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 | |
| Parent company | Dark Horse Media |
|---|---|
| Status | Active |
| Founded | February 4, 1986; 39 years ago (1986-02-04) |
| Founder | Mike Richardson |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Headquarters location | Milwaukie, Oregon, U.S. |
| Distribution | |
| Key people |
|
| Publication types | Comics,graphic novels,manga, art books,novels |
| Fiction genres | |
| Imprints | imprint labels |
| Owner | Embracer Group |
| Official website | www |
Dark Horse Comics is an American independentcomic book,graphic novel, andart book publisher founded inMilwaukie, Oregon, byMike Richardson in 1986.[6] The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain ofPortland, Oregon,comic book shops known as Pegasus Books and founded in 1980.[6][7]
Dark Horse Comics has emerged as the fourth-largest comic publishing company in the United States of America.[6]Dividing profits with artists and writers, as well as supporting artistic and creative rights in the comic book industry, Dark Horse Comics has become a strong proponent of publishing licensed material that often does not fit into mainstream media.[6][8] Several titles include:Sin City,Hellboy,Buffy the Vampire Slayer,300,Ninja Gaiden, andStar Wars.[8]
In December 2021, Swedish gaming companyEmbracer Group launched its acquisition ofDark Horse Media, Dark Horse Comics' parent company, and completed the buyout in March 2022.[9]
Dark Horse has published many licensed comics, including comics based onStar Wars,Avatar: The Last Airbender,Ninja Gaiden,Buffy the Vampire Slayer,Aliens,Predator, andTerminator.[8][10] Dark Horse Comics holds a notoriety for being the most reputable publisher in regard to allowing creators to retain ownership of their work.[11] Founder Mike Richardson created the company with creator rights in mind because of his frustration with the treatment of artists by comic publishers of the time.[7]
They have published severalcreator-owned comics such asFrank Miller'sSin City and300,Mike Mignola'sHellboy,Stan Sakai'sUsagi Yojimbo, andGerard Way'sUmbrella Academy.[8][9][11][12] With an emphasis on mini and limited series, Dark Horse Comics has given itself immense flexibility in the comic book publishing industry.[11] This model allows the company to pull poorly performing series while also retaining the ability to reprint past works without intense scrutiny.[11]
In 2006,The New York Times reported that "Dark Horse pays by the story or the page, and shares profit generated by comic books and related merchandise. That is different from the standard work-for-hire arrangement at DC and Marvel: creators are paid for a specific story and perhaps receive royalties from collected editions, but the bulk of the revenue, and all of the merchandising opportunities, remain with the companies".[8]
Mike Richardson was an active follower of theAmateur Press Association (APA), an organization focused on critiquing comics through conventions, fan projects, and newsletters.[11] As a result of his involvement, Richardson became acquainted with Randy Stradley, an early Dark Horse Comics collaborator and editor.[11] The two used their contacts from the APA to recruit artists and writers, many of whom were working for several top comic publishing groups.[11]
Dark Horse was founded in 1986 byMike Richardson withDark Horse Presents No. 1 and featured the first appearance ofPaul Chadwick'sConcrete andChris Warner'sBlack Cross, selling approximately 50,000 copies, which was far better than predictions.[8][11] The series has become a platform for new creators to highlight their works.[11] The success of Dark Horse Comics can be attributed to a change in comic book marketing that occurred in the 1980s when comics began to be sold in comic specific stores.[8]
After his success, Richardson began buying the rights to several titles including:Godzilla in 1987,Aliens,Predator in 1989, andStar Wars in 1991 (owned byMarvel prior to the Dark Horse Comics acquisition).[11] Dark Horse evolved further and began producing toys in 1991.[8] In 1992, Richardson formedDark Horse Entertainment, the company's critically acclaimed film and television division.[6][8]
With the release of the firstAliens comic in 1988 andPredator in 1988, Dark Horse Comics' popular characters appeared in their own line of work as well asDark Horse Presents andTarzan and numerous crossovers that includedSuperman andBatman ofDC Comics, andWildC.A.T.s.[11]
In a 1991 issue ofDark Horse Presents,Frank Miller introducedSin City, one of Dark Horse Comics' most successful titles.[11] In addition to this title, Miller introduced several other limited series set in dystopian societies includingGive Me Liberty which ran from 1990–1991 andHard Boiled.[11][13]
The Mask, a miniseries fromMark Badger, debuted inDark Horse Presents 10-20 in 1991 and had a successful film adaptation, starringJim Carrey, in 1994.[11] However comic sales were not strengthened by the success of the film.[11]
In 1993, Dark Horse established their own limited series superhero realm with the creation ofComics' Greatest World.[11][14] However, comic publishing changed in the 1990s and all Comics' Greatest World titles were canceled except forGhost.[11][14] As a result, Dark Horse Comics returned to their smaller-scale business model.[14]
Dark Horse Comics created the imprint Legends and as part of their focus on creators, the publisher began working withMike Mignola.[11] In 1994, Mignola's characterHellboy first appeared inHellboy: Seed of Destruction the beginning of several limited and miniseries with crossovers that includedBatman ofDC Comics.[11]
1994 saw the release of the monthly manga miniseries,Oh My Goddess![11]
The licensing to the unpopular limited series,Tarzan, was purchased by Dark Horse Comics in 1995 and ended in 1998.[11]
Ghost, fromComics' Greatest World, began running as a solo title in 1995, but ended in 1998 and was subsequently launched once more the same year.[11]
Eisner Award winningUsagi Yojimbo, written and drawn by third-generation Japanese-American artist,Stan Sakai debuted in Dark Horse Comics in 1996 as a monthly issue and ran until 2019.[11][15]
Dark Horse Comics began translating the manga series fromHiroaki Samura,Blade of the Immortal, in 1996 and ending in 2015.[11][16]
For the firstFree Comic Book Day on May 4, 2002, Dark Horse Comics publishedStar Wars: Tales – A Jedi's Weapon and has participated in the event every year since.[17]
In 2006, Dark Horse was the third largest comics publisher. PerDiamond Comic Distributors, "Marvel had 36.9 percent of the market",DC "had 32.9 percent" and Dark Horse had "5.6 percent".[18]
In 2007, Dark Horse donated copies of all of its published works to thePortland State University Library, which maintains both a browsing collection of book titles, in addition to a research collection which also includes every "print, poster, statue, figure, and all other products." As of July 15, 2016, the library has cataloged over 10,000 titles as "the official archive of Dark Horse publications".[19]
In 2011,Dark Horse Presents relaunched including the return of Paul Chadwick'sConcrete andSteve Niles'Criminal Macabre, as well as new talent including Sanford Greene,Carla Speed McNeil, Nate Crosby and others. Starting in 2013, Dark Horse began to reprintEC Archives, picking up the project of reprinting classicEC Comics from the 1950s where Gladstone left off, using the same size and format as Gladstone, with all stories reprinted in order and in full color.[citation needed]
In early 2017, Dark Horse Comic entered partnership withCrypton Future Media to publish official English-languageHatsune Miku-related manga. In late summer of 2018, a set of comic books forMysticons were released.[citation needed] In 2018, Vanguard Visionary Associates, a Chinese media production company, became a partner of Dark Horse's subsidiary Dark Horse Entertainment[20][21] along with a "major investment stake" in the subsidiary.[22] BothForbes[23] andPublishers Weekly reported that "the investment stake is rumored to be about $20 million and will give Vanguard a majority interest in Dark House".[22]
In 2020, Dark Horse announced it was severing ties with writer and editorScott Allie[24][25] "after a former Dark Horse employee accused him ofsexual harassment andsexual assault across a period lasting more than a decade."[26] It was reported that in 2015,[27] "after reports of multiple instances of sexual misconduct" by Allie:
Dark Horse Comics founder Mike Richardson released a statement toThe Beat, which in part read, "In this particular case, action was taken immediately, though we did not, and cannot, perform a public flogging, as some might wish." Although Richardson said action had been taken, Allie continued as an editor for Dark Horse, transitioning from editor-in-chief to the role of executive senior editor in 2015, before departing Dark Horse as a full-time employee in 2017, continuing to work with them [until 2020] in a freelance capacity.[28]
In June 2021, Dark Horse opened a video game and digital division, called Dark Horse Games. The division will be focused on development ofAAA video games based on the company's IP.[29]
In mid-November 2021, Dark Horse founder and CEO Mike Richardson announced that the company would be publishing a new line of all-ages Star Wars comics and graphic novels in collaboration withLucasfilm andDisney Publishing Worldwide. Dark Horse had previously held the licensing rights for producingStar Wars comics between 1991 and 2015.[30][31]
In December 2021,Bloomberg reported Dark Horse Comics for sale to a Hollywood studio. Companies rumored as potential buyers includeNetflix, andThe Walt Disney Company but a representative could not comment.[32][33][34] Later in the month,Embracer Group, a video gameholding company, announced that it launched its acquisition of Dark Horse Media, including Dark Horse Comics and Dark Horse Entertainment, and that the company would be the tenth operative division in the company.[35][36][37]
Multiple news outlets highlighted that this deal gives Embracer Group access to Dark Horse's[36][38] "300-plus pieces of intellectual property".[39] This deal also grants Dark Horse access to additional intellectual property maintained by Embracer; "sources close to the publisher say that founder and CEO Mike Richardson maintains creative control over Dark Horse under the terms of the deal, while the company receives a level of financial stability it hasn't previously enjoyed as an independent entity, even as it separates from its deal with Chinese pop culture company Vanguard Visionary Associates".[39]
The Hollywood Reporter commented that for the Embracer Group this deal was "not just an opportunity to expand properties into comics, but other media. Dark Horse's ongoing relationship with media companies through current and future adaptations and the Dark Horse Entertainment subsidiary open up the potential for Embracer to push projects outside of the video game arena. Dark Horse isn't simply the fourth-largest comic book publisher in the U.S. industry, after all; it's also a company with a first-look deal with Netflix, as well as an ongoing relationship with Universal Content Productions."[39]
Embracer finalized the acquisition of Dark Horse on March 14, 2022.[40]
In June 2022, Dark Horse announced a business partnership withPenguin Random House Publishing as the company's new primary comicbook distributor which was previously held byDiamond Comics Distributors for thirty years. In September 2022, Dark Horse Comics announced the expansion of their business relationship with Penguin Random House. This multi-year distribution deal began in June 2023.[41]
Dark Horse CEO Mike Richardson stated that the company decided to expand their business relationship with the legendary publishing company because they both wanted to improve comic book accessibility worldwide, and address fans concerns over high distribution fees with Diamond Comics, Inc.
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From 1993 to 1996, Dark Horse published aline of superhero comics under the Comics' Greatest World imprint, which was later renamed Dark Horse Heroes. After 1996, publication of this line came to a near halt, ceasing production of any books concerning the characters with the publication of the last crossover books involvingGhost, in the early 2000s.
Legend was a comic bookimprint at Dark Horse Comics created in 1994 byFrank Miller andJohn Byrne as an avenue for creator-owned projects.[42] Its logo was amoai drawn byMike Mignola. Later on, other creators were asked to join them. The imprint ended in 1998.
Dark Horse Manga is an imprint for Japanesemanga translated into English. The company's first ongoing title wasOh My Goddess! byKōsuke Fujishima, starting in August 1994.[43]Oh My Goddess! since became America's longest-running manga series.[citation needed] Other publications includeAkira,Astro Boy,Berserk,Blade of the Immortal,Ghost in the Shell,Lone Wolf and Cub,Trigun andBlood Blockade Battlefront byYasuhiro Nightow,Gantz,Hellsing andDrifters byKouta Hirano,Blood+,Multiple Personality Detective Psycho,FLCL,Mob Psycho 100, andOreimo.
Dark Horse formerly published a number of titles by the all-female Japanese manga artist groupCLAMP, includingClover,Chobits,Cardcaptor Sakura,Magic Knight Rayearth. These titles are now published by Kodansha.Gate 7 and Okimono Kimono are still published by Dark Horse.
A manga magazine titledSuper Manga Blast! was published by Dark Horse starting in the spring of 2000. It was discontinued in December 2005 after 59 issues.[44]
Dark Horse also publishes a number of Koreanmanhwa titles, includingBanya: The Explosive Delivery Man.[45]
Maverick was animprint for creator-owned material.
The DH Press imprint publishesnovelizations of Dark Horse's more popular comic book titles, includingAliens andPredator. DH Press has now been absorbed by DH Books.
Publications ranging from novels to film books byLeonard Maltin aboutJohn Landis, to comic related material such as a biography ofWill Eisner, to health books. They have also published a series reprintingPlayboy interviews. The M Press imprint was created to publish a diverse list of both literary fiction and non-fiction prose for authors with a unique voice. One such series isOrchid byTom Morello, published from 2011 to 2013. The newest addition to M Press is an originalgraphic novelThe Fifth Beatle byVivek Tiwary,Andrew Robinson, andKyle Baker, published in November 2013.
In 2011, Dark Horse launched theiriOS app and online digital comics storeDark Horse Digital, followed by the release of the beta version of a nativeAndroid app in 2012. Any device with a modern web browser can be used to read Dark Horse comics at their web store.As of February 24, 2025 Dark Horse Digital has closed. No further sales will be offered on the DHD website but users can still log in and read the comics on their bookshelf.[46][47][48][49][50]
Initiated in 1998, Dark Horse Deluxe rolled out a line of merchandise that included model kits, toys, apparel, and collectibles. Its original purpose was to draw on Dark Horse properties but expanded to include such collectibles asTim Burton'sTragic Toys for Girls and Boys,Joss Whedon'sSerenity, and merchandise for the popular video-game franchiseMass Effect. Dark Horse, working with Big Tent Entertainment and theNHK broadcasting corporation, broughtDomo-kun to the United States with a series of products ranging fromQee figurines to journals and stationery sets.David Scroggy was Vice President of Product Development at Dark Horse for many years, starting in that department in 1993 and retiring in 2017.[51]
In 2013,Denis Kitchen and John Lind co-founded Kitchen Sink Books with Dark Horse as a joint venture and independent imprint.[52] The imprint name is in reference to Kitchen's former publishing company Kitchen Sink Press which ran from 1970 until 1999. Kitchen said of the venture, "John and I have packaged books for a number of first-rank publishers, but we have long discussed the ideal house to enjoy maximum freedom and creativity," says Kitchen. "In longtime friend and publisher Mike Richardson and Dark Horse Comics, we found just that."[53]
The imprint's output is infrequent, publishing two to three high-profile projects annually, with editorial focus on art books and deluxe format collections. Creators published under the Kitchen Sink line include Will Eisner, Frank Miller,[54]Harvey Kurtzman,Tony DiTerlizzi[55] and collections/anthology titles include work fromJack Davis,Will Elder,Art Spiegelman,S. Clay Wilson,Monte Beauchamp,Bob Powell,Justin Green,Trina Robbins,Harvey Pekar,Arnold Roth, andAl Jaffee.
Former executive editor of VertigoKaren Berger established the Berger Books imprint at Dark Horse in 2017.[56] Titles published under the imprint includeHungry Ghosts written byJoel Rose andAnthony Bourdain,Incognegro (previously published throughVertigo) and a prequelIncognegro: Renaissance both written byMat Johnson,The Seeds written byAnn Nocenti,She Could Fly written byChristopher Cantwell, andLaGuardia written byNnedi Okorafor.
On June 2, 2021, Dark Horse Comics launched a Gaming and Digital Entertainment Division in partnership with AAA studios to bring many of its "older and lesser-established IPs" into the gaming market.[57]
In March 2022, it was announced that Dark Horse and filmmakerKevin Smith would be teaming up to publish the books ofSecret Stash Press, a new publishing line by Smith. The first two books of the line includeMaskerade, written by Smith and Andy Mcelfresh andQuick Stops, written by Smith and set within theView Askewniverse.[58]
In April 2022, it was announced thatMatt Kindt was launching his Flux House imprint through Dark Horse, starting withMIND MGMT: Bootleg[59] and continuing withHairball in April 2023.[60]
Stan Sakai moved hisUsagi Yojimbo series to Dark Horse under his Dogu Publishing imprint in July 2022.[61]
It was announced in September 2022 thatEric Powell had brought his Albatross Funnybooks imprint to Dark Horse. This would include series such asThe Goon,Hillbilly andBig Man Plans, as well asBrendon Small'sGalaktikon andRebecca Sugar'sPug Davis.[62]
In November 2022, it was announced that Dark Horse had partnered withJames Tynion IV to release books of his Tiny Onion Studios. This will include original books and print versions of books previously available onSubstack. The first of these books includeBlue Book, written by Tynion and illustrated byMichael Avon Oeming, which began publication in February 2023, whileThe Oddly Pedestrian Life of Christopher Chaos began publication in June 2023, with Tynion creating the story, Tate Brombal writing, and art by Isaac Goodhart.Christopher Chaos was originally envisioned as a five-issue miniseries, but due to strong pre-order numbers it has now become an ongoing series.[63][64]
In December 2023, it was revealed thatMark Millar had signed a deal with Dark Horse to become the new publisher of Millarworld titles. This includes reprints of previous titles and new series, with five brand-new series launching in 2024, one of them beingNemesis Rogues' Gallery with artist Valerio Giangiordano.[65]
Dark Horse Comics has acquired the rights to make comic book adaptations of many popular films, video games and series. Some of these includeAliens,Army of Darkness (before Dynamite Entertainment acquired the license),Indiana Jones,Predator,RoboCop,The Thing,Star Wars,The Terminator,Buffy the Vampire Slayer (and its spin-off,Angel),Planet of the Apes,Let Me In,Ninja Gaiden,Plants vs. Zombies, andAvatar: The Last Airbender.
In 2013CCP Games announced that Dark Horse would be publishing a series of comic books based on stories collected from players of theMMORPGEVE Online.[66] In 2014,Lucasfilm announced that, as of 2015, futureStar Wars comics would be published by Lucasfilm's corporate sibling,Marvel Comics.[67]
In 2017, Dark Horse Comics began publishingCritical Role: Vox Machina Origins based on the web seriesCritical Role.[68] In 2019,Critical Role: Vox Machina Origins was Dark Horse's sixth-best-selling title with 19,000 copies sold.[69] The eight volume prequel graphic novel seriesCritical Role: The Mighty Nein Origins was published by Dark Horse between 2021 and 2024.[70][71] Brian Hibbs, inThe Beat's analysis of 2022 comics sales, highlighted thatThe Mighty Nein Origins: Caleb Widogast was one of eight Dark Horse titles in the "Top 750" and that it was Dark Horse's 4th best selling title with 15,000 copies sold.[72]
Dark Horse's production studio arm,Dark Horse Entertainment, produces films and television shows based on Dark Horse Comics. Established by Richardson in 1992, Dark Horse Entertainment set up shop on the lot atTwentieth Century Fox through a first-look deal withLarry Gordon andLargo Entertainment. Dark Horse Entertainment has produced over two dozen films and television projects.[73]
Dark Horse Entertainment's 2018 deal with Vanguard Visionary Associates was "intended to allow the company to fully finance development of properties already owned by the company, as well as acquire outside material for media adaptation. The partnership is intended to be a gateway for Dark Horse to bring its comic book library to new foreign markets, with a particular focus on China".[20] In 2019, Dark Horse Entertainment set up a first-look deal with the streaming companyNetflix.[74]In August 2022, Netflix and Dark Horse renewed their first-look deal for film and TV.[75]
The following are TV projects based on Dark Horse comic books:[76]
The following are feature films based on series from Dark Horse Comics:[89]
Released projects
Online retailer of comics and collectibles; sister company of Dark Horse Comics
