Monday, March 12, 2001

DARK HORSE FOR JUNE

Following are Dark Horse Comics' solicitations for June, with information coming from the company.

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER: SPIKE AND DRU TRADE PAPERBACK

By James Marsters, Christopher Golden, Ryan Sook and Eric Powell.

Four tales of the most vile, murderous, and destructive -- not to mention codependent -- couple ever to visit Sunnydale are presented in one volume, covering an entire century of bloodshed, from China in 1900 to Rio in 1999. This 96-page book collects the original Spike and Dru one-shot by TV star James "Spike" Marsters, Christopher Golden, and Ryan Sook, which was heralded by Buffy creator Joss Whedon as the model for future Buffy comics. Also included are the two follow-ups by Golden and artists Sook and Eric Powell, plus the final word on the duo, the 10-page epilogue "Who Made Who?" telling the story of their final farewell in Brazil, refered to but never delved into on the show.

96 pages, $11.95, arrives in stores on June 27.

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER #34

By Tom Fassbender, Jim Pascoe, Cliff Richards and Joe Pimentel; cover by Richards.

The gang finally discovers the secret of the Sunnydale infestation, and the bug hunt comes to a stunning conclusion as Buffy faces off against a mad scientist, a gazillion nasty creepy-crawlies, and their Queen. All this and more girl trouble for Giles. Artists Cliff Richards and Joe Pimentel serve up a whole lot of bug guts as scribes Tom Fassbender and Jim Pascoe conclude the ickiest Buffy event ever.

32 pages, $2.99, arrives in stores on June 27.

DIRTY PAIR: SIM HELL REMASTERED #2

By Adam Warren.

In the midst of an employee evaluation gone horribly awry, the Dirty Pair struggle with a series of increasingly nightmarish virtual-reality scenarios. From outer space to the ocean depths to the infinity of cyberspace, can Kei and Yuri survive the simulated (but still lethal) terrors of the apocalyptic "Nanoclysm?" In addition to all-new front and back cover art, this issue also features new, never-before-seen Dirty Pair artwork by writer/artist Adam Warren and friends.

32 pages, $2.99, arrives in stores on June 6.

JOSS WHEDON'S FRAY #1

By Joss Whedon, Karl Moline and Andy Owens; cover by Moline and Owens.

You've never seen a world like this, and neither has she. She's Melaka Fray, a beautiful, young girl that's about to meet her destiny, whether she wants to or not. In the future, the world is a manmade, hopeless hell. Add to that vampires, demons and other grim, supernatural threats that cower in shadows and skulk late-night streets. When the forces of darkness come calling, Fray will be transformed from street urchin of a disposable society to its only savior. And, heaven help her if she fails. Joss Whedon, the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, makes his comics debut with this eight-issue series.

32 pages, $2.99, arrives in stors on June 6.

PLANET OF THE APES: THE HUMAN WAR #1

By Ian Edginton, Paco Medina and Juan Vlasco; cover by J. Scott Campbell.

Several decades after human astronaut Leo Davidson's adventure on the ape world, ape society has been torn apart from within by a horrible civil war that's erupted between ape rebels advocating human integration and the fearful but powerful ape regime. Is the ape Seneca and his scattered but loyal followers of humans and apes enough to defeat the charismatic Shiva and her imposing ape army? The conflict has reached a bloody stalemate. But Shiva has a deadly secret that will end the war..and wipe out mankind. After all, the only good human is a dead human. Issue #1 of the series includes an exclusive Topps Planet of the Apes movie card.

32 pages, $2.99, arrives in stores on June 6.

STAR WARS: JEDI COUNCIL - ACTS OF WAR TRADE PAPERBACK

By Randy Stradley, Davide Fabbri and Christian Dalla Vecchia.

Even in the days before the shadow of the Phantom Menace falls upon the Republic, the rule of the Senate is no guarantee of peace. When conflicts arise, it is the duty of the Jedi Knights, under the guidance of the Jedi Council, to protect the innocent and restore order. When the warlike Yinchorri threaten the stability of the Republic, a Jedi task force led by Mace Windu and including Qui-Gin Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi is sent to the Yinchorri system to settle matters, and they soon find themselves facing overwhelming odds on three different worlds. Collecting the four-issue series.

96 pages, $12.95, arrives in stores on June 6.

HELLBOY: CONQUEROR WORM #2

By Mike Mignola.

At Hunte Castle final preparations are made for the arrival of the conqueror worm. Roger the Homunculus teams with Lobster Johnson (who may or may not be alive) to battle a laboratory full of mechanical corpses, while Hellboy is tortured by a big Nazi gorilla.

32 page, $2.99, arrives in stores on June 13.

OH MY GODDESS!: THE DEVIL IN MISS URD TRADE PAPERBACK

By Kosuke Fujishima, translated by Studio Proteus; cover by Fujishima.

When the goddesses Belldandy, Skuld, and Urd win a free trip to a hot springs resort, it turns out they're not the only deities off on vacation. Demon First Class Mara is checked into the same rustic retreat. The old enemies call a truce, but the malicious Mara is once again up to no good. She builds an Urd clone from a lock of the half-demon Urd's hair that she swipes at the hot-springs resort. The purpose of the clone: Mara wants to merge the 50% demon blood of Urd and the 50% demon blood of her clone to make a 200 Proof Demonic Urd, who's hell-bent on seducing mortal earth-guy Keiichi and sending a brokenhearted Belldandy back to heaven. Collecting the five-issue series.

176 pages, black and white, $14.95, arrives in stores on June 20.

GUNSMITH CATS: MISTER V #9

By Kenichi Sonoda, translated by: Studio Proteus.

Who's Jim Max? If it wasn't for the mysterious Max, Rally wouldn't have been following Bean, Misty wouldn't have tried to break into Bean's car, and now Misty wouldn't be naked in the back of a bad guy's van, with Rally and Bean in hot pursuit down the streets of Chicago. Jim Max is the key to the mystery, and what none of our heroes know yet is that the bad guys have Jim Max in the bag - literally.

40 pages, black and white, $3.50, arrives in stores on June 20.

GHOST/BATGIRL: THE RESURRECTION MACHINE TRADE PAPERBACK

By Mike Kennedy amd Ryan Benjamin.

Some people would like to have a new life, but they'd rather not have to die to get it. The recently dead are walking the dark streets of Gotham City, and Batgirl must journey to the Deco canyons of Arcadia to find who's responsible for these creepy reanimations. But Arcadia's spectral avenger, Ghost, is also hot on the trail of the zombie maker, one Malcolm Graymater, and Batgirl had better not get in Ghost's way. And when the murderous Two-Face gets in on the act to reclaim several of his reanimated henchmen, a deadly four-corner showdown headlines the fight card. Collecting the four-issue series co-published with DC Comics.

96 pages, $11.95, arrives in stores on June 20.

OH MY GODDESS!: PART X #5

By Kosuke Fujishima, cover by Kosuke Fujishima.

"Hand in Hand," part two of two. A drunk Belldandy has magically glued her hand to her boyfriend Keiichi's hand. Not the best potions or worst machines that the goddesses Urd and Skuld can come up with can pull these two hands apart...and Keiichi's just beginning to notice there might be some benefits to being linked to the most beautiful goddess on Earth. It's bath time! But what if their friends wake up from their hangovers and notice the consequences of a drunk goddess's rampage of kindness...?

40 pages, black and white, $3.50, arrives in stores on June 27.

LONE WOLF AND CUB VOL. 10: SEPARATE PATHS TRADE PAPERBACK

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

The six paths and four lives are split asunder, as Itto Ogami and Daigoro become separated in one of this series' most powerful stories to date! The Lone Wolf's arch-enemy, Yagyu Retsudo, pursues Ogami to retrieve the secret letter stolen from him, only to watch dozens of his men fall victim to the Lone Wolf's hungry sword. But Yagyu drives father and son apart as they tumble down a cliff and must survive on their own. Little Daigoro must begin his honorable search for his father. But with Yagyu's henchmen hunting high and low for the Lone Wolf and his cub, the net drags closer and the danger wraps tighter, but the blood flows ever freely...

320 pages, black and white, 4 inches by 6 inches, $9.95, arrives in stores on June 27.

AKIRA VOL. 3 TRADE PAPERBACK

By Katsuhiro Otomo.

In the 21st century, the glittering Neo-Tokyo has risen from the rubble of a Tokyo destroyed by an apocalyptic telekinetic blast from a young boy called Akira -- the subject of a covert government experiment gone wrong now imprisoned in frozen stasis. But Tetsuo, an angry young man with immense and rapidly growing psychic abilities, has done the unthinkable: he has released Akira and set into motion a chain of events that could once destroy the city and drag the world to the brink of Armageddon. Resistance agents and an armada of government forces race against the clock to find the child with godlike powers before his unthinkable destructive abilities are unleashed! One of the true international classics of graphic fiction and unavailable for nearly a decade in America, Akira has once again taken America by storm, its first Dark Horse volume selling out almost overnight in comic shops and bookstores across the country.

288 pages, black and white, $24.95, arrives in stores on June 27.