A number of weeks back, Chris Thompson of the immensely entertaining Orbital in Conversation podcast dropped me a note outlining his plans to focus exclusively on Dark Horse Comics throughout June. You see, June marks Dark Horse’s 30th anniversary, and Chris wanted to help celebrate the occasion by inviting some of the company’s most beloved creators on to his show.
This got me thinking about how much I personally enjoy Dark Horse Comics, and that I’d like to be a part of the month’s festivities as well. I mean, I co-host a podcast, too, so I figured it’d work out nicely. Now, after floating the idea past my fellow staffers, Chris’ idea has ballooned into an entire month’s worth of content that’ll span the decades of Dark Horse’s publishing. In addition to our usual Dark Horse features like Mignolaversity and Soliciting Multiversity, we’ve got a whole mess of reviews, interviews, think pieces and, of course, podcasts lined up as part of the festivities.
Dark Horse Comics was founded back in 1986 by Mike Richardson, with the publishing of “Dark Horse Presents” #1. The issue, which saw the first appearance of Paul Chadwick’s “Concrete,” was conceived as something to be sold at the counter of the comics shop Richardson had opened a few years earlier, quickly ballooning into so much more. The issue, which went on to sell 50,000 copies, was instrumental in forging a future for the fledgling publisher. It wasn’t long until folks like Geoff Darrow and Frank Miller would join the aforementioned Chadwick in the pages of “Dark Horse Presents,” drawn to Richardson’s model of creative ownership and generous payment structure.
Now, thirty years later, Richardson’s Dark Horse Comics has become a mighty figure in the American comics market. Folks like Mike Mignola and Eric Powell have had long-running partnerships with the publisher, where each has produced their most renowned and iconic works. In addition to a history of creator-owned titles, there’s also been a long and fruitful relationship between Dark Horse and a number of licensed properties. Beginning with a line of “Aliens” comics, Dark Horse has gone on to shepherd the four-color adaptations of “Star Wars,” “Predator,” “Robocop” and “Terminator.” Not only did these series help land Dark Horse titles in the hands of even more readers, but they would end up providing a stream of revenue that’d help the company license foreign translations of comics like “Lone Wolf and Cub,” “Astro Boy” and “Appleseed.”
So join us all month long as we explore Dark Horse’s publishing history, talk to a number of the folks who helped make it all happen, and look ahead at the years to come.
