Monday, June 5, 2000

DARK HORSE FOR SEPTEMBER

Following are Dark Horse Comics' solicitations for September, with information provided by the company.

DIGIMON #7

By Dark Horse and Nigel Dobbyn, cover by Dobbyn.

File Island holds many secrets...and dangers! It's a good thing the kids have their awesome Digimon pals if things get too rough! In this issue, Joe steps up to the plate to lead the group, but it might be more than he can handle. Joe has to climb all the way to the top of Infinity Mountain without knowing what bad Digimon might be waiting. It's a good thing Gomamon decides to follow. Once the Black Gears take control of wise Unimon, Gomamon must digivolve into mighty (and woolly!) Ikkakumon to save the day. But will it be enough?

32 pages, $2.95, ships on Sept. 6.

OH MY GODDESS!: PART IX #3

By Kosuke Fujishima, translated by Studio Proteus.

Queen Sayoko (part 1 of 5). Poor Sayoko. The former queen of Nekomi Tech has never been the same since the goddess Belldandy arrived and stole away the hearts of the student body. Now it's time for the annual Campus Queen contest again, and Sayoko wants to win so bad she'd sell her soul to the demon Mara. With a Demon First Class on her side, Sayoko's dreams just might come true. Can Keiichi and the goddesses rescue Sayoko from her own dream before she pays the demonic price and drags the entire campus down with her?

40 pages, black and white, $3.50, ships on Sept. 6.

THE RING OF THE NIBELUNG: THE VALKYRIE #2

By P. Craig Russell, cover by Russell.

How far may a god go to save his creation? Voton the All-Father is about to find out as his wife, Fricka, demands he strike down his incestuous, mortal son and daughter. To refuse may precipitate a war in heaven. To comply will ultimately bring about the demise of the gods.

32 pages, $2.95, ships on Sept. 6.

GREEN LANTERN VERSUS ALIENS #1

By Ron Marz, Rick Leonardi, Mike Perkins, cover by Dwayne Turner.

Hal Jordan patrolled the spaceways in the name of cosmic justice as one of the greatest Green Lanterns to ever don the legendary power ring. In a never-before-told chapter of Hal's adventures, he faces and defeats the universe's ultimate killing machines: the dreaded Aliens. At the battle's end, Hal chose to "contain" their evil, rather than exterminate the creatures. Now it's years later, and Kyle Rayner has inherited Hal's duties -- as well as responsibility for some of Hal's "unfinished business." As Kyle and some former members of the GL Corps struggle to save a planet from the acid-dripping beasts, he has a sinking feeling that this is a war with no chance for a happy ending. Co-published with DC Comics.

32 pages, $2.95, ships on Sept. 13.

STAR WARS: DARTH MAUL #1

By Ron Marz, Jan Duursema, Rick Maygar, cover by Drew Struzan.

In hiding for generations, the Sith have waited for the precise moment to reveal themselves to the galaxy. Hoping to catch the Jedi unaware, Lord Sidious and his deadly apprentice, Darth Maul, have planned and waited patiently for their moment to pounce. Unfortunately, in the days before the Trade Federation blockade of the planet Naboo, Lord Sidious becomes aware of a threat to his plans. This threat comes from the deadly galactic crime organization Black Sun. But Sidious won't stand for any opposition, and Darth Maul is sent to deal with Black Sun -- as only a master of the dark side can.

32 pages, $2.95, ships on Sept. 6.

SHADOW LADY #24

By Masakazu Katsura, translated by Studio Proteus.

Sudden Death (Part 5 of 5). Shadow Lady is face to face at last with the demon Zera, the Arch-Demon of Destruction! Her only chance to save the world is to reseal the Demon Stones, the source of his power, before he can transform himself into the Demon of Final Destruction. Exhausted, up against all of Zera's powers, and down to the last of her magic eye shadow, how can Shadow Lady stop this implacable force of evil? Don't miss the final chapter of the Shadow Lady regular series, as our heroine faces her ultimate challenge, and the police -- and the readers -- try to find out if Shadow Lady has finally gone straight.

24 pages, black and white, $2.50, ships on Sept. 13.

SPACE CIRCUS #3

By Mark Evanier and Sergio Aragones.

It's the tale of an Earth boy who runs off and joins an interplanetary circus and, of all the issues done so far, this is probably the third one.

32 pages, $2.95, ships on Sept. 13.

STAR WARS: THE BOUNTY HUNTERS TPB

By Timothy Truman, Mark Schultz, Randy Stradley, Andy Mangels, John Nadeua, Mel Rubi, Javier Saltares, cover by Dave Dorman.

The Star Wars galaxy is populated by rogues, Rebels, and rabble-rousers. Many carry a hefty price on their heads, whether put there by criminal overlords like Jabba the Hutt or by the iron fist of the Galactic Empire. And where bounties are offered, bounty hunters will be there to claim them: the stealthy and merciless Aurra Sing; the fierce and relentless Bossk; the sly and mercenary Dengar; the calculating and precise 4-LOM; the audacious and deadly Kenix Kil; and the most feared manhunter of them all...Boba Fett! Four tales of life on the run created by a small army of comics luminaries, The Bounty Hunters is a must-read for Star Wars fans, predator and prey alike. Includes the hard-to-find -- Boba Fett: Twin Engines of Destruction.

112 pages, $12.95, ships on Sept. 13.

ANGEL #11

By Christopher Golden, Tom Sniegoski, Christian Zanier, Andy Owens, cover by Owens and Zanier.

The investigation into the mysterious death of Congressman Charles deepens as Detective Kate Lockley is brought onto the case, and Angel and Wesley continue their search for the undead prostitute known on the streets as Candy O. Their search leads to a vampire bordello run by an ancient and seductive vamp who most definitely has her eye on the heroes. Angel must not only face an array of vampires, but finds himself doing battle with a force that has brought much stronger men to their knees - lust.

32 pages, $2.95, ships on Sept. 13.

BATTLE GODS: WARRIORS OF THE CHAAK #6

By Francisco Ruiz Velasco, cover by Carlo Barberi.

Mita and Xôc have hated each other for years, and now all that built-up enmity is about to be unleashed in a firestorm of martial arts and sorcery as the two bitter rivals step into the arena of the Chaak. Then, if the building is still standing, it's a Deathmatch: Takan vs. Chilbacan. And what might transpire if the ancient, stolen power of the Mayan gods just happened to be unleashed during this battle between the two mightiest mortals on Earth? If you're waiting for the end of the world, you ain't got long to wait.

32 pages, $2.95, ships on Sept. 13.

DIGIMON #8

By Dark Horse and Nigel Dobbyn, cover by Dobbyn.

Leomon, a mighty and noble Digimon, is struck by a Black Gear, making him a slave to Devimon, sinister overlord of the evil Digimon. Devimon orders his henchman Ogremon and Leomon to attack the "DigiDestined" kids and their Digimon counterparts. Can the kids and their Digimon hold up to the onslaught of such powerful adversaries? Can Leomon be turned back to good before he is lost forever to the dark plans of Devimon? These questions and more are answered in "Evil Shows His Face."

32 pages, $2.95, ships on Sept. 20.

GRENDEL: DEVIL'S LEGACY #7

By Matt Wanger and The Pander Brothers.

The battle between Christine-as-Grendel and Tujiro XIV, the scarier-by-the-minute, eyeball-eating vampire, reaches a crest. The violent two face off in a dramatic, no-holds-barred cat fight. Grendel: Devil's Legacy continues its updated run, with bold new designs, beautiful painted covers by creator Matt Wagner, and those new colors by Jeromy Cox that make the Pander Brothers' art jump straight down your throat.

32 pages, $2.95, ships on Sept. 20.

MADMAN COMICS: THE G-MEN FROM HELL #2

By Mike Allred.

Is Frank Einstein dead -- again? Agents Mattress and Crept, a.k.a. The G-Men From Hell, are joined by a renegade Tri-Eye agent, Chow Skip Wang. The agents, whom Frank sought to save, must now return the favor and seek him in the treacherous Monstadt building. In the process, the mystery of the G-Men finally begins to unwind. How did they die and end up in Hell? How did they escape Hell? And how do they plan to stay out of Hell?

24 pages, $2.95, ships on Sept. 20.

SPYBOY #12

By Peter David, Pop Mahn, Norman Lee, cover by Lee.

SpyBoy has his hands full with the shark-like Slackjaw. So where the dickens is SpyBoy's cute but deadly partner? Well, we'll tell you! In this issue, Bombshell is the subject of an action-fueled chase through the hyper-sensory streets of Tokyo with Japan's very own...SpyGirl? All of Bombshell's incendiary expertise still may not be a match for this cunning, young martial arts master.

32 pages, $2.95, ships on Sept. 20.

STAR WARS: JEDI COUNCIL - ACTS OF WAR #4

By Randy Stradley, Davide Fabbri, Christian Dalla Vecchia, cover by Fabbri.

The Council's quest nears its end as the hiding place of the Yinchorri High Command is at last revealed. But the Yinchorri aren't about to surrender without a fight, and Jedi blood has already been spilled. How many lives -- on both sides -- will Jedi Master Mace Windu risk to bring the warlike aliens to justice? A handful of lightsabers is all that stands between a relatively peaceful Republic and galactic war. Action and heroism in the grand Jedi tradition.

32 pages, $2.95, ships on Sept. 20.

USAGI YOJIMBO #41

By Stan Sakai.

In the latest chapter of the follow-up to last year's Grasscutter series, Usagi and his companions continue on their journey to deliver the sword, Grasscutter, to Atsuta Shrine, unaware that two ninja clans are hot on their trail. When the group finds refuge for the night in a small way station, they are trapped by the Neko Ninja, leading to a dramatic confrontation between the Neko leader Chizu and Usagi. And if that's not enough, the killer bats swoop down.

24 pages, black and white, $2.95, ships on Sept. 27.

XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS #13

By Ian Edginton and Mike Deodato Jr., cover by Deodato.

Meet Legion...a towering, black-leather-clad soldier sent to collect demons escaped from Hell and deliver them back to their rightful home. However, it looks like Legion has made a mistake and is after a young girl by the name of Nhina. The only thing that stands between Nhina and Hell is Xena: Warrior Princess! Will Xena be able to keep Nhina from harm, or will Legion prevail?

32 pages, $2.95, ships on Sept. 27.

BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL: DARK SHADOWS TPB

By Hiroaki Samura, translated by Studio Proteus.

Anotsu Kagehisa has turned his Ittö-ryü into the most famous sword school in Japan, a dojo of outcasts and eccentrics who've slaughtered their way to the top of Japan's world of the blade. But as the old Japanese saying goes, "The nail that sticks up gets hammered down," and now Anotsu must relearn that ancient lesson when he discovers the existence of the Akagi, a mysterious organization formed from the survivors of the many rival sword schools destroyed by the ruthless Ittö-ryü. The Akagi are sworn to vengeance against Anotsu's dojo, but what Anotsu doesn't know is that the Akagi are wooing the immortal samurai, Manji, to join them in their war to exterminate the Ittö-ryü.

192 pages, black and white, $14.95, ships on Sept. 20.

DARK HORSE PRESENTS #157

By Scott Allie, Ryan Sook, Mike Manley, Eric Powell, cover by Sook and Powell.

Final issue. Samuel's sorceress mom sends him on a mission to confront Red Ben, one of her enemies from her younger days. But the allegiance of the Witch's Son to his mother's will is called into question when he learns that Red Ben may actually be the lesser of two evils when compared to dear old mom. Sam loves his mother, but is he willing to kill for her? Then, from the sublime to the ridiculous, Eric Powell's The Goon and Mike Manley's Monsterman both mix humor with horror.

32 pages, black and white, $2.95, ships on Sept. 20.

THE COMPLETE MADMAN COMICS VOL. 3 TPB

By Mike Allred.

The long-awaited Complete Madman Comics Vol. 3, collecting Madman #11-15, including the four-part "The Exit of Dr. Boiffard." Plus: "The Truth About Everything And All The Rest," a Madman title so long only a state-of-the-art trade paperback can hold it. Plus: the usual cosmic landfill of guest-artist pinups, galleries, beany copters and giant talking brains.

136 pages, $17.95, ships on Sept. 27.

STAR WARS #22

By John Ostrander, Jan Duursema, Rick Magyar, cover by Duursema.

Twilight (Part 4 of 4). After finally finding his Padawan apprentice, Aayla Secura, Jedi Quinlan Vos uncovers a chain of corruption and vice that reaches much further than he ever thought possible...leading all the way to the galactic Senate on the planet of Coruscant. It's up to Quinlan to find the parties responsible for the kidnap and torture of his Padawan and bring them to justice.

32 pages, $2.95, ships on Sept. 27.

STAR WARS TALES #5

By Dean Motter, Ian Edginton, Carlos Meglia, Terry Moore, Cliff Richard and Tony Millionaire. Cover by Andrew Robinson.

When ex-Imperial TIE fighter pilots turn profiteers and start causing trouble all across the galaxy, who do you call? Lando's Commandos. The issue features tales of adventure and daring featuring Lando Calrissian, Queen Amidala of Naboo, Yaddle of the Jedi Council and more.

64 pages, $5.95, ships on Sept. 27.

SUPER MANGA BLAST! #6

By Kosuke Fujishima, Mohiro Kitoh, Makoto Kobayashi, Yuzo Takada and Hiroyuki Utatane, translated by Studio Proteus and Radio Comix.

What's Michael? is cover-featured this month, with not one, but three short stories! Watch as Michael helps a thief, frightens a Mafia criminal, and annoys the heck out of some television viewers. And in 3x3 Eyes, Pai and Yakumo battle a mammoth demon and try to recover the legendary "Figure of Man" statue. In Shadow Star, secrets are uncovered and mysteries unfold as Shiina and a friend learn about each other's alien starfish. Plus, evil is revealed on the moon in Seraphic Feather, and Megumi encounters the Earth Spirit (Third Class) in another "lost" episode of Oh My Goddess!

128 pages, black and white, $4.95, ships on Sept. 27.

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER #25

By Christopher Golden, Cliff Richards, Joe Pimentel, cover by Jeff Matsuda.

The conclusion to "Blood of Carthage" is so big, Dark Horse added four extra pages to tell it all. The questions that have been building since issue #21 will finally be answered. Learn the secret history between the demons Vraka and Ky-Laag, and what it means to the Scooby Gang. And Buffy must deal with the aftermath of allying herself with Vraka, leading to an explosive fight in the heart of downtown Sunnydale. This issue features a special wrap around cover by Jeff Matsuda.

32 pages, $2.95, ships on Sept. 27.

GHOST-BATGIRL #2

By Mike Kennedy and Ryan Benjamin, cover by Benjamin.

Two-Face has a bone to pick with Malcolm Greymater. The Arcadian crimelord has reanimated some of Two-Face's deceased henchmen, and Two-Face is launching an all-out war to reclaim his "property." And while Ghost would like to see Greymater fall, she needs him alive if she's going to learn the secret of his "Resurrection Engine." Meanwhile, Oracle and Batgirl are combing Arcadia for Barbara Gordon's missing friend, also been resurrected by Greymater. Events are barreling toward a four-way showdown -- with Arcadia as the battlefield.

32 pages, $2.95, ships on Sept. 27.

LONE WOLF AND CUB VOL. 2 TPB

By Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima, cover by Frank Miller and Linday Medley.

Among the five stories in this issue: Cub has been captured while Lone Wolf lies unconscious. All of Cub's captors are cruel, all but the osue (the lowest maid). But her help may be her undoing. The household waits for the feared Lone Wolf to come looking for his son...and when he does...pick up Volume Two to find out what happens -- plus four other stories, as this classic epic continues.

296 pages, black and white, $9.95, ships on Sept. 27.

X-MEN MOVIE UPDATE

The television advertising campaign for the X-Men movie by 20th Century Fox - the MutantWatch promotion withstanding - has begun.

A new commercial for X-Men, similar to the third trailer that debuted Thursday night, is now airing in North America. Among the places the spot aired was during CBC's coverage of the Stanley Cup Finals on Saturday night.

The commercial features new scenes not in any of the X-Men trailers, including dialogue with Wolverine and Jean Grey.

In other X-Men news:

* Marvel's Show Biz column has gone to twice weekly to accommodate for X-Men movies news. On Tuesday, the column will feature Tyler Mane, who plays Sabretooth.

Said executive producer/writer Tom DeSanto: "Sabretooth, to me, is the most evil character in this movie - and that's the way it should be."

* X-Men stars Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, Halle Berry and Famke Janssen will be featured in the next issue of Maxim magazine.

ANIMATED ROGUE

Bob Forward, story editor of the X-Men Evolution animated series headed for Kids' WB! next season, told The Continuum what to expect of Rogue in the show.

"Rogue gets off on the wrong foot with the X-Men, when her guardian (Irene Adler) and Mystique conspire to convince her that the X-Men are evil," Forward said.

"Her powers consist of being able to temporarily absorb other people's powers and memories -- as a result, she is frightened and confused, and conceals that beneath a dark and scornful facade. However, as the series progresses, she begins to discover the truth about the X-Men and turns against Mystique. She will not have Ms. Marvel's powers during this initial series."

Forward also told The Continuum that four of the 13 scripts for the first season of the series have been completed, with the fifth expected to be done early this week.

HAMNER'S PROJECTS

Cully Hamner told The Continuum he will be drawing The Authority Annual, a DC Comics mini-series with Joe Casey and another WildStorm project.

"I believe it's scheduled to hit stores in October, but I'm not completely sure about that," Hamner said of The Authority book, which will be written by Mark Millar. "As far as what it's about: I have no idea! I won't be getting a script for at least a couple of weeks, but being a fan of The Authority and, more importantly, with the direction Mark is taking it in, I'm waiting with bated breath. I believe I can say with authority (pun intended) that this will kick ass."

The mini-series with Casey is called Tenses.

"It involves a pretty major character, though I'm not at liberty to say who yet," Hamner said. "It'll run two issues, 64 pages apiece. This will probably take me until late 2000/early 2001 to finish. As I said before, I can't divulge much. But after you read it, you'll have to reset your freakin' clocks!"

Hamner said he couldn't reveal too much about his other WildStorm project. "But I'll be working with someone I have been dying to work with for years and I am not kidding," he said.

THOMPSON OFF CHYNA

Jill Thompson told The Continuum that she is off as artist of Chaos! Comics' Chyna book.

"The art style the WWF was looking for was the Chaos-type style. Like the Mankind or Undertaker or Stone Cold Comic," Thompson told The Continuum. "My art doesn't fit that bill, so I won't be doing it. Sniff. I love Chyna. She's great. But, I want Chaos and the WWF to get what they're looking for, so, no worries.

"The cover for the book looks great and Steven (Grant) has written a fine story. So I look forward to picking it up."

SAITO COVERS SPELLBOUND

Fanboy Entertainment announced that Revolutionary Girl Utena creator Chiho Saito will be providing a variant cover for Spellbound: The Magic of Love #1.

"Miss Saito is one of Japan's premier shojo manga artists, whose delicate style and detailed artwork is loved around the world," said Fanboy's C.B. Cebulski. "I never expected I'd be privileged enough to have her name associated with ours! Hopefully this will be but the first of many projects she will be doing with Fanboy."

Spellbound is an original manga created by Tomoko Taniguchi for her foreign fans that will first be published in the United States. The story centers around Ami, a hip, street smart Japanese teenager who also happens to be a practicing witch. For Ami, magic is more for causing trouble and having fun than anything else... except love. However, try as she might, she can't get any love spells to work on the object of her affection, Hiro. And when Hiro's is snatched away by the foreign fashion designer Nicole, it's up to Ami to save him from her evil machinations.

"Two top-notch, respected shojo manga artists together on one book! Tomoko herself couldn't be happier. Although not a big anime fan, Tomoko fell in love with that Saito-sensei's Revolutionary Girl Utena. They met for the first time in Chicago at Anime Central last month and Tomoko was starstruck. But they immediately hit it off and here you see the result of a newfound friendship," Cebulski said. "As far as I know, this may be the first time a shojo manga artist has ever done a variant cover for another shojo manga artist. Unfortunately, none of Saito-sensei's manga have been published in English yet, so we're happy to be publishing a new piece of her artwork for all her hungry fans here to see."

Spellbound: The Magic Love #1 ships in August and will cost $2.95.

BRIEFLY