(From Dark Horse Comics press releases:)
Writer/Director Joss Whedon auctions off dinner with fans for non-profit organization Equality Now and raises $61,716
In conjunction with Dark Horse, eBay, and Auction Cause, five spots at a dinner table with Joss Whedon were offered on eBay.com/JossWhedon starting Monday, July 2nd, 2007. The ten-day auction proved to be a fierce bidding battle. The winners each paid up to $11,000 in the end. At a final count of the dinner plus auctions for signed Buffy lithographs and customized watches, the total amounted to $61,716.
Funds raised from the charity auction benefit Equality Now. Working with national human rights organizations and individual activists, Equality Now documents violence and discrimination against women and mobilizes international action to support their efforts to stop human rights abuses. Following in his mother’s footsteps, Joss is a large contributor and major supporter of Equality Now.
During San Diego Comic-Con this weekend, Joss will take winning bidders to a swank restaurant for drinks and dinner in a private room. For three hours the lucky guests will have the chance to talk, joke, question, and food fight with their hero, Joss Whedon.
“I’m more or less overwhelmed. The generosity of the bidders—all of them—is greater than I could have expected. Equality Now needs this money for its vital work and I’m thrilled at the amount this event has raised. Thrilled and galvanized: I promise to make this dinner truly memorable. I swear not to nod off (more than twice), not to try to ‘borrow’ the guests’ wallets or set the waiters ‘on fire,’ and to learn gooder English conversating,” muses Joss Whedon. “My grateful thanks to Dark Horse, to MySpace, eBay and Auction Cause—and mad props to the man behind the curtain, Mike Boretz—for making this run so smoothly. And to all the bidders, five of whom are in for a treat—or a least an appetizer.”
Whedon is the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. This Emmy and Golden Globe nominated television series gained worldwide cult status throughout its Seven Seasons. Buffy spearheaded an evolution in the depiction of women in mainstream media making room for qualities like power and strength in female characters. The success of the show has created a new universe, the Buffyverse, which has enchanted different mediums with its enlightening and revolutionary characters.
Whedon is also the creator of Firefly, a sci-fi space western that had a short run on Fox. The major motion picture, Serenity, continued the characters’ journey and extended their fictional lives. This canceled series started a worldwide fan club that fights for the promotion and future continuation of the brilliantly constructed ideology presented in the post-apocalyptic setting.
Dark Horse has been the proud publisher of the companion comics for Buffy and Serenity since 1998, and earlier this year brought Buffy back with a direct follow-up to Season Seven of the smash-hit TV series in Buffy Season 8 with executive producer Joss Whedon!
Monk Creator Andy Breckman Joins with Peter Gross to Bring Long Lost to Dark Horse
USA’s hit show Monk lends Dark Horse their creator Andy Breckman. Paired with legendary artist Peter Gross, the team delivers Long Lost, a drama full of loss, suspense, and mystery. Andy Breckman has a long history in comedy, having been a stand-up comedian, movie writer, and television producer. For the first time ever, Breckman takes a stab at both drama and the comics medium in this electrifying emotional narrative. The fantastic art of Peter Gross adds an element of honesty and realism to the masterpiece that is Long Lost.
When a mother suddenly comes face to face with a teenage boy claiming to be her son who was kidnapped as a baby, she is skeptical of this spontaneous return is real. Of one family’s tragedy is explored in this twisting story of grief, psychosis, and deception. Long Lost takes every parent’s worst nightmare and turns it into a thrilling tale that keeps readers on their toes.
Breckman explains the background of the project: “Sometimes—not often, but sometimes—things work out exactly the way they’re supposed to. I’ve been kicking Long Lost around for a while. After years of writing comedy, I wanted to try something new. I wanted to try scaring the shit out of people. I was proud of the story, and aching to tell it. But how? It was too dark—too twisted—for TV. And way too intense—too claustrophobic—for the big screen. Then I met the amazing Peter Gross and his blessed-by-God right hand. He sent me a few rough pages, and that was it. Long Lost was home. I realized it was always meant to be a graphic novel, and Peter was always meant to bring it to life. I can sleep easy. My baby is in good hands.”
“I’m always a little wary about working with writers from other mediums who want to dip into comics for the first time, because it’s a harder medium than they expect, with unique challenges all its own. After talking to Andy the first time, I knew I had to do this project—he’s smart, funny, personable, and has a great story . . . and he promised me I would be the ‘director’ of this project, with all the story-cutting privileges that go along with that. After watching Andy geek out at the NY Comic-Con, paying big bucks for an early issue of Jimmy Olson that he loved as a kid, I knew he had comics in his blood. He’s just one of those guys who became incredibly successful in other media so he could break into comics,” said Gross on the collaboration.
Long Lost is scheduled for a 2008 release date.
Conan returns to his homeland, Cimmeria
The world’s most famous barbarian will be going through some changes, starting with a relaunch of the Dark Horse comics series after issue #50. First, though, they’ll be tying up some loose ends: after Tim Truman and Cary Nord wrap up their adaptation of “Rogues in the House” in Conan #44, original Conan writer Kurt Busiek and artist Greg Ruth will be finishing off Born on the Battlefield, their chronicle of Conan’s youth in Cimmeria, with the climactic Battle of Venarium. The last three issues will be devoted to the end of Conan’s career as a thief, as Truman and new series artist Tomás Giorello adapt the Robert E. Howard fragment “The Hand of Nergal.” Issue #50, which will be a special double-size issue, will be the last of the series.
But fans of its eponymous hero needn’t worry: after a month’s break, Dark Horse will be bringing Conan back in a new ongoing series, titled Conan the Cimmerian. The new series will continue where the old one left off, bringing back Conan writer Timothy Truman and penciller Tomàs Giorello. And it wouldn’t be Conan without Cary Nord, who will be providing cover art for Conan the Cimmerian.
So, what’s new? Well, aside from the title, Conan the Cimmerian opens the second major chapter of Conan’s life, as he changes from thief and rogue to mercenary and pirate. Timothy Truman explains, “REH divided Conan’s life into distinct ‘career’ phases: first as a youthful thief and wanderer, then mercenary, to pirate, to border raider, scout, and finally king. During his thief era, he’s less experienced—a daring, larcenous, wide-eyed lad from a mountain tribe who goes adventuring in the “civilized” world beyond his own. Later, he starts showing the scars of experience. He gets wiser, tougher, and more confident. His attire changes, as well. He dresses more elaborately and he buys and scavanges clothing and gear that reflects different countries that he’s traveled to.”
The relaunch also promises more cohesive series continuity. Editor Matt Dryer, who will be taking the reins of the new series, has high hopes: “With Conan, there have been a lot of opportunities to work with all sorts of really brilliant artists—folks like Eric Powell, John Severin, Bruce Timm, and Rafael Kayanan. But that got away from us. There just got to be too many stand-alone issues, and they were disrupting the continuity of the main story. That won’t be the case on Cimmerian. We’re refocusing on the main story and committing ourselves to an ongoing cohesive structure.”
Timothy Truman is likewise optimistic about both the relaunch—and ready to get down to the business of writing the barbarian’s new adventures, beginning with his return to his native Cimmeria. Says Truman, “The entire team is really excited. From here on out, we’re going full gallop– swords drawn, visors down and shields raised. Crom help the bastard that gets in our way.”
Conan the Cimmerian is scheduled for release in May 2008.
MYSPACE AND DARK HORSE COMICS LAUNCH “MYSPACE DARK HORSE PRESENTS…” AT COMIC-CON
Online Resurrection of the Famed Comic Book Anthology Series to Feature Comics Including Joss Whedon (Creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer) & Gerard Way (My Chemical Romance)
LOS ANGELES–July 27, 2007–MySpace, the nation’s most trafficked website, and Dark Horse Comics, pioneers of creator owned and licensed comics material, today announced a partnership to revive one of the most celebrated comic anthologies with the launch of a new online comic book, “MySpace Dark Horse Presents…” (http://www.myspace.com/darkhorsepresents). The online series will include original content by top creators and premiere artists, all available exclusively on MySpace and free of charge to users. The announcement was made on-site at Comic-Con International in San Diego.
“MySpace Dark Horse Presents…” takes its cues from the original Dark Horse Presents, a hard copy comic book published from 1986 to 2000, where high celebrated comics including Frank Miller’s Sin City and Paul Chadwick’s Concrete, made their mark in issues of the anthology and were later spun off into their own standalone comic franchises.
The inaugural August issue of “MySpace Dark Horse Presents…” goes live on MySpace today and will include the following comics:
Sugar Shock, the debut new comic from artist Fábio Moon and Joss Whedon, creator of the popular television shows Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Firefly, and author of the highly successful Dark Horse Comics miniseries, Fray, among others
The Umbrella Academy by artist Gabriel Bá and Gerard Way, lead singer of the band My Chemical Romance
Samurai by Ron Marz and Luke Ross
Comic-Con Murder Mystery by Rick Geary
“Dark Horse Comics, with a dedicated fan base and history of innovative comic properties, is the ideal partner for MySpace,” said Shawn Gold, SVP of Marketing for MySpace. “We are thrilled to help resurrect Dark Horse Presents in its new digital format and continue the long and storied legacy of this comic institution classic.”
The comics contained in future issues of “MySpace Dark Horse Presents…” will include a mix from both established, successful, comic creators as well as talented amateurs. Site editors from both MySpace and Dark Horse Comics will search MySpace profiles for new talent to feature in every upcoming issue. New issues will be available exclusively on MySpace the first week of every month, with the second issue premiering the first week of September.
“Just over 20 years ago, we published our first comic, Dark Horse Presents #1. Our goal was to bring new and talented creators to the forefront of comics culture, and also to give industry luminaries a chance to retain the rights to their work” said Mike Richardson, president and founder of Dark Horse Comics. “Years later, with that same goal in mind, we are reviving this title online, with the help of MySpace.com, whom we feel may be the most culturally relevant website on the net. With their broad cultural significance, and incredibly wide reach, we felt they would be the perfect partner to lead our charge into original online content. Our hope is to both reach new readers, and to give longtime Dark Horse devotees a new and exciting comics experience.”
For fans at Comic-Con this week, MySpace will be giving away 400 “MySpace Dark Horse Presents…” limited edition, screen-printed posters available at the Dark Horse Comics booth. The posters feature original art from Sugar Shock by Fábio Moon, and were designed by Micah Smith at Blacktop Creative.
In March 2007 MySpace launched MySpace Comic Books (http://www.myspace.com/comicbooks), a community dedicated to the best in comics, manga, and graphic novels. In addition to the latest comic book news and interviews, MySpace Comic Books spotlights the most exciting projects, creators and events in the industry. With over 125,000 friends, and growing, MySpace has seen significant interest from its members in the comic book arena. “MySpace Dark Horse Presents…” will complement the burgeoning MySpace Comic Books profile.
About MySpace.com
MySpace, a unit of Fox Interactive Media Inc., is the premier lifestyle portal for connecting with friends, discovering popular culture, and making a positive impact on the world. By integrating web profiles, blogs, instant messaging, e-mail, music streaming, music videos, photo galleries, classified listings, events, groups, college communities, and member forums, MySpace has created a connected community. As the first ranked web domain in terms of page views*, MySpace is the most widely-used and highly regarded site of its kind and is committed to providing the highest quality member experience. MySpace will continue to innovate with new features that allow its members to express their creativity and share their lives, both online and off. MySpace’s international network includes localized community sites in the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, France, Germany, Australia, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Mexico, Canada, Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, Austria, and Latin America.
*Among the top 2000 domains comScore Media Metrix, June 2007. For more information on comScore Networks, please go to http://www.comscore.com.
About Dark Horse Comics:
Since 1986, Dark Horse Comics has proven to be a solid example of how integrity and innovation can help broaden a unique storytelling medium and establish a small, homegrown company as an industry giant. In addition to publishing comics from top talent like Frank Miller, Mike Mignola, Neil Gaiman, and comics legend Will Eisner, their highly successful line of comics and products based on popular properties includes Star Wars, Aliens, Conan, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Emily the Strange, Tim Burton, Trigun, and Hellsing. Today Dark Horse Comics is the third largest comic-book publisher in the U.S. and is recognized as the world’s leading publisher of licensed comics material.
Dark Horse joins with world-renowned creators CLAMP to welcome fans into a new era of manga
Last year Dark Horse celebrated its twentieth anniversary of publishing original graphic works by some of the world’s greatest creators. Next year, Dark Horse celebrates their twentieth anniversary of publishing manga in English. This year, at San Diego Comic-Con Dark Horse is proud to announce that these two commitments held for so long have come together. Dark Horse will have the honor of publishing a new original manga created by Satsuki Igarashi, Mokona, Tsubaki Nekoi and Ageha Ohkawa.—the manga-ka all-female supergroup known to their millions of fans worldwide as CLAMP. These four brilliant writers and artists work together to produce award-winning, best-selling manga, including RG VEDA, X, Chobits, Tsubasa, and xxxHOLiC.
CLAMP’s original manga with Dark Horse will be launched simultaneously in the United States, Japan, and Korea. The story will come out in a small digest consisting of about eighty pages each, which will then be collected into trade paperbacks with bonus material. CLAMP and Dark Horse are coining the bilingual term Mangettes to describe this innovative new format for manga distribution. This digest format, or Mangette, signifies CLAMP’s personal wish to reach their large international readership by now speaking to them directly as artists through Dark Horse, and on a basis of equality with their Japanese fans.
CLAMP and Dark Horse chose the term Mangettes to describe this revolutionary format, whose Japanese pronunciation, mangetsu, means “the full moon.” The two kanji in mangetsu also have the individual meanings of “fulfilled” and “monthly,” reflecting what will be a monthly appearance of each CLAMP Mangette.
According to CLAMP, “Mangettes are a completely brand new experience for us, too, and we’re really happy to be working on this. And we’re really looking forward to the day when we can bring you this new story from CLAMP, and the day when we can meet our fans face-to-face to hear what you think about Mangettes!”
“Dark Horse has made original comics for over twenty years; our editors have seen the hard work of individual Japanese creators in every manga we’ve ever brought over. Now we’re going to work just as hard to meet the trust CLAMP has placed in Dark Horse to publish their original work,” explains Mike Richardson, president and founder of Dark Horse. “Thanks to CLAMP, Dark Horse is today a manga publisher in a complete sense. After two decades of experience in adapting licensed editions of manga released previously by Japanese publishers, we will now become the original publisher of CLAMP, creators at the top of the manga world.”
Soon to come, details on CLAMP’s exciting new story.
