Big Box of Comics: Conan Chronicles 1 to 3

Tags

big box of comics, book review, Conan, conan chronicles, Dark Horse, Dark Horse Comics, Marvel Epic Collection

Thanks to this blog’s readers, I was reunited this year with one of my all-time favorite comic book runs: the first fifty issues of the Conan series by Dark Horse. These stories have been reprinted in so many formats and mini-collections that you might want to throw up your hands in despair rather than try to collect them all in chronological order. But before you give up hope, the Conan Chronicles comes to the rescue.

Despite the Marvel banner across the top, the first three volumes are high-quality reproductions of the Dark Horse series, complete with the original covers, variant covers, sketchbook pages from the artists, and the original forewords and introductions by authors and artists from the collections. There’s a fourth volume to the series, too. It continues into the next phase, when the title changed from Conan to Conan the Cimmerian after issue fifty.

These editions also include pages that reproduce the unique wrap-around covers from the various mini-collections. That’s a thoughtful bonus, even if the original cover size did get reduced to fit on one page. It would have been fun to also see the comic strips about the life of young Robert Howard that appeared on the original letters pages, but that’s a minor nitpick in a flawless and beautifully designed collection.

Also, these reprints do not include the recalled cover that showed full frontal female nudity. The only bare boobs you will see in this collection are Conan’s, since he rarely wears more than a loin cloth and a pair of moccasins while decapitating and dismembering his way through brutal, blood-soaked battles on every other page.

Conan is like the male flipside to the hyper-sexualization of women in mainstream superhero comics. He flexes and poses through the most insane adventures, nearly naked the entire time, and he’s got a totally ripped, massively muscular body it would take a regular guy 100 lifetimes of body-building, cosmetic surgery, and laser hair removal to come close to matching.

That’s part of the fun of the character. Everything about Conan is over the top and larger than life, from his physique, intellect, and attitude, to the landscapes and enemies he encounters. There’s nothing small or timid about this hero. He isn’t your average dork with tedious concerns trying to live a normal life. He starts off as an all-around bad-ass who wants to see the world and plunder her cities, and he charges headlong into trouble just because he likes a fight. Though he often succeeds or at least survives, his arrogant attitude constantly trips him up.

Throughout the stories in the first three volumes of the Conan Chronicles, he learns many lessons the hard way. By the end of those volumes, Conan has matured from a careless, hot-headed youth into the kind of man who can unite and lead a kingdom. Along the way, he kicks the most ass I’ve ever seen kicked in a single series—from demons and wizards to hordes of undead soldiers and anyone who ever messed with him in a tavern.

Collector’s Guide: Conan Chronicles; Marvel Epic Collection, 2019. 

Although these volumes reprint the Dark Horse series, they were published by Marvel, continuing the back-and-forth publishing deals the two companies have had with Conan licensing for many years. Note: Don’t confuse this series with The Chronicles of Conan, which was Dark Horse reprinting the 1970s series by Marvel!

indie box: Sin City

Tags

big box of comics, comic books, Dark Horse Comics, frank miller, indie box, Indie Comics, John Byrne, sin city, sin city tpb

It’s no secret that one of my favorite pieces of fiction is Frank Miller’s Sin City series. I discovered it at the Las Vegas public library about eighteen years ago when I checked out the A Dame to Kill For TPB. It was the most awesome thing I’d ever read, with over-the-top brutality and an atmosphere that was darker than the blackest noir. It was so intense about being intense that it was funny and morbidly serious at the same time, and the first thing I did after reading it was read it again. Then I tracked down the other stories! One had dinosaurs.

For a while I had the complete series in an awesome collected edition, but those books were smaller than the full-sized TPBs, and there’s just something about this series that suits being as big as possible. The original TPB collections also appear to include more pages than were printed in the original serialized formats, such as extra splash pages for multiple perspectives of Dwight holding a dude’s head underwater in a toilet in The Big Fat Kill. The one missing ingredient in the earliest TPBs is color, the use of just one primary color as an accent to individual stories, such as the yellow highlights in the TPB for That Yellow Bastard. Still, I’m okay without the color if I get a bigger page size!

The black and white art is insanely melodramatic, as shown in a couple pages of Marv walking in the rain from the first Sin City TPB, later titled The Hard Goodbye. The text is like a hard-boiled detective novel with the volume turned up to eleven. I not only love this scene, I love that it goes on for ten whole pages — eleven in the TPB!

While writing last week’s post about Next Men, I looked into some other John Byrne works I hadn’t seen yet, including his stint on The Sensational She-Hulk. That run is best known for relentlessly breaking the fourth wall and having the characters be aware they were in a comic book. Byrne based the fiftieth issue on a gag that he had been killed, and the cast needed to find a new writer and artist. So, he showed how some of his friends in the industry would do a She-Hulk story. That’s how we got a couple pages of a Sin City She-Hulk.

This post was made possible by this blog’s readers who use my affiliate links to buy comics. Recent store credit made it possible to reconnect with the Sin City TPBs that first hooked me on the series. Thank you!

indie box: Hieroglyph

Tags

Dark Horse Comics, hieroglyph, indie box, Indie Comics, Ricardo Delgado

This week’s pick from the short box of indie comics comes from Ricardo Delgado, whose Age of Reptiles is among my all-time favorite comic books. Hieroglyph delivers Delagado’s signature style of primarily visual storytelling with vast landscapes and non-verbal drama, only in a science-fiction setting on a faraway planet.

This four-issue series published by Dark Horse is full of visual splendor, as a lone explorer seeks to understand a distant planet and the unusual beings who inhabit it — and, along the way, make some really awful decisions and narrowly escape with his life several times.

Part of the fun of this series — and something which was commented on many times in the letters pages — is that we don’t really know what the deal is with the alien beings and all their activities, their strange and massive temples, and their relationships to each other. We experience the planet and its inhabitants the same way the explorer does: with incomplete information, leaving us to try to work out the meaning for ourselves.

The fourth issue of Hierolgyph is the problematic one, because it undermines exactly what made the first three issues so much fun. Eventually, a recurring alien character appears at the explorer’s ship and — lo and behold — it has sorted how to speak English, and it launches into exposition to explain everything we’ve seen so far. I don’t know if this was an editorial decision or an authorial one, but I would have been much happier with just about any other ending that did not involve aliens expositing in English.

Despite fumbling the ball in the fourth quarter, Hieroglyph is an intriguing read for most of its run, and Delgado’s ability to portray the feelings and reactions of both human and non-human characters through purely visual means is without peer. You can have it for only $3 or $4 per issue.

Collector’s Guide: Hieroglyph #1-4; 1999, Dark Horse.

indie box: Zero Killer

Tags

Arvid Nelson, Dark Horse Comics, indie box, Indie Comics, Matt Camp, Zero Killer

What’s inside the short-box of indie comics this week? Dystopic, post-apocalyptic future? Check. Girls kissing in punk-rock gear? Check. Ass kickings? Check. Tattooed mutant brothers living in a vandalized World Trade Center with a massive stockpile of weed? Check.

How about a guy eating cockroaches? Dudes hacking off a dude’s limbs and feeding them to rats? One totally stacked mama running a vicious gang of leather-clad boy-toys who kill on command? Check, Check, Check!

What’s there NOT to like about Zero Killer?!? Arvid Nelson put together a monumental adventure story with complex characters in this six-issue series published by Dark Horse. Illustrator Matt Camp made the story come to life perfectly, including a rockin’ wraparound cover featuring dinosaur skulls! It’s like they made this one just for me.

Collector’s Guide: From Zero Killer; Dark Horse, 2007. Reprinted in the Zero Killer TPB.

A Concrete Retrospective

Tags

Concrete, Concrete Complete Short Stories, Concrete TPB, Dark Horse Comics, Paul Chadwick

This post compiles a series of posts from five years ago about one of my favorite comic books: Concrete. All but one of my Concrete books got sold off several years ago, but I miss them and would like to replace them soon. While I re-read my graphic-novel-sized collection of Concrete’s short stories, enjoy this retrospective and discover some sublime artwork.

Concrete began in the pages of the first volume of Dark Horse Presents as a series of short stories. Many of the plots involved the fact that Concrete was a writer before his strange metamorphosis. The naturalistic pages above and below come from a simple story about Concrete having to sleep in the desert while his human companions stop to sleep at a hotel.

Collector’s Guide: Dark Horse Presents #32 (Annual); Dark Horse, 1989. Reprinted in Concrete Complete Short Stories 1986-1989, TPB.

If you got stuck in a nearly invulnerable body with incredible strength, endurance, and eyesight, what would you do? Dress up in tights and play superhero? Doubtful! No, you’d want to see the world and have adventures! In the second issue of Concrete, Chadwick’s creation tackles one of many heroic feats: swimming across the Atlantic Ocean!

Collector’s Guide: The back cover of Concrete #1; Dark Horse, 1987. Full story appears in Concrete #2. Reprinted in Complete Concrete with issues #2-10. Reprinted in Concrete TPB #1 with issues #2-5. Reprinted in Concrete Land and Sea with #2 and expanded material.

In the sixth issue of Concrete, our cement superstar takes a break from his adventures to help a struggling family on a farm. With his incredible strength and endurance, he plows fields, builds aqueducts, clears land, and more. The character interaction is especially strong in this story. Chadwick gives Concrete plenty of room to explore ideas about sustainable agriculture — a subject you don’t often see covered in comic books!

Collector’s Guide: Concrete #6, Dark Horse, 1987. Reprinted in Concrete TPB #2 and Complete Concrete.

One of Concrete’s more traumatizing moments comes when his strange body begins to change in ways he can’t explain. It starts with little horns growing out of his forehead. He keeps them under control with a belt sander for a while, but soon his entire body gets out of control. It’s an interesting story, and Paul Chadwick uses the strange growths as a compelling visual element.

a page from Concrete #7

Collector’s Guide: Concrete #6-7; Dark Horse, 1988. Reprinted in Concrete TPB #2 and Complete Concrete.

back cover of #7

In issues #8-9 of Concrete, the rocky hero tackles Mount Everest and undertakes a humanitarian mission to dam an alpine river for a village.  Don’t worry, it doesn’t spoil the story to know he makes it. Many exciting twists of fate await you if you climb with Concrete!

cover of #9

Collector’s Guide: Concrete #7-9; Dark Horse, 1988. Reprinted in Complete Concrete with issues #1-10 and in Concrete TPB #2.

Concrete’s triumphant moment atop Everest

The back cover of Concrete #9 shows Concrete’s last visit to his elderly mother. The point of view is from his mother in the bed, and she is reflected in the mirror over Concrete’s shoulder. Paul Chadwick made the story moving while working in lighter comedic moments about how difficult it is for Concrete to get around unnoticed. This story serves as a good example of the humanism shaping this series.

Collector’s Guide: Concrete #9-10; Dark Horse, 1988. Reprinted in Complete Concrete with issues #1-10. Reprinted in Concrete TPB #2

Concrete was a writer and avid reader. (And a thinker, too, despite his rugged appearance!) Paul Chadwick draws Concrete at home, in his modified chair, enjoying a good book.

Also included here is a page from one of the short stories in Dark Horse Presents. Concrete and his friend visit a man with an impressive art collection and library — including an entire room full of bagged and boarded comic books, perfectly filed. Wouldn’t you love to spend a few weeks in there? Also, the man has a secret room with cool paintings that capture Concrete’s imagination. And what guy doesn’t like the idea of having his own secret cave?

Collector’s Guide: Concrete #10; Dark Horse, 1988. And Dark Horse Presents #66. Rprinted in Concrete TPB #2 and Complete Concrete. Short story reprinted in Concrete Complete Short Stories 1986-1989, TPB.

For the first nine issues of Concrete, Paul Chadwick used the back covers for artwork giving readers a sneak peek at the next issue’s theme. For the tenth and final issue, Chadwick depicted Concrete taking a meditative moment in a lush forest. Part of the joy of reading Concrete is moments like these, where Chadwick illustrates nature.

The final issue of Concrete’s ongoing title was by no means the end. Chadwick switched to a limited series format for subsequent Concrete stories. The longer form allowed him to expand Concrete’s world and life. You can find them individually or as Volumes #3-7 of the Concrete TPB.

Collector’s Guide: Concrete #10; Dark Horse, 1987. Reprinted in Complete Concrete with issues #1-9 and in Concrete TPB #2

GYAAAH!

Tags

Dark Horse Comics, first comics, hugh haynes, Indie Comics, Mike Baron, Nexus, Steve Rude

The feeling of selling off parts of our beloved Nexus collection can only be expressed in one word. GYAAAH! Let us memorialize the departed.

2022 Update: We got these back, eventually. It took a few years, but it was every bit as glorious as joining Nexus on his next mission. “At last!”

Samurai Executioner paperback: Volume One

Tags

Dark Horse, Dark Horse Comics, Goseki Kojima, Indie Comics, Kazuo Koike, Lone Wolf and Cub, manga, Samurai Executioner

Our enthusiasm for Lone Wolf & Cub knows no bounds, so we grabbed a copy of Samurai Executioner the first time we saw it. This little paperback from Dark Horse looks and feels like one of their Lone Wolf books, also by Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima. In some panels, our protagonist even looks just like Itto Ogami from Lone Wolf, and he pretty much has the same job. But without young Daigoro and the evil Yagyu clan defining this book, the creators can indulge their love for a good samurai tale with different kinds of plot lines.

This creative team’s productions draw on Japanese history and culture from before the time Tokyo was established. At the time of these stories, that city was Edo.

This paperback collects five sequential “issues” of Samurai Executioner in more than 330 pages.

Koike and Gojima seem to delight in wringing the maximum emotional drama from each scene. No one in these stories merely has a rough day. One can easily see how these manga classics affected Frank Miller’s approach to comics with their over-the-top intensity, excessive violence, and no-holds-barred confrontations with total trauma. Take the opening sequence, for example.

Our main character begins the tale in a sexual interlude with a prostitute. They share a tender moment, and we learn he has to execute someone the next day as a kind of job interview. Guess who they bring in to get the old slice-and-dice? That’s right. The woman our samurai was just mating with the night before. Ugh.

See, we told you nobody here just has a rough day.
 
Our samurai mans up and chops her head off, but he whispers to her that the execution has been cancelled. She breathes a sigh of relief, free from any more worry or suffering. And then CHOP! This moment of mercy irritates the guys at the job interview, who remind him that suffering is part of the punishment he should mete out for them. What dicks!

Compared to that job interview, the samurai executioner’s first day on the job doesn’t seem so bad. He gets dispatched to deal with some raving lunatic who has taken a nice young girl hostage. Koike and Gojima take us inside the madness in rather disturbing scenes where the captor forces his hostage to sustain him with her urine. They also gave us horrifying urinations in Lone Wolf, when the poisoner routinely drank the urine of the drug-addicted whores in his employ.

Now, we’re not really big fans of drinking pee, but a human could reasonably chug a shot of it without much emotional trauma. But in Samurai Executioner, it’s pretty much your worst nightmare in hell, an act performed at the hostile mercy of some psychotic sicko. Maybe they need to consider adding a chaser!

So between the decapitated hookers and the pee-guzzling antagonists, between the merciless mayhem and mandatory mutilations, Samurai Executioner managed to completely blow our minds. Even knowing the story doesn’t prevent us from some amount of shock every time we re-read it.

If you want some light-hearted, family-friendly entertainment, this is not the book for you. If you get your kicks from action movies with hardcore heroes and utterly twisted villains, buy Samurai Executioner in paperback! Or, see if you can grab the new Samurai Executioner Omnibus in May 2014 from Dark Horse! The first omnibus will collect the first three paperback volumes!

Concrete Gallery 8: Something Strange at Home!

Tags

Complete Concrete, Concrete, Concrete TPB, Dark Horse Comics, Indie Comics, Paul Chadwick

a page from Concrete #7

One of Concrete’s more traumatizing moments comes when his strange body begins to change in ways he can’t explain. It starts with little horns growing out of his forehead. He keeps them under control with a belt sander for a while, but soon his entire body gets out of control. It’s an interesting story, and Paul Chadwick uses the strange growths as a compelling visual element.

Collector’s Guide:
– From Concrete #6-7; Dark Horse, 1988.
– Reprinted in Concrete TPB #2 and Complete Concrete

back cover of Concrete #6

Concrete Gallery 7: Concrete on the Farm!

Tags

Concrete, Concrete TPB, Dark Horse Comics, Indie Comics, Paul Chawick, sustainable agriculture

In the sixth issue of Concrete, our cement superstar takes a break from his adventures to help a struggling family on a farm. With his incredible strength and endurance, he plows fields, builds aqueducts, clears land, and more. The character interaction is especially strong in this story. Chadwick gives Concrete plenty of room to explore ideas about sustainable agriculture – a subject you don’t often see covered in comic books!

Collector’s Guide:
– From Concrete #6, Dark Horse, 1987.
– Concrete #6 reprinted in Concrete TPB #2 and Complete Concrete

Concrete Gallery 6: With a Good Book!

Tags

Concrete, Concrete Complete Short Stories, Concrete TPB, Dark Horse Comics, Dark Horse Presents, Indie Comics, Paul Chadwick

Concrete was a writer and avid reader. (And a thinker, too, despite his rugged appearance!) Paul Chadwick draws Concrete at home, in his modified chair, enjoying a good book. Also included here is a page from one of the short stories in Dark Horse Presents. Concrete and his friend visit a man with an impressive art collection and library — including an entire room full of bagged and boarded comic books, perfectly filed. Wouldn’t you love to spend a few weeks in there? Also, the man has a secret room with cool paintings that capture Concrete’s imagination. And what guy doesn’t like the idea of having his own secret cave?

Collector’s Guide:
– From Concrete #10; Dark Horse, 1988 and Dark Horse Presents #66.
– Concrete #10 reprinted in Concrete TPB #2 and Complete Concrete
– Short story reprinted in Concrete Complete Short Stories 1986-1989 TPB

Concrete Gallery 5: In the Night!

Tags

Concrete, Concrete Complete Short Stories, Dark Horse Comics, Dark Horse Presents, Indie Comics, Paul Chadwick, snake

Concrete began in the pages of the first volume of Dark Horse Presents as a series of short stories. Many of the plots involved the fact that Concrete was a writer before his strange metamorphosis. These naturalistic pages come from a simple story about Concrete having to sleep in the desert while his human companions stop to sleep at a hotel.

Collector’s Guide:
– From Dark Horse Presents #32 (Annual); Dark Horse, 1989.
– Reprinted in Concrete Complete Short Stories 1986-1989 TPB

Concrete Gallery 4: At Mom’s House!

Tags

Concrete, Concrete TPB, Dark Horse Comics, Indie Comics, Paul Chadwick

The back cover of Concrete #9 shows Concrete’s last visit to his elderly mother. The point of view is from his mother in the bed, and she is reflected in the mirror over Concrete’s shoulder. Paul Chadwick made the story moving while working in lighter comedic moments about how difficult it is for Concrete to get around unnoticed. This story serves as a good example of the humanism shaping this series.

Collector’s Guide:
– From the back cover of Concrete #9; Dark Horse, 1988.
Full story appears in Concrete #10
– Reprinted in Complete Concrete with issues #1-10
– Reprinted in Concrete TPB #2

Speak of the Devil!

Tags

Dark Horse Comics, first issue, Gilbert Hernandez, Hernandez Brothers, Indie Comics, Love and Rockets, Speak of the Devil

Speak of the Devil is a six-issue series by Gilbert Hernandez of Love and Rockets fame. The story begins with a peeping tom prowling the neighborhood while wearing a devil mask. The pervert turns out to be a promising young gymnast spying on the bedroom antics of her stepmother and father. She eventually gets a male friend involved. They uncover a web of secrets they will soon wish they had not.

Love and Rockets fans will recognize some characters, but it isn’t necessary to have a history with L&R to jump on board and enjoy this unusual story. We’ve included a few pages to whet your appetite.

Collector’s Guide: From Speak of the Devil #1; Dark Horse, 2007. Collected in the Speak of the Devil Hardcover

Concrete Gallery 3: Concrete in the Forest!

Tags

Concrete, Concrete TPB, Dark Horse Comics, Indie Comics, Paul Chadwick

For the first nine issues of Concrete, Paul Chadwick used the back covers for artwork giving readers a sneak peek at the next issue’s theme. For the tenth and final issue, Chadwick depicted Concrete taking a meditative moment in a lush forest. Part of the joy of reading Concrete is moments like these, where Chadwick illustrates nature.

The final issue of Concrete’s ongoing title was by no means the end. Chadwick switched to a limited series format for subsequent Concrete stories. The longer form allowed him to expand Concrete’s world and life. You can find them individually or as Volumes #3-7 of the Concrete TPB.

Collector’s Guide:
– From Concrete #10; Dark Horse, 1987.
– Reprinted in Complete Concrete with issues #1-9 and in Concrete TPB #2

 

Concrete Gallery 2: Concrete in the Himalayas!

Tags

Concrete, Concrete TPB, Dark Horse Comics, Indie Comics, Paul Chadwick

back cover of #7

In issues #8-9 of Concrete, the rocky hero tackles Mount Everest and undertakes a humanitarian mission to dam an alpine river for a village. Don’t worry, it doesn’t spoil the story to know he makes it. Many exciting twists of fate await you if you climb with Concrete!

Collector’s Guide:
– From Concrete #7-9; Dark Horse, 1988.
– Reprinted in Complete Concrete with issues #1-10 and in Concrete TPB #2

cover of #9

Concrete’s triumphant moment atop Everest

Concrete Gallery 1: Concrete at Sea!

Tags

Concrete, Concrete Land and Sea, Concrete TPB, Dark Horse Comics, first issue, Indie Comics, Paul Chadwick

If you got stuck in a nearly invulnerable body with incredible strength, endurance, and eyesight, what would you do? Dress up in tights and play superhero? Doubtful! No, you’d want to see the world and have adventures! In the second issue of Concrete, Chadwick’s creation tackles one of many heroic feats: swimming across the Atlantic Ocean!

Collector’s Guide: From the back cover of Concrete #1; Dark Horse, 1987. Full story appears in Concrete #2.

– Reprinted in Complete Concrete with issues #2-10
– Reprinted in Concrete TPB #1 with #2-5
– Reprinted in Concrete Land and Sea with #2 and expanded material

Lone Wolf and Cub: Wife of the Heart!

Tags

Dark Horse Comics, Goseki Kojima, Indie Comics, Kazuo Koike, Lone Wolf and Cub, Wife of the Heart

February 14th. How about a love story today, Martians? No, this isn’t your usual box of chocolates. This is an issue of one of the greatest comic-book series of all time: Lone Wolf and Cub by Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima.

You’d have to live in a cave to not be hip to this series by now. But just in case they only have caves on your planet, and you’ve been eating the remnants of your spaceship to survive since 1968, allow us to offer you one of our favorite issues from this amazing series: Wife of the Heart.

Almost all of the elements we love about Lone Wolf and Cub come together in this story: themes of honor and duty, over-the-top violent sword fights, and the implacable character of Itto Ogami, former exectioner for the Shogun. We enjoy the way young Daigoro bears silent witness to both tiny natural beauties and epic human tragedies.

Like many of the stories, this one contains a bit of history, too. A character is inventing a suspension bridge, one of many technological advances we see evolve in the historical context of Lone Wolf and Cub. The visual poetry that defines this series kicks away in high gear, too. While you might be tempted to speed through Kojima’s wordless panels of rivers and trees, you will be richly rewarded by slowing down and spending a little time with them.

And then — tragedy. This is a tragic series, and Wife of the Heart may be one of its most tragic episodes. Some readers may take offense with the images and situations in this story. If you are easily upset, you should leave here right now and go watch golf or something. Lone Wolf and Cub deals with intractably painful aspects of human existence, the consequences of our decisions, and the lengths we go to in pursuit of fates either chosen or assigned. Itto and son walk “the path of the demon,” and it’s not a path you may be prepared to walk with them.

But yes, this is a love story, too. Kind of.

Collector’s Guide: From Dark Horse’s pocket-sized Lone Wolf and Cub TPB #9. Previosly printed in First Publishing’s gorgeously produced full-size Lone Wolf and Cub #28.

The twenty-eight, digest-format Dark Horse books are a great value and continue all the way to the end of the series. First’s top-notch production was cut off after forty-five issues, which covers roughly the first third of the series.

Godzilla Gallery 2

Tags

Dark Horse Comics, Godzilla, Indie Comics

Get ready for more city-smashing artwork from Dark Horse’s six-issue Godzilla series of 1988. The artwork has a crisp, dynamic manga feel to it. And the Godzilla carnage is relentless. Also, it has the giant creepy bugs that infested the Godzilla 1985 movie. It is, without a doubt, our favorite Godzilla comic-book series published so far. Nothing like the fresh taste of a nuclear reactor for breakfast!

Collector’s Guide: From Godzilla; Dark Horse, 1988.

Godzilla Gallery 1

Tags

Dark Horse Comics, dinosaur, Godzilla, Indie Comics

Someday, they’ll make a Godzilla comic where Godzilla actually wins. Put the right art team on that bad boy, and we’ll buy two copies! Rock these samples of city-smashing artwork from Dark Horse’s six-issue Godzilla series in 1988.

Collector’s Guide: From Godzilla; Dark Horse, 1988.

Nathan, I Don’t Want to Die Alone!

Tags

Dark Horse Comics, IDW Publishing, indie box, Indie Comics, John Byrne, Next Men

John Byrne is working on a new Next Men series now, published by IDW. It’s hard to believe it’s been twenty years since Byrne wrote and drew what we consider his masterpiece: the original Next Men. Dig this seven-page irradiated love scene from issue #9. We didn’t know mutates did that! “Fascinating!”

Collector’s Guide:
– From Next Men #9; Dark Horse.
– Reprinted in Next Men TPB #2; Dark Horse, 1994.

IDW Reprints:
– Reprinted in Compleat Next Men TPB; IDW, 2008.
– Reprinted in Classic Next Men TPB; IDW, 2011.
– Reprinted in Next Men hardcover premiere edition; IDW, 2009.

Series continuation at IDW:
– Don’t miss the series continuation at IDW: Next Men; also in hardcover
– And the conclusion comes in Next Men: Aftermath!

Age of Reptiles: Let’s See Some Dino Carnage!

Tags

Age of Reptiles, Dark Horse Comics, dinosaur, dinosaur comics, first issue, Indie Comics, pterosaur, Ricardo Delgado

Words can’t describe how much I love this series. Fitting, because there are no words in these books! Just dinosaurs, dinosaurs, dinosaurs. YES! Dig this scene of carnage from the first issue of the first Age of Reptiles limited series, plus a gorgeous wrap-around cover from the second series Age of Reptiles: The Hunt.

Collector’s Guide:
– From Age of Reptiles.
– You’ll also love Age of Reptiles: The Hunt.
– You’ll also want to read the third series from 2010, Age of Reptiles: The Journey.

Having a hard time finding all the single issues in stock? You must check out the Age of Reptiles Omnibus! Collects Age of Reptiles (1993) #1-4, Age of Reptiles: The Hunt (1996) #1-5 and Age of Reptiles: Journey (2009 Dark Horse) #1-4.

Rock more dinosaur comics in my Dinosaur Comic Books Gallery!

I Grew Him Myself from a Single Cell!

Tags

Dark Horse Comics, Dark Horse Presents, dinosaur, giant spiders, Indie Comics, jungle

Dark Horse Presents is where Frank Miller’s Sin City and Paul Chadwick’s Concrete first appeared, among other things. DHP also featured licensed properties like Aliens and Predator. For an anthology title, it had some pretty great moments. Let’s take a look at one of our favorite short stories. It has a theme you know we love: giant spiders!

Collector’s Guide: From Dark Horse Presents.