Dark Horse Comics is making several major announcements today at the San Diego Comic-Con (which, by the way, is sold out except for Sunday-only admissions).
Dark Horse has signed a deal with New Comic Company to bring back two classics: Creepy and Eerie, which were “definitive horror and sci-fi comics of the 1960s and [which] flourished up until the early 1980s.” Dark Horse will be creating archive hardcover editions of the classic material (expected to appear early next year), and launching new comics under those titles (which are scheduled to debut this Autumn). They’ve already signed Bernie Wrightson (City of Others) and Steve Niles (30 Days of Night and Criminal Macabre), and will be using the work of many others of “today’s brightest stars.”
“Creepy is best remembered for its classic horror and was hosted by Uncle Creepy, while Eerie often ventured into science fiction and featured Cousin Eerie as its host. The rest of the gang includes Hunter, Child, El Cid, Marvin the Dead Thing, and the newly developed Creepy Family. Both Creepy and Eerie are fondly remembered by comics fans as representing the best of science fiction and horror, and Dark Horse is proud and excited to relaunch these classic titles,” said Dark Horse publisher Mike Richardson.
New Comic bought all the rights to Creepy and Eerie earlier this year, and expects to also announce television and film deals soon. New Comic was formed by New York based Submarine Entertainment and Los Angeles based Grand Canal Film Works.
Dark Horse is also announcing the relaunch of Dark Horse Presents, which was “a seminal 1980s black-and-white periodical anthology,” as a free online comic in collaboration with MySpace. It’s available today at MySpace.com/DarkHorsePresents, and will be publishing a new issue each month. The first issue features four stories:
* Sugar Shock!: “Battle Royale with Cheese” is the work of Joss Whedon and Fabio Moon, with Dave Stewart and Nate Piekos
* The Umbrella Academy: “Safe & Sound” by Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba, with Dave Stewart and Nate Piekos
* Samurai: Heaven and Earth: “The Forest” by Ron Marz, Luke Ross, Dan Jackson, and Dave Lanphear
* The Comic-Con Murder Case by R. Geary
In the future, they also expect to be publishing new comic talent they discover online. Issue #2 is scheduled to be posted on 5 September.