DARK HORSE PRESENTS 137
Dark Horse joined forces with the social networking site, MySpace.com, to relaunch its
fi rst series Dark Horse Presents as MySpace Dark Horse Presents, an exclusive online and
ongoing web-comic anthology featuring new and rising talent. Collections of these web-
comics are later released as bound books. In recent years, Dark Horse has also acquired
the rights to republish old serial comic publications including Ta r z a n and Little Lulu.
Th e strength of Dark Horse Comics lies in its ability to diversify its interests. It does
toy with superheroes, but that alone does not sustain or represent the publisher.
Lance Eaton
DARK HORSE PRESENTS. Dark Horse Presents was an anthology series published by
Dark Horse Comics from July 1986 to issue #157, Sept 2000. Th e series featured
various Dark Horse publications and properties. Th e content in DHP refl ected the
varied publication history of Dark Horse Comics.
Dark Horse Comics began in 1986 during the independent “Black and White explo-
sion” (named because majority of the material was printed in Black and White). Th is
era (not to be confused with the breakout of Image Comics in the mid 1990s) saw the
advent of various independent creators and publishing houses thanks to direct marketing
of books to comic retailers and independent book sellers.
DHP was the publisher’s fi rst publication and showcases the work of independent
creators. Th e early years of DHP are most notable for featuring Paul Chadwick’s
Concrete; a comic about the adventures of an otherwise normal individual whose brain
is encased in an alien body similar in substance to concrete. Th e success of Concrete
led to a continuing series of the same name. Another DHP fan favorite was Boris the
Bear, a satirical take on the current comic book and superhero related fads of the day.
Other characters featured in the early DHP issues were Th e Mask (introduced as the
Masque), Flaming Carrot, and the American.
By 1988, Dark Horse looked to diversify its publications content beyond indepen-
dent artists, seeking out licensing agreements with established characters and properties
from other forms of media. DHP began to feature Twentieth Century Fox motion picture
properties beginning with Aliens (issue #24, November 1988), Predator (issue #35), and
fi nally Alien vs. Predator (issue #36). Th ese Fox franchise titles would eventually branch
off into their own respective series, miniseries, and specials. With the success of the Aliens
and Predator franchises, DHP continued to feature a mix of independent and studio
licensed properties such as Joss Whedon’s Buff y the Vampire Slayer and Angel. DHP also
featured other established cross-media properties such as Ta r z a n and Th e Terminator
(based on the James Cameron movie).
By the early 1990s, Dark Horse had an established reputation as a publisher of
independent work, preceding the Image Comics revolution a few years later. DHP
would feature early appearances of John Byrne’s Next Men (#54), Art Adams’s Mon-
keyman & O’Brien (#80), Mike Mignola’s Hellboy (88 –91), Evan Dorkin’s Milk and
Cheese (#100, 101), and Shannon Wheeler’s Too Much Coff ee Man (#95). Possibly
the most notable feature in DHP was Frank Miller’s neo-noir style Sin City work
