as one of its favorite reads of 2010.

B.P.R.D. and Hellboy
It's never a slow week for news about Mike Mignola, John Arcudi and Guy Davis' masterful series, nor is it for reports Big Red's adventures. Not only did Mignola chat about the future of the B.P.R.D., Hellboy and his vampire epic with Chris Golden and Ben Stenbeck, Baltimore, with ComicBookResources.com, but MTV Geek listed the writer/artist as one of their best cover artists of 2010 (alongside Abe Sapien: The Abyssal Plain cover artist Dave Johnson) as well as dubbing B.P.R.D. one of their best comics of 2010!

On top of all that, CBR previewed Hellboy: The Sleeping and The Dead #1, iFanboy posted a preview of the upcoming B.P.R.D.: Plague of Frogs hardcover and Comics Bulletin reviewed B.P.R.D. Hell On Earth: New World #5 saying "While other books may shy away, B.P.R.D. is entirely comfortable with challenging its readers… B.P.R.D. consistently maintains a very high quality level and I'm always interested to see what they're doing." Oh, Blogomatic 3000 also listed Hellboy: The Wild Hunt as one of its top 10 graphic novels of the year. Busy couple of weeks, huh?

Brody's Ghost
John Booth from Wired's Geek Dad and his 13-year-old daughter both thoroughly enjoyed Book 1 of Mark Crilley's Brody's Ghost. After a complimentary article, the site ran a preview of the upcoming Book 2. Go check it out!

Conan: Road of Kings
When a legendary comics scribe and Conan expert like Roy Thomas returns to write tales for the brawny barbarian, it's definitely a newsworthy event. Thomas was interviewed by South Carolina paper The Times and Democrat and plenty of comics sites weighed in on what they thought of his first issue back. MTV Geek called it "a regal read." IGN dubbed it "a good, solid, by-the-numbers Conan adventure that serves to set up a more interesting conflict in future issues" and Playback STL raved "Roy Thomas revisits that swords-and-sorcery icon in Dark Horse's Conan: Road of Kings #1. He does so with élan... he's operating near or at the top of his game, obviously relishing his return to Howard's leonine barbarian."

Also, Robert E. Howard's Savage Sword #1 features a story from Thomas. CBR ran a preview of the hefty magazine that'll undoubtedly woo fans of obscene amounts of adventure!

Side note: Don't forget, the @Man_Tips twitter account is still doling out tons of Conan-approved manly advice. Comics Alliance posted a reminder about it, so why not start following it?!

Creepy
Wizard's Pie Monkey blog listed Creepy #3 as one of their favorite covers of 2010. Huzzah!

Dark Horse Digital
The digital revolution is nearly here! Launching in January 2011, there's been no shortage of news coverage about Dark Horse's upcoming digital initiative. Last week, we released our list of February titles, which can be viewed on CBR's Robot 6 blog, and Comics Alliance talked about the exciting and ambitious program with Online Marketing Manager Matt "The Man in Command" Parkinson. It's a great scoop! Give it a read!

Also, Lone Wolf and Cub will be the first manga title to be featured in the Dark Horse digital program. Mania and ICV2 reported on the news.

Doctor Solar
Both MTV Geek and ComicAttack.net enjoyed the final issue of Jim Shooter's first arc on the Gold Key relaunch. "I really found something enthralling about this latest incarnation of Dr. Solar who, in this issue, has math fights with kaiju-sized deities," MTV Geek relayed.

Fear Agent
Take a look at issue #31 of Rick Remender's space saga over at Newsarama! Only a few issues left, folks!

Kull
Focusing on the strapping, shirtless heroes of the Dark Horse stable (see Mighty Samson below), MTV Geek spoke with editor Patrick "The Painbringer" Thorpe about what makes Robert E. Howard's other barbarian king such a bad ass. It's an interesting look at the publishing history of Kull, worth a read for any comics historian or just a sword and sorcery fan looking for a quick glimpse at why Kull's right up their alley.

Let Me In
Check out a preview of Let Me In: Crossroads #2 over at CBR!

Mass Effect
The gaming internets are abuzz with news that a Dark Horse Mass Effect comic (Mass Effect: Genesis) will help bring PS3 owners up to speed when Mass Effect 2 becomes available for the gaming system. It's an interactive motion comic for players who missed Mass Effect 1 and sites like Game Pro ("The most exciting addition coming to the PS3 version of Mass Effect 2 is easily Mass Effect: Genesis…") seem pretty excited about the feature.

Meanwhile, Game Informer and The Escapist wrote up Mass Effect: Evolution and you can check out some behind-the-scenes action on that series' covers by checking out artist Joe Quinones' blog.

Metalocalypse/Dethklok #2
Check out this Underwire preview of the hilarious series Multiversity comics raved about, saying "[Issue] #2 manages to continue the upward trend of the first issue and created another fantastic addition to the ongoing Dethklok legend."

Mighty Samson
MTV Geek interviewed writer Jim Shooter about the brand new series, which ComicAttack.net called "a treasure of an action comic that you won't be able to put down."

Motel Art Improvement Service
Jason Little's bubblegum noir thriller received a great review from CBR, featuring compliments like "Little's art pops off the page, with bright colors and an iconic, clean look" and "It's dramatic, it's funny, it's the whole package." Comics Alliance also recommended folks read the book, saying "It's really good to see the second storyline from Jason Little's 'Bee' webcomic finally collected in hardcover form... Very entertaining, as you might guess." An interview with Little can also be found at CBR's Robot 6!

The Occultist
CBR enjoyed—and saw a lot of potential in—the Mike Richardson-created, Tim Seeley-penned, Victor Drujiniu-illustrated The Occultist. "The Occultist is a comic you should be checking out. Seeley described it as a 'first-year Doctor Strange' and that alone is something I want to read. The fact that this character has already been fleshed out in one issue and the set up given is a brilliant display of being economical and still having quality... If you want more of a magically fun and yet grounded character tale then put your money in to support this."

The Oddly Compelling Art of Denis Kitchen
This hefty tome that looks into the underground comics work of the exemplary Denis Kitchen was one of the books featured in USA Today's "Essential 2010 graphic novels for comics gift-giving" list. As the article simply puts it: "'The world of comics would have been infinitely poorer without Denis Kitchen,' writes Neil Gaiman in his introduction. Find out why."

Serenity
Firefly fans looking for the inside scoop on what comes next for DH's Serenity should check out this Newsarama interview with editor Scott "Crime" Allie. Here's a preview: "I think after all this time, Buffy might be the easiest thing for him to do, whereas with Serenity there's a lot of joy in the characters themselves. He loves the characters, and he loves the cast, and he has a lot more stories to tell, but I wonder if he's still holding out hope for another Serenity film, rather than commit to a long-term comics program." Go read the rest!

Umbrella Academy
Just prior to Christmas, The New York Times interviewed Gerard Way and chatted with the creator, albeit briefly, about comics. Also, if you like music and stuff, they talk about that too!

Usagi Yojimbo

Newsarama talked to the über-talented Stan Sakai about his awe-inspiring comics creation marathon most folks know simply as Usagi Yojimbo. It's always interesting to get a peek into the insights of a master, so I recommend giving this bad boy a read. In related Rabbit Ronin news, CBR reviewed Stan's most recent Usagi issue and thoroughly enjoyed it. "There are few comics as dependable as Usagi Yojimbo for bringing high quality comics to the reader, and with the latest issue it's another reminder that Sakai is one of the best modern cartoonists working."

Alright! That's it, folks! I'm caught up. You're caught up. Now, we're back on track as your link-filled blog fix returns to it's clockwork-like posting schedule. See ya next week, cowpokes!

---Jim Gibbons

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Dark Horse in the Headlines 12/29/10

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Dark Horse in the Headlines 12/29/10

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