Dark Horse’s Jon Snow Figure will be Limted to 695 Worldwide
This weekend heralds the launch of season three of HBO’s Game of Thrones and I’m pleased to share Dark Horse Comics’ additions to their series related collection.
Last year we had an advance peek at the beautiful Deanerys Targaryen bust. This July Dark Horse will add an awesome Jon Snow (Kit Harington) sculpt with fierce companion Ghost, the direwolf. The Gentle Giant Studios produced statue will be limited to 695 numbered pieces worldwide. Direwolf Ghost
Already available from your collectibles distributors are Golden Globe Award winner Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister weilding his battle axe, Direwolf bookends to keep your ice and fire tomes between, and a 7” Iron Throne all your own. Tyrion Lannister
Alex Ross's Cover Beautifully Renders the Iconic Stars Wars Characters Geezer Pleaser…
Methinks old school fans like myself facilitated the faster than a light sabre sell out of the first issue of Dark Horse’s new Star Wars comic book. Don’t despair reprints will be on the way in early February and you should plan on getting yourself a copy before that sells out too.
The series begins in the months immediately following A New Hope: Episode IV (or simply STAR WARS to us geezers) and will track the narrative through a five year period. All of the classic cast, Luke, Leia, Han Solo and Chewy, R2D2 and C3P0, is well represented throughout the issue. Writer Brian Wood offers a smart balance of dialog, exposition and action as the rebels seek to stabilize the still shaky force. He fleshes out the characterizations as Luke and Leia assess their victory at Yavin as well as the losses of their loved ones. Han and Chewbaca discuss the crimps fugitive status puts in their black market business and it’s particularly interesting to see Lord Vader get called on the carpet for the ultimate destruction of the Death Star. There are also nods to post 1977 revelations, so the book jives with the nearly 40 year plot expansion.
Interior illustration by artist Carlos D’Anda and colorist Gabe Eltaeb (isn’t that Beatle backwards?) is rendered with plenty of detail and shading. D’Anda’s dark graphic edges make the art pop on the beautifully printed and color saturated pages as well as in digital format. Michael Heisler’s lettering compliments the sleek look of the layouts.
Ross the Boss…
The movie poster quality cover by Alex Ross is worth the price of admission and pencil sketch variants of it and other upcoming covers were just announced by Dark Horse today. Comic Book Resources has an exclusive look at 4 of those variants.
SkeletonPete Says… Star Wars #1 is a promising start, indeed a new hope. Though I thought the dismal prequels had soured me forever, I’m very much looking forward to further adventures unfurling in this graphic series. It certainly makes me wish George Lucas had chosen to tell these “in-betweener” stories when he revisited the franchise.
The issue 1 reprint is scheduled for February 6, 2013, with issue 2 hitting stores on February 13. Stars Wars #2 Cover Art by Alex Ross
Dark Horse/Dam Things Trolls Get 21st Century Bling Jobs Those Dam Things…
On July 25, 2012, Dark Horse Comics under license agreement with Dam Things will begin offering a new line of designer vinyl Good Luck Trolls. All collectibles fans have no doubt encountered the lovable smiles of the classic Good Luck Trolls in some shape or form over the last half century. Their original countenance was created by Danish woodcutter Thomas Dam in 1959. Dam chose to eschew the evil Troll demeanor of the Three Billy Goats Gruff fairy tale characters for an affable grin and “hug me” pose and they quickly became a pop culture phenomenon.
Copyright legalities during the 1960’s saw the product go into the public domain in the United States with a number of companies issuing their own versions. I still have a couple of vintage Uneeda Doll Company “Wish-Niks” in my collection. Russ company outfitted them to represent different holidays and vocations, miniature bristle haired versions came out of gumball machines, they were ubiquitous. Reinstatement of the copyright came after Dam’s passing in 1989 and worldwide licensing is now administered by the Denmark based Dam Things. Mystery Box Display with Series 1 Combinations (Photo Courtesy of Dark Horse Comics)Collect ’em, Trade ’em…
The first wave of 2.5” figures will feature an assortment of 15 body and hair color variations, including metallic, glitter, and flocked versions. Glow In The Dark and Black Light bodies are also in the mix. The “mystery box,” with characters both cardboard boxed and foil wrap sealed, offers a random purchase experience and an opportunity to trade with like minded collectors. There are “chase” characters with lower find probabilities and those ratios are printed on each vending display.
ComicCon Exclusive…
Lucky 2012 San Diego Comic Con attendees (July 12-15) will have a crack at purchasing a black light sensitive green Troll with white hair which is limited to 1,500 and exclusive to the Convention. ComicCon 2012 Exclusive Black Light Troll (Photo Courtesy of Dark Horse Comics)Feature Film in the (Dream) Works…
With Dreamworks Animation announcing the Good Luck Trolls as their next feature subject (Chloe Moretz and Jason Schwartzman are on tap for voice work) the franchise should see a renaissance and a new fan base for the 21st Century.
Important Photo Note…
I captured these images at the February 2012 Toy Fair in NYC when this product was in pre-license approval prototype. Please check vending display boxes for actual color and surface combinations available in Series 1. Happy Collecting.
Dark Horse reprints ACG's Pre-Code "Adventures Into the Unknown"Adventures Into The Unknown: Volume One
Dark Horse Archives
Full Color, Hardcover, 216 Pages
Release Date: June 6, 2012
List Price:$49.99
What a treat and it’s not even Halloween. On June 5, 2012 Dark Horse Comics will add the first volume of reprints of American Comics Group’s Adventures Into the Unknown to its long list of awesome archive editions. This full color hardcover tome will offer up the first four issues of this before – the – comics – code title that predates the earliest E.C. ventures in horror. Geez, it even predate me!
Let’s Get Corrupted…
Writer/Artist Bruce Jones’ in-depth foreword (“Under Forbidden Covers”) sets the stage for those unaware of the historical beginnings and unfortunate ending of the horror and crime comics genres. Adventures Into The Unknown shrewdly survived the reactionary social speculations of Dr. Fredric Wertham’s Seduction of the Innocent and the ensuing comics code for an unbroken 174 issue run. The tales offered in Volume 1 come from a time (1948-49) when you could blissfully enjoy a creepy tale rendered in lurid detail without being labeled a “commie”, a pervert, or run the risk of being issued a legendary “JD” (juvenile delinquent) card.
Each issue is replete with several graphic stories, a text piece, a “True Ghosts of History” strip. The “Strange Spirits” page gives capsule commentary on the “many terrifying beliefs in all parts of the world” including Voodoo and Celtic Superstitions. Issues 1 & 2 introduce a recurring villain, the seemingly unstoppable “Living Ghost.” His scary countenance is not unlike the creature in director Eddie Romero’s 1970’s Filipino “Blood Island” film series with his missing proboscis and long pin-like fangs.
Gothic Ground Zero…
A unique treat in issue 1 is the graphic novelization of Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto. Broadly influential in its time and beyond the 1764 “first” gothic novel presupposes Poe, Stoker, du Maurier and others to follow. It’s a story examined more for its influence then its quality by H. P. Lovecraft in his 1927 treatise on gothicism “Supernatural Horror in Literature.” Panel for panel the art could pass as storyboards for Roger Corman’s Edgar Allan Poe adaptations, while the saturated color palette is reminiscent of Mario Bava’s set design. Creepy Creatures from "Adventures Into The Unknown" Archive 1
Who Dunnit…
In their original printing the stories and most artwork is uncredited but Darkhorse gives us the creator’s identities. Edvard Moritz, Fred Guardineer and Al Feldstein are among them. There’s a great Leonard Starr (On Stage) story in issue number 4 that has the feel of a AlfredHitchcock/Daphne du Maurier collaboration.
What? No X-Ray Specs!
Advertisements are lovingly reproduced exhorting readers to learn to play piano in one day or harmonica in 15 minutes, in the midst of brilliantly cheesy novelty classics like the “dribble glass”, “squirt ring” and “joy buzzer”.
SkeletonPete Says…
Though low on the “grue-meter” the strips offer enough depictions of supernatural creatures, spectral and skeletal presences to keep the fantasy fan entertained. Overall, Adventures Into The Unknown: Volume 1 is a fun taste of Golden Age horror that whets the appetite for more and fits in perfectly with Dark Horse’s Creepy, Eerie, and Boris Karloff’s Thriller archives.
Dark Horse and HBO Present Emilia Clarke, Daenerys BustIf you’re riding high on your dose of the new season of “Game of Thrones” you can quench between episode joneses pondering this amazing likeness of Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen. The unburnt “Mother of Dragons” is fittingly replete with baby perched on her shoulder, just like the final scene of season one. A color variant, representing the hues of Viserion, will be exclusive to Entertainment Earth. The included base is entwined with relief work depicting the iconography of the show’s opening titles, featuring dragons and stags and wolves.
Not much is left to say when the picture above speaks volumes, but having personally perused this piece from Dark Horse Deluxe and HBO licensing I must note it is simply stunning. Expect this limited edition to be available in late June. The Gentle Giant Studios sculpt is approximately 7 inches tall and 8 inches wide.
