Dark Horse Previews Picks: August 2013

Going back to “The Beat” again, there was an article from last week that asked the question, “Is Dark Horse Entering a Golden Age?” Writer Hannah Means-Shannon, who also did the article about the “Essential DC Graphic Novels” cites the company’s long reliance on (quality) licensed titles like “Star Wars” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” as providing them a steady bedrock of income that allows for the publication of buzzworthy creator-owned titles like “Mind MGMT” and “The Black Beetle” as well as upcoming series like “The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys.” While I would like to share Hannah’s optimism, I just can’t see it. That Dark Horse uses revenue from licensed titles to subsidize its more riskier efforts is something they’ve been doing since almost day one, or at least when they published their first “Aliens” comic. The titles she cites also haven’t really made much of a dent in the direct market sales-wise, and while Brian Wood’s “Star Wars” title has been an unqualified success, I don’t think the company has had a title pass 100K issues sold since the early days of “Buffy Season Eight.” There’s also no mention of the manga they publish, but I doubt that my thoughts on their efforts there need to be reiterated.

Of course, the biggest problem with the article is that there’s a company that’s currently experiencing a “golden age” of its own right now: Image. Not only do they consistently beat Dark Horse in sales each month, but they now have two top ten titles in “The Walking Dead” and Millar & Quitely’s “Jupiter’s Legacy” (for the moment, anyway). They’ve also got strong performers in Hickman’s “East of West” and “Manhattan Projects,” Kirkman’s “Invincible” and “Thief of Thieves,” Brubaker and Phillips’ “Fatale,” and Vaughan & Staples’ “Saga.”. This is a company that’s been going from strength to strength for over a year now and the good times don’t seem to be due for a sudden end since (unlike that last Image boom) the successes here are built on quality work rather than unchecked speculation. I’d like to see Dark Horse enjoy this level of success too, but they’ve found a plan that works for them and seem content to follow it as long as it continues to work for them. Anyway, now that I’ve gotten everyone properly excited for the company’s future rimshot here’s what their latest solicitations hold!

Bride of the Water God vol. 14: Mistakenly advertised in the solicitations as “Celebrating 25 Years of Manga” when this is actually manwha — Korean comics. In any event, it’s worth noting that with this volume, it will have surpassed the company’s publication of “Eden” and “The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service” (at least until December for the latter, based on what I’ve heard). So if you’re wondering why I continue to be bitter about their recent efforts in manga publishing…

Colder: If you’re not familiar with the title, then you’ll want to check out the cover which is uniquely disturbing in its own right. This comes from Paul Tobin who has spent the last few years writing all-ages titles for Marvel and I believe this marks his first major creator-owned mature-readers work since then. It’s about an former asylum inmate who has the power to step into a person’s madness and even cure it. Word-of-mouth was decent about this title, but the real selling point for me is artist Juan Ferreyra, who produced some truly spectacular work on “Rex Mundi.” I’m certainly interested in seeing what he does with a modern-day horror setting.

Gantz vol. 29: From the solicitation text, “But will a fight within the heart of the immense alien mothership be the moment that turns the tide of war or a final, futile gesture before mankind’s extinction?” If nothing else, it sounds like a substantially different setup than the title’s modus operandi so far. I’m encouraged, but not excited. We’ll see what this volume and the one preceding it can do to fix that.

Halo: Initiation #1 (of 3): Worth mentioning because the “Halo” license was originally held by Marvel until they let it lapse due to poor sales in the direct market. This is the reason why I’m not optimistic about seeing the “Star Wars” license go back to Marvel in a couple years. They’ll publish some titles with big names that will sell well for a while, then as the sales start their inevitable decline the names will get smaller and sales will continue to drop. Until the point at which Dark Horse gets the license again. That’s what’ll happen, mark my words!

Hellboy: The Midnight Circus: Following in the footsteps of “House of the Living Dead,” this is a 56-page OGN which has young Hellboy running away from the B.P.R.D. and finding a circus. A circus staffed by DEMONS FROM HELL! Given that there’s never been a Hellboy story that hasn’t been worth reading, picking this up is another no-brainer. Plus, it’s illustrated by Duncan Fegredo so there’s no worry that it won’t be up to the title’s high artistic standards.

The Last of Us: American Dreams: The question here is will I pick up the game before I get the prequel graphic novel? It depends on how attractive the reviews make it sound versus any potential price drop from the game’s release until the graphic novel comes out, which is more likely than you’d think. “God of War: Ascension” came out in March for $60 and is now selling on Amazon for $40. This is also the reason why I haven’t picked up the latest “Tomb Raider” and “Bioshock: Infinite” yet because I’m sure the prices will go even lower, or that I think I can hold out until Amazon offers even better deals for Black Friday. What game am I looking forward to the most right now? The Capcom “Dungeons & Dragons” games on Steam, PSN and Xbox Live. It’s been years since I’ve played emulated versions of them and I’m looking forward to getting friends involved for some four-player action and to crack open the actual secrets these arcade ports have.

Mind MGMT vol. 2: The Futurist: Where do you take a story after you’ve wrapped up just about everything in the first volume? Somewhere more interesting I can only hope. Again, just because I feel committed to seeing if Matt Kindt can make this series interesting doesn’t mean you should feel any obligation to.

Star Wars: Dark Times — A Spark Remains #2 (of 5): Huh, I missed the first issue of this last month. While the previous volume focused on Jedi Master K’Kruhk, this one brings us back to the series’ real main character, “average” Jedi Dass Jennir. Now reunited with the crew of the Uhumele he finds himself involved in a plan to take out Darth Vader and free the galaxy from the Empire’s iron fist. You know, I can tell them how that’s going to work out for them. Still, Dass’ story has always been the most entertaining part of this title and it’s not unreasonable for the crew to think they have a shot at taking out the Dark Lord of the Sith. It’s just that any tension for this story is going to hinge upon how well writer Randy Stradley can get us invested in their plan as well as the intricacies of the plan itself. Fortunately artist Doug Wheatley returns for this arc, so its artistic merits will not be in question.