Heads Up: Dark Horse Previews – March 2012

Being a comic fan can be tough. With so many publishers printing more and more books, canceling titles and starting new ones, it can be daunting when you head to the comic book shop on a Wednesday to know exactly what’s coming out.

The current system of presenting and ordering comics three months ahead of their release as set forth by the sole comics distributor, Diamond Comics, doesn’t make it any easier either. We’re not a fan of that system, but we realize it’s a harsh reality of how the industry works and we definitely don’t want you to miss out on any of the cool comics being published.

And so, as opposed to regurgitating the list of comics solicited in Previews each month, we present to you some of the highlights of things you probably won’t want to miss out on.

SPOILER WARNING – In order to get people to order comics, the publishers have a funny habit of revealing what’s happening in the books. If you don’t want anything at all to be spoiled, then you’ll probably want to skip this post and take your chances with your pre-orders and/or your shopping.

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Vampires done right.

 

Good pickens. Picking up the first entry in this new mini is the easy choice. But you may be dancing from foot to foot trying to choose between these covers. This one combines two of the things the Mignolaverse does best: vampires and southern gothic.

B.P.R.D. HELL ON EARTH: THE PICKENS COUNTY HORROR #1 (of 2)

Mike Mignola (W/Variant cover), Scott Allie (W), Jason Latour (A), Dave Stewart (C), and Becky Cloonan (Cover)

On sale Mar 28
FC, 32 pages
$3.50
Miniseries

As the world goes to hell, a backwoods vampire clan shelters themselves in their Gothic southern home, covered in fog and fungal horror, ready to create havoc for a trespassing B.P.R.D. crew.

 

Corben

It’s a castle that eats people. And Richard Corben is drawing it. The only downside is that it’s only a miniseries.

RAGEMOOR #1

Jan Strnad (W) and Richard Corben (A/Cover)

On sale Mar 21
b&w, 32 pages
$3.50
Miniseries

Ragemoor! A living castle, nurtured on pagan blood, harborer to deadly monsters! A fortress possessed of its own will and ability to change itself, with the power to add and destroy rooms and to grow without the help of any human hand. Its owner is mad with jealously, its servants aren’t human, and its secret’s horrific!

 

Smooth Sailing

We’ve yet to read the first one yet, but it’s safe to say this is one series to watch in 2012. Fresh off of Northlanders, Brian Wood is a perfect match for the sullen-eyed Cimmerian. And we may as well call it Becky Cloonan month.

CONAN THE BARBARIAN #2

Brian Wood (W), Becky Cloonan (A), Dave Stewart (C), Massimo Carnevale (Cover), and Leandro Fernandez (Varinat cover)

On sale Mar 14
FC, 32 pages
$3.50
Ongoing

Death has come for Conan and his fellow sailors in the visage of the privateer Bêlit! Rage and desire mingle in an orgy of slaughter as the barbarian and the pirate queen glimpse each other for the first time—as opponents in a battle to the last man!

 

Both Fooly and Cooly.

Many of you dismiss anime and manga as far too frenetic and befuddling. This will do everything to reinforce that stereotype in the very best of ways. Reading FLCL is like waking up in a pile of bananas with a laser rifle cradled and your arms and the sound of twelve toucans approaching from the rafters. Remember. If the label says Gainax, the proper response is, “Yes, please.”

FLCL OMNIBUS

Gainax (W) and Hajime Ueda (A)

On sale May 16
b&w, 392 pages
$19.99
TP, 5 1/8″ x 7 1/4″

The complete FLCL manga adaptation—now with bonus color illustrations and remastered story pages! In this surreal sci-fi romp, a sullen Japanese boy finds himself in the middle of an interstellar conspiracy. As his home life unravels, a sexy space assassin becomes his family maid, and his own head becomes a portal for armed robots. Life as he knows it is quickly falling apart, and Ueda doesn’t know who’s friend or foe! One thing’s for certain—he has to grow up quick and save his hometown, whether he wants to or not!

 

Finder’s Keepers

A new chapter in Carla Speed McNeil’s ongoing Finder saga!  Colin Lorimer takes us to post-apocalyptic Britain! And Geof motherflippin’ Darrow!

DARK HORSE PRESENTS #10

Brian Wood (W), Colin Lorimer (W/P), Carla Speed McNeil (W/P), Steve Niles (W), Evan Dorkin (W), Al Gordon (W), Steve Horton (W), Andrew Vachss (W), Neal Adams (W/P), M. J. Butler (W), Kristian Donaldson (P), Christopher Mitten (P), Thomas Yeates (P/Cover), Michael Dialynas (P), Geof Darrow (P), Mark Wheatley (P), and Fiona Staples (Variant cover)

On sale Mar 21
FC, 80 pages
$7.99
Ongoing

Evan Dorkin is unleashed in House of Fun, and Steve Niles weaves another web of paranormal intrigue in Criminal Macabre: They Fight by Night. Three brothers in a grim, postwar England of the future are given experimental suits that could make them the saviors of mankind—that is, if they can ever get past their obsessions with film, violent video games, and porn in Colin Lorimer’s UXB!

Brian Wood’s The Massive finishes up, Carla Speed McNeil begins an epic new arc of Finder: Third World, Al Gordon and Thomas Yeates’s centennial celebration of Tarzan concludes, and much more!

 

Broadcast this.

The revolution? It will be televised. Fans of Wood and Cloonan’s work have much to celebrate in 2012, not only with their reunion on Conan, but with this new definitive edition of their anarchic epic.

CHANNEL ZERO TP

Brian Wood (W/A/Cover) and Becky Cloonan (A)

On sale May 30
B&w, 296 pages
$19.99
TP, 7″ x 10″

A blistering take on media control in a repressive future America! DMZ and The Massive creator Brian Wood launched an all-out assault on the comics medium in 1997 with Channel Zero, an influential, forward-thinking series that combined art, politics, and graphic design in a unique way. Touching on themes of freedom of expression, hacking, cutting-edge media manipulation, and police surveillance, it remains as relevant today as it did back then.

The Channel Zero collection contains the original series, the prequel graphic novel Jennie One (illustrated by Becky Cloonan), the best of the two Public Domain design books, and almost fifteen years of extras, rarities, short stories, and unused art. Also featuring the now-classic Warren Ellis introduction and an all-new cover by Wood, this is the must-have edition. See where it all began!

For the full roundup of Dark Horse solicitations for the month of March, click it here.