Conan ongoing series arrives!
One of the best-selling comics writers of all time, Kurt Busiek, who revitalized the superhero world with Marvels and Astro City, turns his attention to one of the greatest heroes of all time. Teaming with Cary Nord, whose stunning art redefines sword and sorcery with every panel, Busiek presents Conan’s story from day one, in the manner it was meant to be told. Drawing only on the original Robert E. Howard stories, the legend of Conan is brought to vivid life for the modern audience. Decades ahead of their time, Howard’s stories can finally get the graphic treatment they deserve in this ongoing series.
In this first issue young Conan comes to the aid of an Aesir village under brutal attack from Vanirman warriors. His aid unwelcome at first, Conan quickly proves his worth and the Aesir people begin to welcome his presence. He agrees to continue to help the Aesir and seek out the Vanirman attackers with the condition he is guided to Hyperborea, a land he imagines to be a heaven on Earth. Conan’s presence isn’t quite welcomed by all the folks in the Aesir village however, and his journey may be fraught with peril from sources closer to him than he expects.
“With Conan we know we have a huge legacy to live up to, with the work of Roy Thomas, Barry Smith, and John Buscema, not to mention Howard and Frazetta,” commented Conan editor Scott Allie. “We’re gonna deliver something that lives up to it, takes it in a new direction that’s appropriate for the current readership. It’s sophisticated, intense, mature, and tough fantasy. Howard and Frazetta provide a perfect foundation that I think our boys are building on admirably.”
Fan-favorite painter Joseph Michael Linsner, famous for his fantasy epic Cry for Dawn, makes his Dark Horse debut covering our biggest launch of 2004.
Conan #1 arrives in stores February 4 with a retail price of $2.99.
Before they were stars: The Goon
The Goon: Rough Stuff features the Goon before he sold out
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Everybody’s heard of Eric Powell’s The Goon by now. You know, the comic that appeared on Entertainment Weekly’s “Must List” ahead of Johnny Depp. The comic that EW said would “leave you drooling like an undead ghoul at a brain buffet.” The comic that single-handedly tarnished the reputations of both Paris Hilton and Jessica Lynch. The Goon’s high-profile living has had long-time fans crying “sell-out!” and industry pundits arching their eyebrows and muttering “overexposed.”
This February, The Goon goes old-school and takes it back to the basement with Rough Stuff, a collection of the first three Goon issues, presented in color (by Eisner-winner Dave Stewart) for the first time ever. Goon co-editor Matt Dryer hails the material as, “raw, gritty, and over the top. This really completes The Goon collection.” True to its title and true to its roots, Rough Stuff shows the Goon at his most savage, most funny, and, of course, most rough.
Rough Stuff details the origin of the more humble Goon, back when he still kept it real. His early battles with the undead are mixed with stories of the Goon’s youth, as we meet his circus-freak clan and learn how he came to be the head of a notorious crime family. Also included in this volume is a look at the creation of the Goon and his world with a special “Evolution of The Goon” sketchbook section.
Eric “Hollywood” Powell looks back on The Goon’s early days with a mixture of affection and shame. “I’m definitely embarrassed about this old stuff,” Eric mused via satellite phone from Cap d’Antibes. “But I’m embarrassed by the stuff I do now, too. Just not as much.”
The Goon: Rough Stuff is available February 18 for the retail price of $12.95.
Yes, Hellboy’s world can get weirder!
In February 2004, Hellboy adds even more superstar creators to the Weird Tales stable.
Celebrated independent cartoonist Craig Thompson, author of Top Shelf’s best-selling Blankets, and Kev Walker, hailed as a budding new genius of the mainstream by Wizard Magazine, join the Weird Tales lineup with their own unique takes on Mike Mignola’s acclaimed characters.
Also this issue, Hellboy movie storyboard artist Simeon Wilkins teams with Buffy writers Tom Fassbender and Jim Pascoe for an old-fashioned gangster story, while John Cassaday delivers the penultimate chapter to his oddball Lobster Johnson serial.
Hellboy: Weird Tales #7 is available February 11 for the retail price of $2.99.
Haunted by the Kwaidan
In 12th Century Japan, Lady Orin pines for her warrior lover, Nanko, who has been away in battle. Jealous of her beautiful sister, Lady Akane savagely mutilates Orin’s face, beginning a spiral of despair that ends in the suicides of both lovers at Lake Amada. The evil Akane, as fickle fate would have it, becomes the mystical caretaker of the lake, now brimming with a strange power. Thus begins a complicated web of revenge and redemption that spans two centuries, spun by storytellers Jung and Jee-Yun.
Jung’s lush, expressive artwork, action-filled sequences, and expert sense of timing brings to life this suspense-filled tale, packed with ghostly encounters, samurai swordplay, undead armies, beautiful landscapes, and strange demons. The lost spirits of these two unlucky lovers may still find freedom, but their hope now rests on the supernatural birth of a granddaughter…and her ability to unravel the secrets of the restless ghosts that haunt her, the Kwaidan.
Kwaidan is available February 18 for the retail price of $14.95.
Electric Frankenstein!
High Energy Punk Rock & Roll Poster Art
Rock ‘n’ Roll, Trash Culture, and LowBrow Art collide in the ultimate poster collection battle royal of the ages -Electric Frankenstein!
In over a decade of worldwide punk-rock dominance, the ass-kicking guitar machine that is Electric Frankenstein (#2 of the Top 500 Most Featured Bands in the press, as verified by Zine Guide) has produced an unparalleled body of eye-slapping poster art. This swaggering, monsterfied, fuel-dragster image bank from over 180 of the undisputed champions of this most exalted of all art forms is perhaps the largest printed collection of such artists in human history! Now, unchained and free to roam the land come the monstrous works of who’s-who poster legends Coop, Kozik, Johnny Ace, The Pizz, Lisa Petrucchi, Derek Hess, Alan Forbes, and more…!
The book also features an in-depth history of Electric Frankenstein the band, the musical method behind the visual madness, orchestrated by EF-founder and poster-art icon Sal Canzonieri! No collection of rock poster art or chronicle of punk-rock history dares be without Electric Frankenstein!
Electric Frankenstein! is available February 4 for the retail price of $19.95.
Chronicles of Conan #1 graphic novel in October!
Chronicles of Conan volume 1: Tower of the Elephant and other stories was October’s top-selling graphic novel according to Diamond Comic Distributors.
The first volume of Dark Horse’s ambitious effort to collect the beginning of Conan’s immensely popular comics run features stories by Roy Thomas and art by a young Barry Windsor-Smith. Dark Horse’s reprint program will continue with volume 2: Rogues in the House coming December 12 and volume 3: Monster of the Monoliths coming January 28.
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