A battle for the future of Japan rages in the explosive worldwide debut of Karas!
See it here first before the comic and anime arrive in Japan
Soon to be an original video animation title, Karas is the newest creation from the minds of Tatsunoko Production (the production company behind Speed Racer and Battle of the Planets) and Keiichi Sato (The Big O).
In the not-too-distant future, Japan is under siege by strange mechanical monsters led by a sinister ex-hero named Eko. Though the future looks bleak, all is not lost. There is a young hero chosen by the Landlord Yuri to fight against the phantoms that plague Japan. He is Karas, a powerful armored being appointed to defend the innocent. With the help of Yuri, his mystical mentor, Karas sets out to preserve the natural balance of the universe, and to prevent the friendly old-world monsters from being transformed into mechanical demons!
The comic-written by Phil Amara (The Nevermen) and drawn by amazing newcomer Núria Peris-has a moody style and introverted characters that will appeal to fans of Vampire Hunter D, Ninja Scrolls, and Ghost in the Shell.
“After living this past year in Japan, I was hungry to use what I learned after months and months walking around Tokyo,” commented writer Phil Amara. “With a great story, it was easy to get excited about Karas and it’s been a real honor to be a part of creator Keiichi Sato’s next big project!”
Karas is a 32-page, full-color one-shot. It arrives on sale Dec. 1, with a retail price of $2.99. Edited by Dave Land.
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Special Karas give away!
At the Wizard World Texas convention in Dallas (Nov. 5-6) Lone Star Comics will be giving away 5,000 copies of Karas featuring a special variant cover! It will be given out at the “Lone Star/Mycomicshop” booth 213 for the entire run of the con. “Mycomicshop” is Lone Star Comic’s online store www.mycomicshop.com.
Award-winning Concrete series returns with the explosive Human Dilemma
Featuring events that will forever change Concrete and his friends’ lives forever, Human Dilemma marks a triumphant return to Paul Chadwick’s signature character.
Concrete was born when speechwriter Ron Lithgow’s mind was unexpectedly removed from his body and placed into that of an immense extraterrestrial-one with a rock-like shell for skin. Both challenged and empowered by this life-changing event, Lithgow has adapted to his new life as a man of stone, with numerous adventures shaping his worldview.
Now, seventeen years after his comics debut with then-fledgling publisher Dark Horse, Lithgow enters into another contemplative conundrum. As the accidental celebrity Concrete, he is now courted by a high-profile CEO to lend his name to a controversial population control program. While Concrete mulls this generous proposition over with his companion Maureen, his longtime aide Larry Munro mulls over an entirely different sort of proposal that will put his character to the test.
“Human nature is the series’ broader theme-our drives for sex, for symbolic immortality, for family, for acquisition of wealth, for collecting,” writer/artist Paul Chadwick remarked. “Combine those with our inability to deal with threats that aren’t sudden or dramatic, and you have The Human Dilemma in a nutshell.”
Concrete: The Human Dilemma is a six-issue miniseries. Issue #1 arrives on sale Dec. 29, with a retail price of $3.50. Edited by Diana Schutz.
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SAMURAI: HEAVEN AND EARTH
Marz’s Heroic Journey
How far will a man travel for love? What battles will he fight? Will he cross heaven and earth to be by the side of the woman he loves? Ron Marz and Luke Ross, fresh off their triumphant finale on Green Lantern, turn their skills to a historical epic in the tradition of Lone Wolf and Cub and Alexandre Dumas’ The Three Musketeers. Joined by Eisner-nominated colorist Jason Keith, they present a tale of epic sweep and gorgeous art: Samurai: Heaven and Earth.
Beginning in feudal Japan of 1704, Samurai: Heaven and Earth follows a lone samurai warrior sworn to be reunited with the love of his life who has been spirited away by his enemies. His pursuit of her will carry him farther than he could have imagined-from his native Japan to the sprawling empire of China, across Europe, and finally to Paris. There, in the fabled halls of King Louis XIV’s Versailles, he must cross blades with the greatest swordsmen ever known if he is to reclaim his love.
Coming this December, Samurai: Heaven and Earth is a five-issue miniseries full of romance, action, and sword fighting. Samurai: Heaven and Earth is available December 1 for a retail price of $2.99. Edited by Dave Land.
” Includes a free preview of the upcoming series The Dragon Prince by Ron Marz and Jeff Johnson!
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KONG: KING OF SKULL ISLAND
75 Years Later and Still the King!
After King Kong’s fall from atop the Empire State Building both Kong’s captor, Carl Denham, and Kong’s body quickly vanished leaving rumor and speculation in their wake. Left behind was Carl’s son, Vincent. In1957, Vincent, now a paleontologist, discovers his father’s Skull Island map and contacts Jack Driscoll, one of Kong’s original captors. They forge a plan and voyage to Skull Island in search of Carl Denham, King Kong, and answers to questions spanning a quarter century. When their expedition goes awry and they are captured, their fate depends on an enigmatic native elder, the cryptic Storyteller. From her they learn that Carl Denham’s desperate attempt to assuage his conscience decades earlier has had some very unexpected consequences.
KONG: King of Skull Island is a lavishly illustrated, all-new novel created by acclaimed illustrator Joe DeVito, who co-writes alongside top fantasy and science fiction writer Brad Strickland with John Michlig. It acts as both prequel and sequel to the classic fantasy novel, King Kong and is officially authorized by the estate of Merian C. Cooper. Special-effects master Ray Harryhausen (Mighty Joe Young, The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad) provides the introduction.
DeVito’s story will fascinate all readers, both young and old, as it digs deep into the lore of Kong and his island. Monsters, pirates, action, adventure and a love story on which the fate of an entire civilization rests unfold against a fantastic prehistoric backdrop. We also find that some interesting changes have occurred over the last 65 million years-the island’s dinosaurs only seem familiar.
Mysteriously, everyone is inextricably bound to the Storyteller’s ancient tale. It tells of islanders Ishara and Kublai, and their quest to escape a terrible fate that threatens both themselves and their people. That struggle has the power to reach across time and change the destiny of all-if they survive. For at the nexus of every event is the beast-god of Skull Island: KING KONG.
Advance praise for KONG: King of Skull Island has been pouring in. Ray Bradbury says, “Anyone who loves King Kong with Carl Denham and Ann Darrow in 1933 and hated DeLaurentis’ 1976 remake cannot but help love this new Kong book. Bravo!” Arnie Fenner of Spectrum Fantastic Art says, “The word epic gets tossed around pretty casually these days, but in the case of KONG: King of Skull Island it is more than appropriate. Joe DeVito has taken the classic story we’re all familiar with and looked at it from a fresh and excitingly new direction… KONG: King of Skull Island is the first-and for my money, only-addition to the Kong myth that does the original proud.”
Kong: King of Skull Island arrives this December with a retail price of $24.95.
www.kongskullisland.com
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Doctor Solar-Man of the Atom, Volume 1
One of the classic “super-hero” characters of our time is available in a hardcover collection!
When industrial sabotage causes an experiment in atomic energy to go awry, nuclear physicist Doctor Phillip Solar is transformed into a living atomic reactor! Now Doctor Solar uses his miraculous energy-based powers to protect the innocent and to thwart the diabolical machinations of the mysterious arch-criminal known only as Nuro.
The original incarnation of the classic hero Doctor Solar, Man of the Atom springs to life in this newly remastered collection of classic stories from comics visionaries Bob Fujitani, Frank Bolle, and Paul S. Newman. Reprinted for the first time in nearly forty years, these adventures of Doctor Solar are truly wonders of the atomic age. Fans of Russ Manning, Mac Raboy, or Alex Raymond will be delighted with artist Bob Fujitani’s original depiction of this classic hero in all his radioactive glory. This collection also features two rare cover paintings by legendary science-fiction illustrator Richard Powers!
Doctor Solar-Man of the Atom Volume 1 hardcover features the talents of Paul S. Newman, Bob Fujitani, and Frank Bolle. It arrives on sale December 29, with a retail price of $49.95.
1-59307-285-6
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Kingdom of the Wicked
From the creative team behind Scarlet Traces!
From a handful of homespun tales told to his own children at bedtime, Chris Grahame is now a publishing phenomenon. With his work translated into everything from Aborigine to Zulu, he is the cornerstone of a multi-million dollar, franchise-spewing empire. Is it any surprise then that under all this pressure something has to give? Unfortunately, it’s Chris’s mind.
Stricken by mysterious headaches and blackouts that plagued his childhood, Chris once again finds himself walking the avenues and boulevards of Castrovalva-the fantasy realm he dreamt up as a boy, to while away his recuperation. But like Chris, Castrovalva has also changed. Deluged in mud, blood, and barbed wire, war has come to wonderland. Chris tries to tell himself it’s all a bad dream … so why can’t he wake up?
” Ian Edginton and D’Israeli also collaborated on Scarlet Traces, which Entertainment Weekly gave an “A” grade, calling it “bold and shattering.”
Kingdom of the Wicked features story by Ian Edginton with art by D’Israeli. It arrives on sale December 1, with a retail price of $15.95. Edited by Dave Land.
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Dark Horse hires Robert Simpson as M Press & DH Press Senior Books Editor
Dark Horse is pleased to announce Robert Simpson has joined its editorial staff. Robert Simpson started his career at Marvel Comics as an intern in 1982 at the age of 16, writing for the titles Marvel Age and Marvel Universe. He later attended the School of Visual Arts where he studied journalism and spent time working for the New York chapter of the National Epilepsy Foundation as well as for the United Nations and the World Health Organization, where he oversaw the creation of educational comic book materials.
Following college, Robert worked as a literary agent, an editor at Twilight Zone Magazine and at Bantam Books as an editor and Publishing Manager for their mass market paperback division before returning to comics as an editor at DC Comics in 1992. While at DC he served as editor on a wide range of titles, from prose fiction and the behind-the-scenes “making of” books for three of the four Batman films, to comics titles including The Teen Titans, The New Gods, and Sovereign Seven by longtime X-Men writer Chris Claremont.
After leaving DC in 1997, Robert served as an editor for Nickelodeon, edited novelizations of videogames and contributed storylines to Pocket Books’ Star Trek line, developed story material for Platinum Studios (producers of Men In Black), was Deputy Editor of VIBE Magazine, Executive Editor of Maxim and Stuff Magazine’s book division, and worked on the websites for The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolution, editing interviews and translating the websites into fifteen different languages as well as commissioning and editing comics material based on the film series.
As a writer he has written novels for children and adults based on the television show Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog (from the creators of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers) and the classic comics and videogame character Turok.
“We’re very excited to have Robert become part of the Dark Horse team,” commented Dark Horse President Mike Richardson. “Robert’s outstanding and diverse background will be a true asset to our top-notch editorial department.”
Simpson will be the senior editor overseeing Dark Horse Publishing’s new prose imprints M Press and DH Press. Available now is the first offering from M Press, Ursula Bacon’s Shanghai Diary. Also available now are the first two DH Press offerings, Don Bluth’s Art of Storyboard and Jim Silke’s PinUp: The Illegitimate Art.
Dark Horse Products
HELLBOY TALKING BOARD
We are extremely excited about our latest Hellboy product: the Hellboy Talking Board.
Hellboy creator and fortune teller, Mike Mignola has provided new artwork for this magical, mystical parlor game.
Move the wood “planchette” around the board, asking questions of the varied spirits that deign to visit you! Is it real, or just a game?
The standard version includes a pressed-paper playing board (approx. 12″ x 18″), a wood planchette featuring the Right Hand of Doom, and directions from Master Mignola on how to contact the beyond, all packaged in a cardboard box with beautiful, hand-drawn art.
The limited version is for the discriminating collector and hardcore fan. It features a wood board with antiqued metal corner tabs (approx. 12″ x 18″), wood planchette, a direction sheet, a certificate of authenticity…and everything is placed in a velvet-lined, wood box with Hellboy etchings burned onto the lid. Only 500 will be made for worldwide distribution, so reserve your time with the “other side” today!
-Regular Hellboy Talking Board, on sale this December, 12″ x 18″, pressed paperboard, wood planchette, directions, packaged in a full-color box, $24.99
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-Ltd. Ed Hellboy Talking Board, On sale this December, 12″ x 18″, wood board w/antiqued medal corner tabs, wood planchette, directions, certificate of authenticity, packaged in a velvet-lined wood box, limited to 500, $99.99
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KOTOBUKIYA BOBA FETT PRE-PAINTED SOFT VINYL MODEL KIT
New! Just released in Japan!
A new release in our import program of the award-winning Kotobukiya large vinyl Star Wars figures, this one is likely to prove to be one of the most popular releases of all. Certainly Boba Fett is the favorite of Star Wars fans everywhere, and the fantastic craftsmanship and attention to detail that are lavished on this figure make it one of the coolest collectibles available.
On sale this December, packaged in a color window box, $99.99
