Dark Horse Preview Review for December

Jim: Wow it is hard to believe we are looking at picks for December already. If nothing else it reminds me that I need to start Christmas shopping early.
Lee: Jim is right. Jim needs to start shopping for me now before everything I want is sold out.

ALIENS OMNIBUS VOLUME 6
Mark Schultz (W), Chuck Dixon (W), Ian Edginton (W), Jay Stephens (W), Doug Wheatley (A), Gene Colan (A), Eduardo Risso (A), and others On sale Feb 4FC, 376 pages $24.95 TPB, 6" x 9"
Mankind has always struggled to balance exploration and exploitation when stepping into new lands. In the era of the colonization of space, the discovery of new wonders is countered by the awful realities when species once separated by light years of airless void are suddenly thrown together, and the heady intoxication of discovery becomes the feral nightmare of a battle for supremacy. Humanity's arrogance and greed have helped the Alien plague spread, and now men and women must step forward to ensure that the future of the galaxy does not become the age of the Alien!
Lee: I have to say that I really like these mini-trades. They’re a nice way to get a stack of issues in one place. And I really love the who’s-who of comic book people in this one. Some great writers-artists that make it worth your money.
Jim: The mini-trade format is one that I also enjoy. It is a nice way to package a lot of material together.

AMANO LIMITED EDITION PRINT
On sale Jan 2818" x 24", signed and numbered, limited to 250 pieces$200.00
We celebrated our 20th year of publishing manga with a specially commissioned in-store poster featuring a calligraphy-style illustration by renowned artist Yoshitaka Amano. This has been one of our most talked-about promotional items--its simple artistry captures the elusive spirit of creativity.
We asked Mr. Amano if we could produce a special collector's edition of the piece as a lithograph for collectors. He agreed, and we present this frameable edition of this artwork while supplies last.
Jim: Yeah, congrats and all that to making it 20 years and with the movie partnership deal Dark Horse could really be raking in the bucks, but I will have to pass on your $200 lithograph of your company symbol.
Lee: You’re like a baby chicken, cheep cheep cheep! That’s not how you show support.

BEANWORLD HOLIDAY SPECIAL
Larry Marder (W/A)
On sale December 17FC, 24 pages$3.50One-shot
The first new Beanworld story in print in over a decade, the Beanworld Holiday Special is the perfect introduction to Larry Marder's inimitable creation!
As enjoyable for children as it is enlightening for adults, Beanworld is a grand adventure that explores social dynamics, culture creation, and ecological networks--all in great fun! Take a tour of this magical world, from Proffy's Fix-It Shop to a Fabulous Look-See Show, in this issue that introduces toys to the baby Cuties and plunges readers into one of the most original and brilliant comic-book universes ever created!
You've never seen anything like it--unless you're a longtime fan of Marder's, in which case you'll be thrilled by the return of this wonderful and peculiar comic-book experience!
"Larry Marder's Beanworld is a vegetarian update on Krazy Kat with a world and lingo unto itself."--Smithsonian Studies of American Art
Jim: There is a part of me that thinks the Smithsonian name was never, ever supposed to be associated with something called Beanworld.
Lee: Only a part of you? Should be all of you! I know Beanworld is critically loved but I’m not sure I ready to support it. I didn’t the first time around why start now?

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER #21
Jane Espenson (W), Georges Jeanty (P/Cover), Andy Owens (I), Michelle Madsen (C), and Jo Chen (Cover)
On sale Dec 3FC, 40 pages$2.99Ongoing
Television writer Jane Espenson (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Battlestar Galactica) returns to Buffy the Vampire Slayer in Season Eight. Espenson is the first of five acclaimed writers that tackle this groundbreaking story arc--where Buffy fans are introduced to a new world where vampires are in and Slayers are out.Cue Harmony, the bubblegum cheerleader from Sunnydale High whose ambitions include blood sucking and stardom.
Jim: So Lee and I both saw the cover and said look at those puppies. Then I heard from a reader of the book that Buffy was a centaur in a recent issue and “she was rode hard and put away wet”, so the puppies remark is nothing.
Lee: I’m all about the puppies. Big fuzzy Pomeranian puppies.

EERIE ARCHIVES VOLUME 1
Various (W/A)
On sale Mar 18FC w/b&w, 240 pages$49.95HC, 8 3/8" x 10 7/8"
Slithering upon the heels of Dark Horse's archive collections of the seminal horror comics magazine Creepy comes its terror-filled cousin publication Eerie! Collected for fans for the first time ever, and packaged in the same amazing oversized format as our Creepy Archives, Dark Horse Comics has taken great, gruesome care in presenting this groundbreaking material to readers who have been waiting decades to get their claws on it. Eerie magazine, like its killer kin Creepy, features work from many of the masters of comics storytelling. For fans of spectacular spookiness, mind-bending sci-fi, and astonishing artwork, the Eerie Archives library is a must have.
- Includes the work of Gray Morrow, Frank Frazetta, Alex Toth, Neal Adams, Joe Orlando, and others!
Jim: Damn here is another Archive series I’m buying. I swear I could stop collecting comics and on hard covers alone I’d be spending too much money. At least I have stopped getting all the Masterworks as I quit the Golden Age stuff.
Lee: These really are great books. I need DC and Marvel to stop pumping out the HC’s so I can get some of these.

GANTZ VOLUME 4
Hiroya Oku (W/A)
On sale Feb 25b&w, 224 pages$12.95TPB, 5 1/8" x 7 1/16"
A new game begins! The masochistic orb Gantz has gathered a new crew of ordinary citizens to play within its dangerous plot. The new draft picks and returning survivors are thrown headfirst into a new game promising a far more lethal prey. This time their target is a strange robot in the guise of famed Japanese folk singer Tanaka Seijin, but what monstrous alien form lurks beneath this crooning façade?
Kei, Masaru, and Kishimoto, now seasoned pros of this diabolical death match, have to decide whether it's in their best interest to let this new batch of recruits in on the details and pitfalls of the game, or use their previous assignment's scars to their advantage. Â - Each volume comes shrink-wrapped and carries an 18+ content advisory.
"Drawn with eye-popping realism, Oku's scenes range from infanticide to bestiality to painful adolescent awkwardness, raising standard geek fare to a new level of sophistication." --Entertainment Weekly
Lee: Ok, so there’s some hype and then the standard reviewer comment pull, which states… hold on, let me cut/paste so I don’t get this wrong “scenes range from infanticide to bestiality to painful adolescent awkwardness, raising standard geek fare to a new level of sophistication.” Hold on now! I missed where bestiality was suddenly standard geek fare. I’m not sure that’s the quote I would have gone with but good for DH for going for sophistication.
Jim: How does bestiality and infanticide equal sophistication? What a crock of sh*t.

THE GOON #31
Eric Powell (W/A) and Dave Stewart (C)
On sale Dec 31FC, 32 pages$2.99Ongoing
Goon Year concludes!A brutal betrayal, and Goon's world is forever changed. Lonely Street will never be the same again, and that stands true for its longtime patrons--some will live, and some will die.
Jim: If you are not buying this book, you should be. It is an awesome series and it is worth it just for Eric Powell’s art.
Lee: YEAH! What Jim said….

HELLBOY: THE WILD HUNT #1 (of 8)
Mike Mignola (W/Cover), Duncan Fegredo (A), and Dave Stewart (C)On sale Dec 3FC, 32 pages$2.99Miniseries
When ancient giants begin to rise from their graves across England, Hellboy is invited to join a mysterious group called the Wild Hunt and help bring them down. But the hunt leads to betrayal, and Hellboy finds himself up against enemies as angry about what he is as what he's done. "The fading children of the earth" gather in the shadows, waiting for the promised return of the Queen of Blood, and a chance to once again "shake the trees, crack mountains, and make the daytime world weep in fear."
Jim: This is good news it has been awhile since we have had a Hellboy series.
Lee: YEAH YEAH… What Jim said! Oh, I already used that line. How about YAHOO I’m waiting for the trade?!

KICKASS KUTIES: THE ART OF LISA PETRUCCI
Lisa Petrucci (W/A)
On sale Feb 18FC, 112 pages$22.95HC, 8 1/2" x 11"
Walk through a sparkling world of make-believe, a cotton-candy-colored dream world of hearts, flowers, and switchblades, of dewy-eyed cartoon pinup gals, kutie-pie kowgirls, leopard-skinned sweeties, hatchet-wielding honeys, and the cuddliest devil kitties Hell has to offer. The art of Lisa Petrucci is a honey-coated maelstrom of contradictions--the innocence of lost Americana, childhood nostalgia, and traditional feminine iconography all presented with a rebellious spirit. Kickass Kuties: The Art of Lisa Petrucci is the first collection of the artist's remarkable catalog, a hallucinatory tour through an emporium of cultural chaos, a bipolar gallery of imagery both sacred and profane.
Jim: This looks amusing and would probably be something Gwen might enjoy.
Lee: Gwen’s not even here to defend herself. And yeah, it looks nice but does it have bestiality like that other book????

LARRY MARDER'S BEANWORLD BOOK 1:Â WAHOOLAZUMA!
Larry Marder (W/A)
On sale Feb 4b&w, 272 pages$19.95HC, 6" x 9"
Beanworld is a peculiar fantasy that operates under its own rules and laws. Series creator Larry Marder says, "Beanworld is about the affinity of life. It's like A Bug's Life meets Mutts, as told by Dr. Seuss and Joseph Campbell." Meet Mr. Spook, Professor Garbanzo, Beanish, and the Chow Sol'jer Army as they experience adventures that prove, whether friends or adversaries, we all ultimately depend on each other for survival. Beanworld reflects deep truths about our world, including themes of ecology, advertising, culture, and art, making the experiences of these fanciful creatures feel as true, funny, moving, and relatable as anything in our own reality.
- Rescanned from the original artwork, this deluxe hardcover collects the long-out-of-print first nine issues of the original acclaimed comic-book series in an affordable single volume for the first time!
- Suggested for readers aged seven to adult.
- For a fascinating look into Beanworld, go to here!
Lee: Not gonna support the new single issue but I might support this. A nice hc of an acclaimed series. I know my logic doesn’t make any sense but I’m a sucker for a hc.
Jim: The only remark that you made that made sense is that you make no sense.

MISTER X: CONDEMNED #1 (of 4)
Dean Motter (W/A)
On sale Dec 24FC, 24 pages$3.50Miniseries
Twenty-five years ago, Mister X debuted with a concept so clever and a character so captivating that it influenced an entire generation of comics fans and creators. Today, Motter reclaims the reins and sets out to inspire a whole new generation with Mister X: Condemned, a completely fresh introduction to the elusive Mister X and his dystopian home--Somnopolis, the City of Nightmares.
With influences from Film Noir to German Expressionism, this story of a city gone mad and the never-sleeping man who's obsessed with saving it will amaze anyone interested in masterpiece storytelling born from the vision of a single iconoclastic creator.
- One of the most iconic characters of alternative comics--Mister X--is reborn in a new four-part series by his original creator, legendary designer Dean Motter!
"Perhaps the first legitimate combination of science fiction and German Expressionism seen in comics." --Frank Miller
"A sharp mixture of Raymond Chandler, Blade Runner, Peyton Place, and a post-punk Dante's Inferno." --Blitz magazine
Jim: So in reading the descriptions this book is a sci-fi, Peyton Place, German Expressionism book. That is either overkill in descriptions or this was a very unique comic. I missed Mister X the first time through; I may have to try it out this time.
Lee: Mister X was awesome! I just wish the fancy hc they did a couple of months ago wasn’t $75. But, that said, I need all of YOU to go support this so I can buy the collected HC later.

REELART STUDIOS BUCK ROGERS STATUE
On sale Jan 1516" tall x 8" wide x 8" deepLimited to 500 units worldwide$189.00
ReelArt Studios is proud to present Buck Rogers, Philip Francis Nowlan'sseminal hero who first appeared in the novella Armageddon 2419 A.D. in the 1928 issue of Amazing Stories. This 1950's version of Buck is sculpted byTony Cipriano and paint mastered by Joy & Tom Studios. It depicts Buck in action with blazing guns and rising on a cloud of smoke from his jet pack.
Lee: WOW is this expensive. Not gonna buy it. Not true, ebay, for $10, 10 yrs from now this bad boy is all mine. But until then I’ll just say it looks cool in a very unaffordable way.
Jim: For $10 I’d buy it too.

THE SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN VOLUME 5
Roy Thomas (W/A) and Various (A)
On sale Feb 18b&w, 544 pages$17.95TPB, 7" x 10"
Collecting selections from The Savage Sword of Conan the Barbarian issues 49 through 60, this volume also includes the frontispieces and pinups from each issue, drawn by such amazing talent as Ernie Chan, Carl Potts, and Neal Adams!
- For the first time ever, these classic, uncensored tales are being collected in a series of omnibus-style books with over 500 pages of sword-and-sorcery adventure in each volume--for the complete Conan collector!
Lee: I’m glad to see this is uncensored. Marvel’s B&W magazine’s experimented with boobies in the late 70’s. That’s right, you can see John Buscema drawn boobies in this book. But, I’m glad DH remained true to the material unlike Marvel who censors every essential they release. I must say, now that I’ve typed the word boobies a bunch of times, I like the word. It has a pleasant ring to it. Rolls right of the tongue… boobies boobies boobies. See what I mean?
Jim: What can I say to that………………


Jim: Damn I was hoping for the Conan Christmas ornaments or something and got nothing. Still the Eerie Archive was gift enough.
Lee: Darn, Jim missed a ton of good stuff. Yeah, yeah, Eerie was good but I’m still torn between the boobies and bestiality.