| Dark Horse Presents | |
|---|---|
Cover of the first issue |
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| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Dark Horse Comics |
| Schedule | Monthly |
| Format | Ongoing series |
| Publication date | 1st Incarnation July 1986 - September 2000 2nd Incarnation July 2007 - August 2010 3rd Incarnation April 2011 - Ongoing |
| Number of issues |
157 (1st Incarnation) 36 (2nd Incarnation) |
Dark Horse Presents was the first comic book published by Dark Horse Comics in 1986 and was their flagship title until its September 2000 cancellation. The second incarnation was published on MySpace, running from July 2007 until August 2010. A third incarnation began in April 2011, released in print form once again.[1]
Contents |
Dark Horse Presents was conceived as an anthology title and was the first comic to be released by the newly formed Dark Horse Comics in 1986. The first issue featured Black Cross on the cover and was notable for the first appearance of Paul Chadwick's Concrete. The title became successful thanks to the increasing popularity of Concrete which quickly became the regular cover feature for much of the first few years of the title.
Concrete eventually spun off into its own title, and this was something which would happen to several characters and stories appearing in Dark Horse Presents. These included John Byrne's "Next Men" comic book, as well as Frank Miller's Sin City stories, with the very first "Sin City" story (Later retitled "The Hard Goodbye") being serialized within the pages of the comic.
Dark Horse Presents was Dark Horse's longest running title, and provided a mix of material from established and new creators. The title ended with issue #157 in September 2000.
Dark Horse Presents was revived online through the social networking website MySpace. The first issue of MDHP featured new talents as well as well-known writers like Joss Whedon and Ron Marz. MDHP ran from August 2007 to July 2010, a total of thirty-six issues which were collected in five trade paperbacks.
Dark Horse Presents returned as an eighty-page anthology comic on April 20, 2011 with all-new stories including a Concrete story by Paul Chadwick, a Mr. Monster story by Michael T. Gilbert, a Crimson Empire story from the Star Wars universe, a new strip called Marked Man by Howard Chaykin, a strip called Blood by Neal Adams (his first work for Dark Horse), and a sneak peek of Frank Miller’s prequel to 300, Xerxes. Two covers were available for the first issue, one featuring Concrete and the other featuring Xerxes.