Dark Horse

Are you looking for a magical gift for that special Muggle in your life? Do you need to send a wrapped present to a Time Lord in the near future? Or maybe you’re an enterprising soul who just can’t figure out the logical thing to bring to the holodeck holiday party? Well, no worries, just mind-meld with us because we’re here to save the day. Look, up in the photo gallery, it’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s…the Hero Complex Holiday Gift Guide. Flip through the gallery image above to see the best geeky gifts around and read our review (be sure to click the “CAPTIONS ON” option). Also below, grouped by price range, you’ll find those same gift suggestions listed with handy links to help you get your shopping done at light speed. May the nog be with you. – Noelene Clark […]

Find the best and the brightest of the comic book world right here, before the books hit the shelves. Thumb through the gallery above, and click on thumbnails below for larger images. We’ll update the post throughout the month so check back to see this growing gallery of covers and pages from upcoming releases from top publishers. To see more art from recent releases, check out our comic book news section and archive of comics-art galleries. – Jevon Phillips RECENT AND RELATED ‘Hunger Games’: See the character posters Wonder Woman at 70: DC’s icon gets new origin ‘Hawk & Dove’ preview: Chaos and order face off ‘Twilight: Breaking Dawn’ stars prep for L.A. fans ‘The Avengers’: Joss Whedon’s evil giggles ‘Star Wars’ flashback: Carrie Fisher’s audition ‘Lord of the Rings’: War in the North in Tolkien’s spirit ‘Adventures of Tintin’: Catching […]

Mark Millar and John Romita Jr.’s “Kick-Ass” comic continues with the saga of high school geek Dave Lizewski and his transformation into the violent vigilante in the current seven-issue miniseries “Kick-Ass 2,” the second portion of the trilogy. The comic is nearly halfway through its run (No. 3 came out Aug. 24) and is still as popular as ever with five reprintings of issue No. 1 of the series alone. Hero Complex contributor Jevon Phillips caught up with writer Millar to find out what’s going on with the title and to get some answers about a movie sequel. JP: OK, first let’s get two things out of the way before we get to “Kick-Ass 2″ and “Kick-Ass 3.” What did you think about “Super”? It came after “Kick-Ass” and was pretty similar in tone… MM: “Super” was an amazing movie. […]

This post has been corrected. See the note at the bottom for details. In time for the latest big-screen incarnation of “The Thing,” which hits theaters Oct. 14, Dark Horse Comics is releasing a digital comic set in the same universe — “The Thing: The Northman Nightmare.” The first installment of the 29-page book, written by Steve Niles with artwork by Patrick Reynolds, goes live Wednesday on Dark Horse’s website, but Hero Complex readers get a sneak peek at the first eight pages, above. Niles, best known for his comics “30 Days of Night” and “Criminal Macabre” (and more recently for his vampire expertise on the vamps vs. zombies “Deadliest Warrior” finale), has his hands full these days. His latest comic, “Criminal Macabre: No Peace for Dead Men,” just hit shelves. He’s writing “30 Days” again after a nine-year hiatus. […]

Sarah Michelle Gellar may have moved on from the Hellmouth, playing twins in the new CW show “Ringer,” but Buffy is still doing what she’s always done — staking (and breaking) hearts. “Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Nine” hits comic book stores this week, and new “Buffy” writer, “The Vampire Diaries” alum Andrew Chambliss, said it’s back to the basics for Buffy and her Scooby gang. After the destruction of the Seed at the end of Season Eight, the characters are now learning to operate in a world without magic. Chambliss said it’s an opportunity to explore Buffy’s character. “Buffy is so much fun to write because she’s so relatable,” Chambliss said via email. “Sure, she may be the Chosen One, and she can stake a vampire in her sleep, but at the end of the day she’s just like […]

Comics and graphic novels have ventured into the grim landscape of real-world murder before — the gripping “Torso” and sprawling “From Hell” spring to mind —  but there’s a new twist to the true-crime sub-genre with “Green River Killer: A True Detective Story,” the 240-page hardcover from Dark Horse that has hit shelves Tuesday. Hollywood journalist Jeff Jensen (a familiar byline to readers of Entertainment Weekly) has a blood connection to the tale that marks his first foray into the world of comics. Tom Jensen, the writer’s father, was the dogged detective who worked the case for two decades and then spent 180 days interviewing Gary Leon Ridgway, the man who confessed to 48 murders and is suspected in dozens more. Our Geoff Boucher caught up with the writer to talk about fathers, sons, cops, killers and the art of crime. GB: The Green River Killer’s […]

Tom Morello, a man with searing musical ability and scorching political passions, is famous as the guitarist in Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave and increasingly for his solo folk project The Nightwatchman. Now, like his friend Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance, the amplifier auteur is moving into a new career as a storyteller in the comics world.  Morello introduced those plans down at Comic -Con International but we caught up with him for a more in-depth conversation about “Orchid,” which arrives in October from Dark Horse Comics and will feature art by Scott Hepburn, who previously worked on the Oregon publisher’s “Star Wars: Nights of the Republic.” G.B.: Are comics a new passion for you? T.M.: I was an avid comic book collector as a kid. At the time my comic book tastes and my music tastes coincided, they were escapist in nature. It […]

This post has been corrected. See the note below for details. If Sigourney Weaver is the big-screen queen of sci-fi, who would be the rightful reigning king? Harrison Ford springs to mind (three “Star Wars” films, ”Blade Runner” and now “Cowboys & Aliens”) as does Bruce Willis (“Twelve Monkeys,” “The Fifth Element” as well as genre films like “The Sixth Sense” and ”Sin City”), but it’s hard to argue against Arnold Schwarzenegger (three “Terminator” movies, ”Predator,” “Total Recall,” “The Running Man,” ”True Lies,” etc.). But here’s another graybeard nominee: The Dude himself, Jeff Bridges. Consider his film credits: “Tron,” “Tron: Legacy,” “Starman,” “King Kong,” “Iron Man” and  ”K-PAX,” as well as the Terry Gilliam fantasy films “The Fisher King” and “Tideland.” Coming up, he will star opposite Ryan Reynolds in the comic-book adaptation ”R.I.P.D.” before going into fantasy-epic mode in Sergey Bodrov’s dark take on “The Seventh Son,” adapted from Joseph Delaney’s “The […]

The ensemble of A-list actors starring in his upcoming “Avengers” movies makes a better team than the actual Avengers in the Marvel comic book that inspired the film, director Joss Whedon told fans at his Comic-Con International panel Saturday afternoon. “What I find is that these characters mesh through these differences really well,” he told the capacity crowd at the Hilton Bayfront’s Indigo Ballroom. “And what I also find is these actors have a great time playing against each other, and they are, as a troupe, actually a much better team than the Avengers are.” He said working on “Avengers” has been easier than he expected. “In fact, the only problem I’ve had with ‘The Avengers’ is: Where is the 14-year-old girl with superpowers?” he joked. The creator of the wildly popular television series “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and its […]

A filmmaker, a rock star and a romance novelist–Guillermo del Toro , Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello and “House of Night” author P.C. Cast–launched their first comic books at Comic-Con International in San Diego on Wednesday night. The Dark Horse Entertainment booth was swarmed during Comic-Con’s preview night for industry and press,  as the independent comic book publisher announced a diverse slate of fall titles. “The Strain,” the first book of the vampire trilogy by Del Toro and novelist Chuck Hogan, is being adapted by Eisner Award–winning comic book writer David Lapham (“Kull: The Hate Witch,” “Stray Bullets”) and artist Mike Huddleston (“Butcher Baker,” “The Coffin”). Over eight issues, the comic will lay out the first chapter of the “Hellboy” and “Pan’s Labyrinth” director’s novel about a plane that goes dark on the runway at JFK, sparking fears of […]