Dark Horse Comics that will be published in July 2006, by Ralf Haring.

ARCHENEMIES #4
Written by Drew Melbourne, penciled by Yvel Guichet, inked by Joe
Rubinstein, colored by Rick Hiltbrunner and lettered by Jim Keplinger.
As Ethan and Vincent, they're roommates. As Star Fighter and the
Underlord, they're mortal enemies. For months we've gotten to know
them, but this July everything we know is about to change. In the wake
of tragedy, one roommate will be forced to confront his past, while
the other will embrace a shocking new future. In their darkest hour,
fate will draw them into one final conflict. Star Fighter versus the
Underlord. No distractions. No holds barred. One will win. One will
lose. And two lives will never be the same. PLUS: some jokes. Part
four of the four-part ArchEnemies: Sinners and Saints graphic novel.
32 pages, $2.99, in stores on July 5.

BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL #115
Written and art by Hiroaki Samura.
"On the Perfection of Anatmoy," part 4 of 6. After the last issue's
shocking death, Burando's grip on reality slips a bit more, and he
struggles to continue his research while in a depressed stupor. Habaki
Kagimura isn't letting his prize doctor off the hook, though. Kagimura
pushes for new tests with a new felon. Word of his experiments in
immortality is spreading through Edo's jails, and Manji's cocky
cellmate is a willing volunteer who has no idea what pain is in store
for him. Hiroaki Samura's samurai drama continues its dark descent
into a horrific world of torture and "modern Japanese medicine," as
the secrets of Manji's mystical kessen-chu are slowly revealed.
32 pages, $2.99, in stores on July 12.

B.P.R.D.: THE UNIVERSAL MACHINE #4
Written by Mike Mignola and John Arcudi, art by Guy Davis, colored by
Dave Stewart, cover by Mignola.
Hellboy and Abe Sapien take center stage in a flashback story set
during Abe's early days at the Bureau for Paranormal Research and
Defense, and Liz Sherman reveals weird tales of the family members
that she killed while discovering her firestarter powers. And in
Europe, Doctor Kate Corrigan bargains with an ancient evil over the
fate of her dead friend, Roger.
32 pages, $2.99, in stores on July 5.

BMWFILMS.COM PRESENTS THE HIRE
By Matt Wagner, Bruce Campbell, Mark Waid, Kurt Busiek, Steve Grant,
Francisco Ruiz Velasco, Killian Plunkett and Claude St. Aubin.
The legendary series of short "webisodes" featured A-list directors
such as John Woo and Ridley Scott telling tales of the Hire‹an
enigmatic driver‹and the passengers that need his transportation and
protection. Now, some of the biggest names in comics bring The Hire to
Dark Horse!
Matt Wagner tells a story of a spoiled party-girl and her high-speed
hunters; Bruce Campbell and Kilian Plunket team the Driver with a
schoolteacher with unfortunate mob connections; Mark Waid and Claude
St. Aubin tell the tale of a geeky bureaucrat with a valuable secret;
and Kurt Busiek and Steven Grant with Francisco Ruiz Velasco relate
the story of a millionaire businessman facing a very hostile takeover.
96 pages, $12.95.

CONAN #30
Written by Mike Mignola, art by Cary Nord, colored by Dave Stewart,
cover by Tony Harris.
Conan battles a gelatinous abomination older than history itself in
this continuation of Robert E. Howard's "The Hall of the Dead" adapted
by Hellboy creator Mike Mignola and drawn by Cary Nord.
Grasping, groping tentacles meet cold, hard steel as Conan struggles
to avoid the churning gullet of an adversary unlike any he's faced
before. In an abandoned city long lost to the hearts and memories of
man, where will the Cimmerian turn for refuge? The haunting dead of
this ancient place offer no solace, but they want nothing more than
for Conan to join their dank and lifeless company.
32 pages, $2.99, in stores on July 19.

CONAN AND THE SONGS OF THE DEAD #1
Written by Joe R. Lansdale, art by Timothy Truman, colored by Dave
Stewart.
This five-part series begins in the wretched wastes of Stygia, a
burning, grinding stretch of desert so desolate the only thing more
unforgiving are its inhabitants. There, Conan comes to the aid of an
old ally, uncovers a scheme to acquire untold-of wealth, and punishes
his foolish enemies most cruelly. Yet when his treasure hunt reveals
an alluring spirit with long unsatisfied needs, the Cimmerian knows a
gentler touch is required to win the day.
32 pages, $2.99, in stores on July 5.

[The name is familiar but I'm blanking on what he's done before.]

DARK HORSE TWENTY YEARS
By Arthur Adams, Sergio Aragonés, Bob Burden, Paul Chadwick, Adam
Hughes, Frank Miller, Tony Millionaire, Cary Nord, Eric Powell, Stan
Sakai, Matt Wagner, Chris Warner, Joss Whedon and others, cover by
Mike Mignola.
Eric Powell draws Star Wars, Adam Hughes draws Hellboy, and Joss
Whedon makes his artistic debut -- that's just a smidge of what's
included in this 25-cent gift to all the fans who've supported Dark
Horse Comics through our first twenty years!
Dark Horse Comics is proud to present Dark Horse Twenty Years, a
collection of original art by a distinguished list of Dark Horse
creators, past and present. Every page holds a different piece, each
showcasing a character from the company's history of great original
and licensed properties. Instead of drawing their own creations, these
jaw-dropping talents have traded characters, each offering an
unexpected take on one of the icons of Dark Horse.
Legends of comics drawing the characters you'd never expect. You won't
see this much talent in the same place for another 20 years!
24 pages, 25 cents, in stores on July 5.

[Interesting enough for a quarter.]

EDEN: IT'S AN ENDLESS WORLD! VOLUME 4 TPB
Written and art by Hiroki Endo.
Exploring the origin of Kenji, the knife-wielding,Japanese freedom
fighter, Hiroki Endo takes us back in time to witness the brutal
events that shaped this warrior's spirit. In Kenji's present, he
fights in one of the most intense hand-to-hand combat sequences in
post-apocalyptic literature! With the world reeling from the
aftereffects of a brutal, widespread virus, civilization is torn
between the laws and ways of the old world and a new order where
cybernetic implants are commonplace and "might means right." Elijah
and his comrades-in-arms attempt to cross the Andes Mountains, with
Propater's gruesome Aeon soldiers and armored troops hot on their
heels! Graphic, cyberpunk, and philosophical, Eden is a place where
endearing heroes face a constant struggle for survival. and violent
surprises wait around every corner!
208 pages, black and white, $12.95, in stores on Aug. 2.

THE ESCAPISTS #1
Written by Brian K. Vaughan, art by Philip Bond and Eduardo Barreto,
cover by Frank Miller.
Discovering his late father's decades-spanning vault of Escapist
memorabilia at the age of six, Max became a fan of the Master of
Elusion almost overnight. After exhausting the extensive stash of
Golden and Silver Age comics, he needed more‹and started writing his
own Escapist stories. Now nineteen, he's determined to make the
character a sensation once again, but where is he going to find an
artist‹in Cleveland? Meet Maxwell Roth and Case Weaver, latter-day
versions of Joe Kavalier and Sam Clay, in part one of The Escapists!
With cover art by multi-platinum superstar Frank Miller kicking off a
round robin of stellar cover artists including James Jean and John
Cassaday, this launch of the first Escapist miniseries can't be
missed!
32 pages, $1, in stores on July 12.

THE GREMLINS HC
Written by Roald Dahl, art by Artists and Writers Guild, Inc., and The
Disney Studios.
Published in 1943 and long unavailable, Dark Horse Books is proud to
present this landmark book from the author of such beloved tales as
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, and
Matilda. Digitally restored, this remarkable presentation of Dahl's
classic story, lavishly illustrated by the artists of the Walt Disney
Studios, will delight readers of all ages!
The Gremlins is the story of Gus, a British World War II fighter
pilot, who during the Battle of Britain turned to look out on the wing
of his plane only to see an amazing sight: a little man, no more than
six inches tall with horns growing from his head, drilling a hole in
the plane's wing. Gus was the first man to ever see a Gremlin, and
what happened after that would change the war, and the world, forever.
Bought by Walt Disney to be produced as an animated motion picture
(and considered to be the first story featuring the mythical
airplane-sabotaging creatures known as Gremlins), the project was
ultimately shelved and is reprinted here for the first time in over 60
years.
56 pages, $12.95, in stores on Sept. 13.

HELLBOY ANIMATED STATUE #1: HELLBOY
IDT Entertainment is creating a new Hellboy Animated series. Along
with creative producers Mike Mignola and Guillermo Del Toro, and
voices provided by Ron Perlman and Selma Blair, the two
direct-to-video episodes, will follow in the footsteps of the comics
and successful major motion picture. Providing the character design
for the show is Sean "Cheeks" Galloway, personally chosen by Mike
Mignola to represent Hellboy in this new format.
$150, in stores on Sept. 13.

LITTLE LULU COLOR SPECIAL TPB
Written by John Stanley, art by Stanley and Irving Tripp.
In rich, vibrant color for the first time in a half-century comes a
guffaw-inducing selection of Little Lulu's landmark adventures. Little
Lulu is one of the truly great all-ages comics, with a monthly series
that lasted four decades, the zany high jinks of eight-year-old Lulu
Moppet and her lovable pals are not only classics of children's
literature, but an indelible part of American popular culture. Her
razor wit will tickle your brain and her sweet generosity will win
your heart‹Lulu is the All-American girl!
208 pages, $13.95, in stores on Sept. 13.

LITTLE LULU VOLUME 11: APRIL FOOLS TPB
Written by John Stanley, art by Stanley and Irving Tripp.
Learn why generations of readers have considered Little Lulu one of
smartest, cutest, and funniest comics ever to hit the shelves in the
newest volume of Dark Horse's ongoing effort to collect this seminal
all-ages classic in a library of affordable trade paperbacks.
Lulu Moppet is the true-blue daughter of Main Street America, clever
and sweet, mischievous and generous, an eight-year-old hero for anyone
who ever wanted to bring home a gorilla, scare the pants off of
ghosts, and outwit every grownup in sight. In this volume, comics
geniuses John Stanley and Irving Tripp are at their very best,
crafting tales guaranteed to thrill kids just as much as they crack-up
their parents.
200 pages, black and white, $9.95.

MAIL VOLUME 1 TPB
Written and art by Housui Yamazaki.
Private detective Reiji Akiba has a theory about those awkward moments
and weird coincidences we all encounter in life. They are actually
encounters with the dead‹their way of sending us a message. But you
may not want to open such strange mail from beyond‹not unless you can
see the ghostly attachment, like Akiba can. And not unless you carry a
gun that can kill what isn't alive, like Akiba's aptly named
Kagutsuchi, "the tool between God and earth" . . . digging a divine
grave to lay to rest the evil dead.
Volume 1 of Mail opens with a model's photo shoot at what was a lovely
riverside. But someone's thrown their trash away here: human bones.
When the negatives in the darkroom reveal hidden horror, it's time for
the magazine to hire Akiba. The answers lie in the secret basement of
a shunned house . . . but they don't lie peacefully!
208 pages, black and white, $10.95.

NEXUS ARCHIVES VOLUME 4 HC
Written by Mike Baron, art by Steve Rude.
Every once in a while a creation appears that both reinvents and
epitomizes its genre. 1981 marked the beginning of such an event with
the first issue of Nexus, a playful adventure series that paid homage
to the best of classic science fiction while introducing an
unforgettable antihero. Countless readers around the world followed
his action-packed exploits over the next two decades, visiting alien
realms and fascinating creatures through the wit and verve of his
youthful creators.
Dark Horse invites you to relive the series that defined the careers
of both Steve Rude and Mike Baron, collected in a hardcover format for
the first time. In this volume, Sundra discovers the source of Nexus'
powers and the cause of his headaches‹the Merk is revealed! Space
pirates pillage Ylum's orbital community, and the Sovs declare war,
but Nexus is without his powers . . . so the Heads create the most
devastating weapon in the galaxy.
216 pages, $49.95, in stores on Aug. 23.

OH MY GODDESS! VOLUME 24 TPB
Written and art by Kosuke Fujishima.
Ever since a cosmic phone call brought the four literal young
goddesses Belldandy, Urd, Skuld‹and, like an occasional vowel,
Peorth‹to live in college student Keiichi's residence, his personal
life has been turned upside down, sideways, and sometimes even into
strange dimensions!
As the Parent-Child Showdown between Keiichi and his fa‹um,
"Keima-san," races its way along the night roads of the Inokuradai
Circuit, his mo‹uh, "Takano-san," passes the time by whupping the
Goddesses at mahjong. But does she realize what they really are? Then,
cry "Roadtrip!" and let Chihiro's Mini Cooper slip into gear, as she,
Bell, and Keiichi hit the highway to a hot springs. But the vacation
from drama is brief -- and readers are advised to prepare for the
advent of . . . the Fifth Goddess!
176 pages, black and white, $10.95, in store in Aug. 9.

PATHFINDER TPB
Written by Laeta Kalogridis, art by Christopher Shy.
Five hundred years before Columbus, barbaric Viking invasions ravaged
North America. Pathfinder is the story of a young Viking boy left
behind as the only survivor of a shipwrecked expedition. A stranger in
a strange land, the boy is raised by a tribe of American Indians‹the
very people the Vikings had sworn to destroy. When Vikings again storm
the eastern shores, waging another barbaric campaign, they slaughter
the tribe that adopted the young man. Now he wages a violent personal
war to stop the Viking's trail of death and destruction.
168 pages, $17.95, in stores on July 26.

PATH OF THE ASSASSIN VOLUME 2 TPB
Written by Kazuo Koike, art by Goseki Kojima.
It's not easy being Hattori Hanzo. If he's not teaching Leyasu, the
young, future shogun, how to love, then he's behind the scenes,
teaching Leyasu how not to die in case of a momentary lapse of
protection.
If you thought you had a tough job, try taking a pudgy, protected
youngster, and making him into the leader who will unite Japan under
his single rule.
From the creators of Lone Wolf & Cub comes a series about two young
men bound to a nation's potential future at a time when Japan was in
transition from a warlike feudal state into an era of bureacracy and
infighting.
Another quasi-historical tale from the masters of Japanese samurai
culture, Path of the Assassin shows a side of feudal Japan that
entertains with action as well as political drama.
312 pages, black and white, $9.95, in stores on Aug. 30.

[I've decided to skip this series for the time being. Too much other
stuff. I'll come back to it eventually as both Lone Wolf & Cub and
Samurai Executioner were well worth it.]

THE PERHAPANAUTS TPB
Written by Todd Dezago, art by Craig Rousseau and Rico Renzi.
There are places in this world where the fabric of reality has worn
thin, where strange and terrible creatures have crossed over to lurk
in the shadows and the night. There is an organization dedicated to
finding these creatures and sending them back from whence they came,
sealing the rift behind them, and maintaining the integrity of those
borders.
The organization is called BEDLAM. Its agents are . . . The
Perhapanauts!
Collecting the four-issue mini-series, along with the
never-before-seen (well, seen by a few...) unaired, original pilot, "7
Months Earlier." Also included are rare outtakes, character bios,
pinups by some of the industry's brightest stars, and an introduction
by Mike Wieringo.
128 pages, $15.95, in stores on Aug. 23.

PLASTICLAND TPB
Written by Frank Kozik.
The man credited with single-handedly reviving the concept of rock
posters as an art form, Frank Kozik was first exposed to the
counterculture world of "designer art toys" on a trip to Japan in
1996. His collecting hobby soon mutated into a new profession, and in
2002 Kozik made the leap from illustrator to toy designer. Now
considered one of the world's top three underground toy designers,
Kozik shares all the secrets of this arcane and cutting-edge art
movement in Plasticland. This deluxe oversized volume, the first
collected work of Kozik's foray into this explosive new phenomenon,
offers a fascinating look at the creation and end result of modern toy
design. A dazzling photographic record of all Kozik's production and
custom pieces through early 2006, the book also features his new works
in serigraphy and oil painting.
112 pages, $29.95, in stores on Sept. 27.

RECESS PIECES TPB
Written and art by Bob Fingerman.
Bad things are brewing in the halls of The Ben Turpin School for K-8.
When a science project goes wrong, only the prepubescent children are
spared the fate of zombification‹ which is not to say that they're
immune from being eaten alive! George Romero covered night, dawn, and
day, but how about recess? With Recess Pieces, Bob Fingerman (Beg the
Question, You Deserved It) dishes up a grisly combination of Hal
Roach's Our Gang and zombies, zombies and more zombies.
96 pages, $14.95, in stores on Aug. 23.

[Not terribly impressed with Beg the Question. I won't be getting
this.]

SCARLET TRACES: THE GREAT GAME #1
Written by Ian Edginton, art by D'Israeli.
This fantastical new miniseries picks up where the hardcover left off.
After almost four decades of conflict, the British invasion of Mars
has ground into a bloody stalemate in the dust of the red planet.
Launched to fanfares and cheers, the times and mood have changed, as
the British Government under the iron hand of Prime Minister Spry
struggles to wage a war another world away while keeping its grip on
an increasingly troubled and turbulent empire. Riven with revolt and
revolution, the glory that was Great Britain is unravelling at the
seams with freedom and free speech brutally sacrificed to maintain
order. However, this is nothing compared to what is happening on Mars,
and the worst is yet to come!
32 pages, $2.99, in stores on July 12.

[I liked the first one and will get this when it's collected.]

SCARY BOOK VOLUME 3: FACES TPB
Written and art by Kazuo Umezu.
Kazuo Umezu, the grandmaster of horror manga, returns with the third
chilling volume of his Scary Book anthology series. In "Fear," Aiko is
always ignored and neglected when compared to her beautiful older
sister, Momoko. But when Momoko is horribly disfigured in an accident
and goes mad, it's up to Aiko to bring home young girls her sister can
use . . . to make a new face! And in "The Coincidental Letter," a
young girl named Yoko, in a fit of mischief, sends an insulting letter
to a made-up girl at a made-up address warning her of a horrible fate.
However, by incredible coincidence, both the girl and the address are
real, and everything in the letter starts coming true!
232 pages, black and white, $13.95.

STAR WARS: CLONE WARS ADVENTURE VOLUME 6 TPB
By Haden Blackman, Mike Kennedy, The Fillbach Brothers, Stewart
McKenny and others.
Four more thrilling tales of planets in peril and Jedi in jeopardy!
The Clone Wars grind through the galaxy, shaking every system to its
core and testing loyalties on both sides of the conflict. The last
days of the Jedi are at hand, but if their Order is to fall, they're
going down swinging! Presenting another round of lightning-paced,
action-packed, all-ages Star Wars goodness, all told in the same
stripped-down stylization as Cartoon Network's micro-series.
96 pages, $6.95, in stores on Aug. 9.

STAR WARS: KNIGHTS OF THE OLD REPUBLIC #7
Written by John Jackson Miller, art by Dustin Weaver, colored by
Michael Atiyeh, cover by Brian Ching.
The wildest adventure in the ancient history of Star Wars gets wilder
in a brand-new story arc featuring the most feared warriors in the
galaxy‹Mandalorians! Leaving the treacherous streets of Taris behind
them, fugitive Padawan Zayne Carrick and the rag-tag crew of the Last
Resort cook up a scheme to pilfer much needed supplies from an
unsuspecting bunch of miserly miners. Unfortunately, any attempts at
avoiding attention are for naught when the group finds they've landed
themselves smack dab in the middle of the Republic and Mandalorian
conflict!
32 pages, $2.99, in stores on July 26.

STAR WARS: LEGACY #2
Written by John Ostrander, penciled by Jan Duursema, inked by Dan
Parsons, colored by Brad Anderson, cover by Adam Hughes.
Over the bodies of their enemies, two Jedi make a pact that will set
them on the path to a greater danger than they have ever known...
Bounty hunters capture a prisoner whose presence will test their
resolve‹and the strength of their alliance...
A Sith apprentice is given the honorific "Darth" and sent to hunt a
quarry whose capture -- or death -- could shake an empire to its
foundations...
And a Princess finds herself alone in the galaxy, pursued by those she
once counted as allies.
32 pages, $2.99, in stores on July 5.

STAR WARS: REBELLION #4
Written by Rob Williams, art and cover by Brandon Badeaux, color by
Wil Glass.
Luke Skywalker faces a squad of stormtroopers when he attempts to
bring his boyhood friend Imperial officer Janek "Tank" Sunber over to
the Rebellion. Was Tank's plan to defect discovered by the Empire
before he could get away, or are the troopers a plot to trick the
Alliance into letting Sunber into the heart of their operations? It
might not even matter, because while Luke is off on his renegade
rescue mission, the Rebel Fleet comes under attack -- from inside the
command ship!
32 pages, $2.99, in stores on July 12.

TRIGUN MAXIMUM VOLUME 10 TPB
Written and art by Yasuhiro Nightow.
Since the day Vash spotted his decimated soul in the middle of the
desert, Nicholas Wolfwood has become a favorite of fans. A man of the
cloth with a tortured soul and a past full of bullets, the protector
of our story's hero, Wolfwood might just be reaching the end of his
pew.
Ironically, the past has come back to attack him. And by that we mean
Livio, the young man Nicholas once befriended. Livio is more than a
match for Wolfwood, having been trained by the same master, Chapel.
And now the master and both disciples meet in a deadly face-off, and
only one man will survive.
But readers are in for more than just one surprise in this climactic
volume of Trigun.
240 pages, black and white, $9.95.

USAGI YOJIMBO #95
Written and art by Stan Sakai.
Discover the series that has garnered worldwide fans over the past two
decades and won countless awards! Five years ago, Usagi dodged a
bullet when the mysterious assassin Shizukiri was willing to accept a
an expected bounty rather than engage the rabbit ronin and his fellow
wandering samurai, Gen. Shizukiri's reputation as a ruthless,
unbeatable opponent was well established even before he became the
only hired sword ever to stare down our long-eared hero, but now his
formidable skills are up against Karma itself! When beggars hire him
to kill a high-ranking samurai, Shizukiri becomes tangled in a fateful
and unexpected plot. Will his skills preserve him, or is Karma truly
inescapable?
24 pages, black and white, $2.99, in stores on July 24.

-Ralf Haring
"The mind must be the harder, the heart the keener,
the spirit the greater, as our strength grows less."
-Byrhtwold, The Battle of Maldon