Heads Up: Dark Horse Comics Previews – May 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, we think it’s slowly strangling comics to death, 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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He’s not just doing Daredevil

 

Lots of people are going to be talking about Samnee doing Daredevil, but look at what one of our favorite artists is doing over here at Dark Horse! Plus he’s teaming with his Area 10 partner Christos Gage.

ANGEL & FAITH #10

Story by Christos Gage
Art by Chris Samnee
Covers by Jordie Bellaire, Steve Morris, and Rebekah Isaacs

On sale May 30 / FC, 32 pages / $2.99 / Ongoing

Angel and Faith are forced into battle, less by choice and more by circumstance, when two mysterious women from Giles’s past call on the unlikely duo for help. But that’s only the beginning of Angel and Faith’s troubles as the ladies settle in for the night!

Series writer Christos Gage (Avengers Academy) and guest artist Chris Samnee (Thor), the creative team of Vertigo’s Area 10, reveal more about Giles’s past and further Angel’s quest in bringing the Watcher back from the dead!

Bad Artists Don’t Do B.P.R.D.

 

Max Fiumara is showing up everywhere with his gorgeous artwork, and now, he’s going to the Bureau. Plus, Hellboy’s in this one!

B.P.R.D.: HELL ON EARTH – THE TRANSFORMATION OF J. H. O’DONNELL

Story by Mike Mignola, and Scott Allie
Art by Max Fiumara, and Dave Stewart
Covers by Mike Mignola, Max Fiumara, and Dave Stewart

On sale May 30 / FC, 32 pages / $3.50 / One-shot

Twenty-four years ago, Hellboy took mild-mannered Professor O’Donnell to the secret library of a recently dead necromancer. Since that day, O’Donnell has been the Bureau’s expert on the powerful ancient forces intent on ending the age of man. Find out what O’Donnell saw in this supernatural thrill ride.

The Most Beautiful Book to be Printed in 2012

If you’ve been waiting since volume one, the second one is here, and there is nothing out there even close to Blacksad. This is art at a level we don’t see very often. This one is sold sight unseen.

BLACKSAD: A SILENT HELL HC

Story by Juan Díaz Canales
Art & Cover by Juanjo Guarnido

On sale July 11 / FC, 96 pages / $19.99 / HC, 8 3/8″ x 10 7/8″

Detective John Blacksad returns, with a new case that takes him to a 1950s New Orleans filled with hot jazz and cold-blooded murder! Hired to discover the fate of a celebrated pianist, Blacksad finds his most dangerous mystery yet in the midst of drugs, voodoo, the rollicking atmosphere of Mardi Gras, and the dark underbelly that it hides!

Before the Comics Code Got to Them

I know more about the story of the creator/editor Charles Biro than I do about the comics, but here’s your chance to see what comics used to be like. Plus, Greg Rucka does the introduction!

CRIME DOES NOT PAY ARCHIVES VOLUME 2 HC

By Various

On sale July 11 / FC, 264 pages / $49.99 / HC, 6 5/8” x 10 3/16”

The celebrated pre-Code Crime Does Not Pay comics are finally collected into a series of unflinching and uncensored deluxe hardcovers! The infamous Crime Does Not Pay stories, focusing on criminal scum, nefarious mobsters, and urban legends, made Crime Does Not Pay one of the most popular comics of the 1940s. This series was a favorite target of censors and is partially responsible for the creation of the stifling Comics Code Authority! Revered, influential, and very hard to find, Crime Does Not Pay issues #26 to #29 are collected for your enjoyment and education!

Chew on This

 

DHP continues to be a unique place where a massive crop of talent works their best magic in smaller chunks than you’re used to. This time out, John Layman team with Sam Keith! Among others!

DARK HORSE PRESENTS #12

By John Layman, John Arcudi, Carla Speed McNeil, Steve Niles, Evan Dorkin, Tim Seeley, Francesco Francavilla, Dean Motter, Jim Valentino, Mike Baron, Harlan Ellison, Sam Kieth, Christopher Mitten, Victor Drujiniu, Steve Rude, and Jonathan Case

On sale May 23 / FC, 80 pages / $7.99 / Ongoing

Unstoppable juggernaut of comics greatness? Unbeatable, unbelievable value?

You be the judge as another incredible issue of Dark Horse Presents hits shelves!

This issue is packing a brand-new Aliens story by Chew’s John Layman and legendary artist Sam Kieth, the return of Jim Valentino’s Normalman and Dean Motter’s Mister X, and last but not least, the reemergence of Mike Baron and Steve Rude’s intergalactic fighting force, Nexus!

McKelvie!

 

I know that this is some property that a lot of people near the comic book subculture seem to know about, and more power to them. But I definitely know that Jamie McKelvie fans won’t want to miss this issue featuring his art.

THE GUILD: FAWKES

Story by Felicia Day, and Wil Wheaton
Art by Jamie McKelvie
Colors by Matthew Wilson
Cover by Paul Duffield, and Emma Ríos

On sale May 23 / FC, 32 pages / $3.50 / One-shot

Felicia Day and The Guild are back, along with costar Wil Wheaton, for a brand-new story spotlighting Fawkes, the dashing, debonair, and douchey leader of the evil guild Axis of Anarchy! His relationship with Codex threatened to tear the Knights of Good apart until he was thrown off a balcony for his treatment of her. Set after season 4 of the show, this issue reveals how Fawkes deals with his split from Codex and navigates the aggressive personalities of the Axis, and follows his journey to his surprising state when he returns in

The Best Presentation in Reprinted Comics Anywhere

Set beside its four previous volumes, this shelf would be among the most beautiful in the world. It features 5 more stories in the saga of Hellboy, as the Library Editions get closer to being caught up with the present issues.

HELLBOY LIBRARY EDITION VOLUME 5 HC

Story by Mike Mignola
Art by Duncan Fegredo
Cover by Mike Mignola, and Dave Stewart

On sale July 11 / FC, 408 pages / $49.99 / HC, 9″ x 12″

Hellboy has racked up multiple Eisner Awards, numerous spinoffs, a novel line, video games, cartoons, and two feature films. Hellboy Library Volume 5 collects two complete trade paperbacks, Darkness Calls and The Wild Hunt; the short story The Mole; and an extensive selection of previously unreleased sketches and designs.

Where is Our Royalty Agreement?

You saw him here first, mounted by a barbarian, and Mike Norton took his creation well beyond our t-shirt, and dare we say? Into your hearts.

MIKE NORTON’S BATTLEPUG VOLUME 1 HC

Story and Art by Mike Norton
Colors by Allen Passalaqua

On sale July 5 / FC, 72 pages / $14.99 / HC, 8 1/2″ x 12″

The epic tale of blood and drool begins here! Join Molly and her dogs Mingo and Colfax, as she recounts the legend of “The Warrior and the Battlepug”—a tale of a fearless barbarian, his trusty and freakishly large pug, and evil baby harp seals.

This volume collects the first year of Mike Norton’s Battlepug—the perfect opportunity to get in on the ground floor of the fan-favorite webcomic by Mike Norton, Allen Passalaqua, and Crank!

A New Ongoing from Matt Kindt?

 

From the guy who brought you Super Spy and 3 Story, this an all new, and completely unique ongoing series. That’s easily worth a try.

MIND MGMT #1

By Matt Kindt
Variant cover by Gilbert Hernandez

On sale May 23 / FC, 24 pages / $3.99 / Ongoing

Matt Kindt, the most original voice in genre comics, outdoes himself in this bold new espionage series!

Reporting on a commercial flight where everyone aboard lost their memories, a young journalist stumbles onto a much bigger story, the top-secret Mind Management program. Her ensuing journey involves weaponized psychics, hypnotic advertising, talking dolphins, and seemingly immortal pursuers, as she attempts to find the flight’s missing passenger, the man who was Mind MGMT’s greatest success—and its most devastating failure. But in a world where people can rewrite reality itself, can she trust anything she sees?

Back after a Decade Away!

All ages books are important, and they can be very good for everyone. Andi Watson has created some of my favorite comics, and now he’s back with more Skeleton Key!

SKELETON KEY COLOR SPECIAL

By Andi Watson

On sale May 2 / FC, 32 pages / $3.50 / One-shot

One of the greatest all-ages comics of all time, Andi Watson’s Skeleton Key is back—and in color!

Using the magical Skeleton Key, schoolgirl Tamsin and fox spirit Kitsune can turn any door into a portal to an endless multiverse. Lost somewhere in space and time and trying to get home, the two friends encounter a band using the undead in a music video, check into a haunted hotel, and become catalogued in the vast Museum of the Lost! Collecting all three new stories from Dark Horse Presents, this is the perfect introduction.

No He Isn’t.

Seriously, you can read this, and that’s cool, but no he isn’t.

 STAR WARS: BLOOD TIES—BOBA FETT IS DEAD #2 (of 4)

Story by Tom Taylor
Art & Cover by Chris Scalf

On sale May 30 / FC, 32 pages / $3.50 / Miniseries

Boba Fett is dead, and whoever hired the hit squad had better run—as fast and as far as possible!

A mysterious avenger is on the trail of Boba Fett’s killers. Connor Freeman—a clone relation to Fett—has been drawn into the whodunit. Freeman, who feels like he could use some protection himself, has been recruited against his will to find and protect a particular bounty hunter on a distant world—in Mandalorian space!

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You want more? Check out Dark Horse’s full list of May solicitations.