I’m not sure whether it’s me or Dark Horse, but the increasing time and overlap between solicitation and the actual release are beginning to get confusing. Take the September solicitations, for instance, which include books due out between early September and late November.

It could just be me. I’m easily confused.

Anyway, as is our custom, Michael May and I have sifted through the Dark Horse solicitations, highlighting the best of September’s — and some of October’s and November’s — releases.

THE DARK HORSE BOOK OF MONSTERS HC

Michael: I love these Dark Horse Books of … This one should be no exception with another Mignola Hellboy story (I always like Hellboy best when he’s duking it out with a big, nasty monster), Gary Gianni illustrations, another story from Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson about their monster-hunting dogs, and a Kurt Busiek/Keith Giffen homage to Kirby’s giant monster comics. This should easily be my favorite of the series so far.

Kevin: I’ve been looking forward to the next volume in this series for a while now. Has it been a year already? I absolutely love Dorkin and Thompson’s dog stories — can we please see the characters in graphic novel or miniseries? — and anytime Mignola writes a Hellboy tale is worth celebrating. It’s nice to see Rex Mundi creators Arvid Nelson and Juan Ferreyra are being added to the lineup, too.

DWIGHT T. ALBATROSS’S THE GOON NOIR #1

Michael: Great idea. I’m praying that Steve Niles wrote a Goon/Cal McDonald team-up.

Kevin: As if teaming Patton Oswalt with Mike Ploog wasn’t enough incentive to buy this, there’s also Ryan Sook, whom I sorely miss on X-Factor.

HARLAN ELLISON’S DREAM CORRIDOR VOLUME 2 TPB

Michael: The first few issues of his original Dream Corridor series (waaay back in the day) completely screwed with my head. And not necessarily in a good way. Two things make this interesting to me though. First, I read and loved the Vic and Blood trade that Ellison and Richard Corben did. Made me realize that Ellison’s not always trying to drive me insane. Second, look at the contributor list on this baby. Waid, Ha, Rude, Niles, Chadwick, Colan, and Swan? The only downside is that it’s not coming out until November!

Kevin: Eventually, I’m convinced, Dark Horse will solicit books six months in advance.

THE MUMMY: DARK RESURRECTION

Michael: It claims to be a continuation of the Mummy saga, but the solicitation reads more like a remake. Has anyone read the Dracula novel from DHPress? I want to love these novels, but none of the solicits are grabbing me.

THE RETURN OF THE GREMLINS #1

Michael: Kind of a bold move: announcing a sequel to the old Roald Dahl/Disney book before Dark Horse’s reprint of it has even hit shelves. But if I enjoy the reprint as much as I expect to, I’ll also be down with this.

REX MUNDI VOLUME 1: THE GUARDIAN OF THE TEMPLE TPB

Michael: Here’s my chance to find out what everyone’s talking about. You’ve all worn me down.

Kevin: I hope others have been worn down, and drawn in, too. Maybe Nelson and Ferreyra’s contribution to The Dark Horse Book of Monsters will encourage more readers to seek out Rex Mundi.

ROMAN ALBUM: SAMURAI CHAMPLOO TPB

Kevin: I’m a big fan of Samurai Champloo, so part of me really wants this 104-page art book, primarily for the interviews with director Shinichiro Watanabe, character designer and chief animator Kazuto Nakazawa, and art director Takeshi Waki. The episode summaries don’t appeal to me so much, because the use of screen captures makes me think of Tokyopop’s Cine-Manga books. I think I’d prefer to see concept art.

SOCK MONKEY: THE “INCHES” INCIDENT #1

Michael: I really wish this was a pirate story, but I’ll take a whaling one.

Kevin: Pirates are overrated, anyway. Whalers are the new robots ninjas monkeys.

STAR WARS KNIGHTS OF THE OLD REPUBLIC #9

Michael: Why is there an Elf on the cover?

Kevin: Maybe it’s a Vulcan.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 12th, 2006 at 1:23 pm and is filed under Dark Horse, News & Views. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.