Because you demanded it, we’re following up our “Five Image Comics To Watch For In 2012” with a few more entries focused on other publishers. We know that you, as a discerning reader with a limited amount of money to spend, are looking for some of the very best books to hitch your wagon to with the coming new year, and if the world is really going to end then you might as well read some of the best comics. Sometimes, believe it or not, those comics come from companies that aren’t just Marvel or DC, and today we’re going to share a few with you!
Take a look after the cut as we look at five Dark Horse books we’re excited about, and try to get you on the same page with us — all after the jump.
Lobster Johnson: The Burning Hand
Creative Team: Mike Mignola, John Arcudi and Tonci Zonjic
Why You Should Be Excited: Outside of Hellboy, Lobster Johnson is the single greatest character in the Mignolaverse — this isn’t opinion, but science fact. (Ok, fine. It’s opinion.) Exhuding the pulp/noir elements that his creator so clearly loves, Lobster Johnson is an ideal representation of the best of pulp superfiction. In many ways, Johnson is the Boba Fett of the Mignolaverse, because realistically he’s never been a big player (he had a role in BPRD, is currently six feet under, and has only ever had one mini-series (which I read) and one book (which I’ve never been able to even find)), yet he is effortlessly cool and a fan favorite none the less. Come on! He’s Lobster Johnson!
Now Mignola and Arcudi reunite to tell another Lobster Johnson story, and they’ve caught Tonci Zonjic, fresh off a beautifully rendered run with Who Is Jake Ellis? to illustrate the title. That alone should sell the title in every aspect; Zonjic’s vision is perfect for a character like Johnson, and short of Mignola himself illustrating the series I can’t think of a better choice for the continued adventures of my favorite Mignola creation.
It’s simple mathematics. (Tonci Zonjic + Lobster Johnson)/romantacized depictions of the 1950’s x (pulp + noir) = pre-order now.
The Massive
Creative Team: Brian Wood and Kristian Donaldson
Why You Should Be Excited: To put it quite simply, if you see Brian Wood’s name on a comic, you should purchase it sight unseen.
However, if you need some extra convincing, let’s look at the details. For starters, you have a(n assumed) spiritual follow-up to Wood’s phenomenal series, DMZ, a fictional future history of New York after it devolves into a war zone (with the Massive following in Wood’s “post-crash” genre). It also reunites Kristian Donaldson with Wood, the two of whom worked on the phenomenal mini-series Supermarket over at IDW, a swift anti-consummerism story featuring Yakuza, Porno Swedes, and a confused 16-year-old in at the center of it, as well as several issues of DMZ.
Now the duo embark on a brand new creator-owned ongoing at Dark Horse, where both creators have proven time and again that “Donaldson”, “Wood” and “Creator-owned Comics” all go hand in hand with “Excellent,” “Must-Buy” and your friends yelling at you, “Wait, you don’t read ___?! Do you hate comics or something?”
Yeah. You’re going to want to get this one.
Conan
Creative Team: Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan
Why You Should Be Excited: Again, to put it quite simply, if you see Brian Wood’s name on a comic, you should purchase it sight unseen.
Once again, though, if you need more convincing, let’s look at the details. The series sees Wood and Cloonan reuniting after several incredibly wonderful collaborations, from Channel Zero‘s prequel to the critically-praised book Demo. The book follows Wood’s work on Northlanders, a phenomenal psuedo-historical look at Viking culture and Nordic legend, as well as Cloonan’s love of heavy metal and metal imagery. These two elements are combining for a brand new take on an insanely classic character, one who has needed a team just like this to revitalize him in the eyes of the masses who view Conan as no more than “that barbarian.”
Continued belowYeah. You’re going to want to get this one, too.
The Strain
Creative Team: David Lapham and Mike Huddleston, as well as input from Chuck Hogan and Guillermo Del Toro
Why You Should Be Excited: Based on the trilogy of novels by Hogan and Del Toro, the Strain sees a new take on the ever popular vampire mythology. With the books already done and in stores now, it was originally seen as an interesting creative departure for Del Toro, who is most known for his cinematic work and his striking visual sensibilities.
Now Del Toro has taken an opportunity to infuse his vision with that of a comic, and he’s picked the wonderful David Lapham and Mike Huddleston to help bring that vision to life. Writer David Lapham is no stranger to intense horror-based comics, having succeeded Garth Ennis on the popular Avatar series Crossed, and anyone unfamiliar with Mike Huddleston’s fantastic artwork in books like Butcher Baker and The Homeland Directive have missed out quite a bit on a very creative artist having a ball this past year, and while his art is certainly a bit tamer within this book than the others, it doesn’t make him any less of an excellent talent within the pages of the Strain.
You’re getting a guaranteed 36 issues from two masters of horror, and the first issue is on stands for a single dollar. I don’t understand what you’re waiting for.
John Ostrander’s Star Wars Work
Creative Team: John Ostrander and Stephane Roux on Agent of the Empire, and John Ostrander and Jan Duursema on Dawn of the Jedi
Why You Should Be Excited (Patrick Tobin): Over ten-plus years and a whole mess of characters, John Ostrander has proven himself the most reliable Star Wars comics writer this side of Archie Goodwin. His Star Wars: Legacy series, showcasing the future of the franchise and the Skywalker bloodline, is one of the crowning accomplishments — not only for Ostrander, but also for Dark Horse, who don’t see too many series last 50 issues and then still come back for more. With Zatanna artist Stephane Roux, Ostrander is already giving a galaxy far, far away a bit of a James Bond tint in Star Wars: Agent of the Empire: Iron Eclipse, and in 2012 he’ll go where no Jedi has gone before. With longtime artistic collaborator Jan Duursema, he’ll tell what happened a long, long time before a long, long time ago, in Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi.
