Dark Horse Comics Rocks NYCC'13

Once again, the two largest comic book companies are NOT what we’ll be talking about regarding New York Comic Con. Image Comics’ consistency has always impressed us. They’re constantly doing fantastic signings, panels and booth work. However, Dark Horse Comics absolutely blew us away with the sheer number of fantastic announcements at this years’ Con. Dark Horse does the absolutely best horror in comics but is perhaps most famous for Hellboy, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Conan Star Wars and The Goon.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D just not doing it for you? Well, the Whedonverse is getting back to its roots with a slew of huge announcements. First and foremost, Buffy the Vampire Slayer is entering its tenth season, brought to you by the fantastic Christos Gage (Avengers: The Initiative, Avengers Academy) and Rebekah Issacs (Angel & Faith). It's set for 30 issues and is to debut March 19^th.

Victor Gischler (Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Spike, Deadpool: Merc with a Mouth) is set to continue the Buffy-verse season 9 spin-off, Angel & Faith in 2014. The series will be illustrated by Red Sonja’s Will Conrad and will debut April 2^nd, also in a 30 issue arc. “In Buffy, Season 10 is going to be about bringing friendships back together, while in Angel & Faith, relationships are shattered. Magic is starting to come back into the world, but in some surprising ways, like that vampire we saw standing in the sunlight at the end of Season 9,” teases Editor in Chief Scott Allie. 

Our absolute favorite announcement from this year’s New York Comic Con is that an official Serenity comic sequel is being penned by Joss Whedon’s brother Zack (Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog, Fringe). Zack has worked in the Firefly universe previously with The Shepherd’s Tale comic, and Joss is certainly involved in some way, so it’s safe to say the story is in skilled hands. “Malcolm Reynolds’s crew shook the ’verse to its core when they laid bare the crimes against humanity undertaken by their sinister government—the Alliance. Always outlaws, Mal, a very pregnant Zoe, new pilot River Tam, and the other surviving crew members are in greater danger than ever, and everyone’s asking the same question”. The fact that Firefly lasted just 14 episodes and is consistently regarded as one of the best television shows (and perhaps the best sci-fi show) of all time speaks volumes. People have been clamoring for follow-ups to the cult classic and we finally have our official continuation. Get excited, America.

Another huge announcement from Dark Horse at NYCC was the revelation that they’d be bringing the legendary Greg Rucka on for a new series called Veil with artist Toni Fejzula. The uber-interesting synopsis states: “The story opens when a beautiful girl wakes up in an abandoned subway station with no memory of how she got there. When men try to hurt her… they wind up dead. Where did she come from? And what is she capable of?” The series continues the recent trend of fantastic heroine-led series, including: Ghost, Buffy, Angel & Faith, and Serenity. Rucka says of the new series: “I’ve been tossing the idea behind Veil around for over a decade, seriously, but it wasn’t until Scott Allie pulled the string on it that it came to life. It’s a very different kind of tale for me, very different in what I’m trying to accomplish, and working with Dark Horse, working with Toni, is a rare opportunity to try to bring this thing to life. The opportunity Dark Horse is providing us is amazing.”

Dark Horse also announced a groundbreaking crossover event with Dynamite Comics at NYCC. They will be reuniting two fantastic sword-and-sorcery series, Red Sonja and Conan, after fifteen years separation. "It's the only crossover that readers have been begging to have for over a decade: the two greatest barbarian adventurers ever created in an epic tale of blood, lust, and vengeance.  This is the kind of stuff that made me a reader in the first place, and working with Brian Wood and his amazing version of Conan?  It's just a sword-and-sorcery dream come true.  It's sword vs. sword, Cimmerian vs. Hyrkanian, loincloth vs. bikini, and it'll probably be the most fun you'll have reading a comic all year", says writer Gail Simone (Batgirl, Birds of Prey, probably the most prolific female comic writer working these days). Brian Wood (The Massive, Star Wars, DMZ) will of course be equally involved, bringing his brilliant Conan over. This is one of the biggest crossover events in recent memory and it could not be in safer hands with Brian Wood and Gail Simone at the helm.

 What do you think about all of this? It's a lot to take in and The Illumi-Nerdi couldn't be more excited for Dark Horse Comics in 2014.