Dark Horse Presents comic books issues 101-112

Cover by Bernie Wrightson. Bernie Wrightson, Paul Pope, Harvey Pekar, and John Bolton! Editor Bob Schreck continues to mix it up in Dark Horse Presents, the greatest anthology on the market! Where else could you find one of the most talented macabre artists of the century drawing one of the coolest monsters of film and comics? Bernie Wrightson teams up with red-hot Spiderman author Ron Marz for a two-part Aliens story! This is the finest pen-and-ink work you're likely to see this year, and the creepiest interpretation of the big bugs in a long time. And if you've somehow missed Paul Pope's self-published work, part one of the year-long "One Trick Rip Off" will show you why this new guy got all those Eisner nominations his first time out of the gate. This issue also features underground luminaries Harvey Pekar and Joe Sacco, and a hard-boiled cop tale by Steve Niles and Paul Lee, which connects to the stunning back cover painting by John Bolton! This issue's so over-stuffed with greatness, we don't even have room for a letters column! B&W. Cover price $2.95.

Cover by Bernie Wrightson. In this conclusion to the "Aliens" story, the extraterrestrial scientists from last issue become fodder for the big bug, and their ship crashes into an earth jungle. Notables Bernie Wrightson and Ron Marz turn in a fast-moving, suspenseful, and beautifully rendered tale of everyone's favorite exoskeletal carnivores. "Mr. Painter" is the story of a disaffected artiste, Alan Bland -- a coffee addict and tuba aficionado -- who becomes obsessed with an old painting he finds in his parents' home. "The One Trick Rip-off" is a stylish, comics noir strip set in a near-future L.A. and focuses on a small group of thieves called the One Tricks. Paul Pope follows up on his Eisner-nominated THB with the second chapter of this twelve-part thriller. "Cal: Hairball" is a mystery featuring Cal McDonald, paranormal investigator, whose pursuit of some weird characters puts him on the trail of a murderer. And in "Sun Ra," Pekar and Sacco give a biographical profile on the band leader who first incorporated electric instruments with percussion and wind instruments to mix traditional African music with modern jazz. B&W. Cover price $2.50.

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Cover by Stan Shaw. Jack Kirby is the undeniable King of Comics. He created most of the heroes we all grew up with. But superheroes weren't his exclusive subject matter -- he also drew westerns, crime stories, romance comics . . . and Bible plates. In the 1970s, Kirby illustrated his favorite scenes from the Old Testament; not comic stories, but illustrative plates. "It was the best work of his life," says Roz Kirby. "The artwork he was most proud of." For a look at the greatest work of the greatest illustrator comics has ever known -- will ever know -- be sure to order your copy of Dark Horse Presents #103. And as if that's not enough, the most diverse anthology in comics runs the gamut this month, ranging from the slyly hip to the angst-ridden to the weird and supernatural. The world's first unborn superhero, "The Pink Tornado," debuts in this issue, "Mr. Painter" continues the story of a disaffected artiste, Alan Bland -- a coffee addict and tuba aficionado -- who becomes obsessed with an old painting he finds in his parents' home. Paul Pope, alternative comics genius, continues "The One Trick Rip-Off," a stylish, comics noir strip set in a near-future Los Angeles and focusing on a small group of thieves called the One Tricks. "Cal: Hairball" is a mystery featuring Cal McDonald, paranormal investigator, whose pursuit of some weird characters puts him hot on the trail of a murderer. This month, these weird characters show themselves as even weirder by killing Cal's client! Kitsch, comedy, comics noir, and Kirby -- if you're wanting anything more, you're just getting greedy! B&W. Cover price $2.95.

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Cover by Scott Musgrove. A stillborn superhero; an artiste for whom life has lost all meaning; a gang of hard-boiled thieves in future Los Angeles; a paranormal private eye. Put these diverse elements into the same book and you have the 104th issue of the comics industry's premiere anthology title. In "The Pink Tornado," the world's first stillborn superhero confronts his arch-nemesis, Dr. Canada, the nefarious leader of the secret society known only as I.C.O.N. "That's Mr. Painter to You" is the story of Alan Bland, a disaffected artistewith an unhealthy obsession for an old painting he found in his parents' home. In "The One Trick Rip-Off," a stylish, comics noir strip set in a near future Los Angeles, we meet a small cabal of hardbitten thieves, known to each other as the One Tricks. Finally, in "Cal: Hairball" we continue unfolding the story of Cal McDonald, paranormal investigator, whose search for a murderer leads inexorably to some truly weird characters who get even weirder, fiestier, and hairier during the full moon! B&W. Cover price $2.95.

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Cover by Casey Jones and Bruce Patterson. The oldest and freshest anthology series in the comics business serves up another heaping helping of sophistication and diversity. The tales range from the supernatural to the absurd to existential to nitty-gritty crime fiction. The creators have prior credits that span the range of modern comics as well, from Ghost to Harlan Ellison's Dream Corridor to Star Wars: Dark Lords of the Sith. Paul Pope, alternative comics genius, continues "The One Trick Rip-Off," a stylish, comics noir strip set in a near-future Los Angeles and focusing on a small group of thieves called the One Tricks. In "Cal Hairball," Steve Niles concludes his 4-part serial about Cal MacDonald, a paranormal investigator whose search for a murderer leads him into out onto a busy highway for a climactic confrontation with a werewolf. Scott Musgrove and Darick Chamberlin's "The Pink Tornado" is the world's first stillborn superhero. In this last of 3 parts, he goes up against his arch-nemesis, Dr. Canada, the Provincial Man, a man with eerily detachable body parts. "That's Mr. Painter to You" concludes Stan Shaw's existential tale of a disaffected artiste named Alan Bland -- a coffee addict and tuba aficionado -- who becomes obsessed with an old painting found in his parents' home. Dark Horse Presents is the bastion of postmodern comics, 105 issues strong. Find out why readers around the world keep coming back for more, month after month. Kitsch, comedy, and noir. If you want any more than that, you're just getting greedy. B&W. Cover price $2.95.

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Cover by Bill Wray. A rock-hard projectile of indeterminate origin is forcing its way out of his buttocks! It's Big Blown Baby's first solid poo, and there's no way he's going to drop that golden brick without thousands of witnesses present to sanctify the proceedings! Join Ren and Stimpy animator Bill Wray and scatological scat-man Robert Loren Fleming for the bare-assed adventures of Big Blown Baby, in a tale heralding his four-issue miniseries! And speaking of big, we've got the King of Monsters in an enormous bind -- it's the funniest Godzilla story you will ever read, courtesy of alternative comics legends Ed Brubaker (Prez) and Dave Cooper (Pressed Tongue). And then, after your sides are all sore from laughing, we hit you with a spot of serious entertainment, Paul Pope's latest chapter of "The One Trick Rip- Off," a crime-noir comic about a bunch of young toughs getting out-toughed by a dame. Three great tastes that go great together -- that's DHP #106! B&W. Cover price $2.95.

Cover by Mike Mignola. Mike Mignola's Hellboy brought major attention to DHP twenty issues ago; now his latest creation is sure to do the same! Mignola and Sam and Max creator Steve Purcell have come together to introduce a waiting world to "Rusty Razorclam, President of Neptune!" The horrorist and humorist reminisce about Rusty's days as a space cadet at the Academy, a time when one of his genetic experiments got way out of hand. And this terrific lead-in starts off a killer line-up, including two new serials: Jack Pollock's "Devil Chef" and Renée French's "The Ninth Gland." But the fun doesn't end there! Rick Geary was doing "alternative" work before the word was coined -- so his "Fashions in Humiliation and Debasement" is right at home with this creative crowd! And last, but certainly not least, Paul Pope delivers another chapter in his gritty 12-part tale of urban sleeze and thievery, "The One Trick Rip-Off." Cover by Mike Mignola. B&W. Cover price $2.95.

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Cover by Renee French. Comics' longest-running anthology series serves up another feast of diverse delights, starting with a chunk of "The Ninth Gland" by Renée French, the creator of Fantagraphics's Grit Bath. It's the weird but strangely sweet story about a janitor named Huey Kittentank and two young girls who perform surgery to save the life of an unnamable foundling creature from the girls' back yard. More strange critters inhabit Jack Pollock's latest Devil Chef culinary caper, as the Chef's protégé-gone-wrong carries out unholy gustatory experiments using -- tapeworms! Paul Pope's "The One-Trick Rip Off" continues its gritty excursion into a noir Los Angeles, replete with crime, thievery, and thuggery. Finally, newcomers Scott Gillis and Jeff DeMos offer the black humor of "The Perfect Tree," the story of a suicide attempt that doesn't go quite according to plan. Renée French and Laura Allred (Madman Comics) have created an eerily evocative cover, portraying Huey Kittentank from "The Ninth Gland." DHP #108 is your one-stop shop for all flavors from the sweet to the weird. B&W. Cover price $2.95.

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Cover by Paul Pope. New York is a young man's best friend -- if that young man has a steady job that pays big bucks. But to comic-book artist Al Milgrom, fresh off the bus from the Midwest, The Big Apple is the worst kind of enemy. He has no job and no friends. But what he does have is his "New York Pets"! Join Al Milgrom -- one of the shapers of the Silver Age of comics -- in this behind-the-scenes look at the creation of a cartoonist. Plus the twists and dips keep on coming in Paul Pope's "One Trick Rip-Off"; Renée French continues to surprise us in "The Ninth Gland"; and the culinary wonders of the underworld are revealed in Jack Pollock's "Devil Chef"! B&W. Cover price $2.95.

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Cover by August Hall. Joshua's dad loves him -- Josh knows that 'cause his dad beats him. That's how dads show affection. And that's how Joshua will show his new friend that he loves him, when his friend finally hatches from his "Egg." Frank Lovece and Christopher Schenck spin a web of an abusive father and a mysterious egg in this new, four-part serial. Also, Paul Pope, Renée French, and Shannon Wheeler provide new installments of "The One Trick Rip-Off," "The Ninth Gland," and "Too Much Coffee Man," all under a haunting painting by August Hall, whose work has graced Vertigo's The Books of Magic. B&W. Cover price $2.95.

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Cover by Eric White. Oddball artist Eric White contributes a painted cover featuring the twisted characters from Renée French's "The Ninth Gland," which continues its descent into the bizarre caverns of the human mind. The peril escalates as Paul Pope does that Paul-Pope thing in the new chapter of "The One Trick Rip-Off." In part two of Frank Lovece and Christopher Schenck's "Egg," we get a glimpse into Charlie's life and the source of the anger he takes out on his son Joshua. When Charlie comes home to release that anger yet again, he is shocked to stumble upon the newly hatched inhabitant of Joshua's egg. And, finally, Shannon Wheeler's Too Much Coffee Man grinds life's problems into a tasty, though highly strung, treat. B&W. Cover price $2.95.

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Cover by Paul Pope. All good things must come to an end. In this issue of DHP, three serials reach their finalès. In "Egg," by Frank Lovece and Christopher Schenck, Charlie's egg hatches, and what's inside is more than he or his father bargained for. Renée French comes to the bottom of her spiral into the bizarre and exposes the gooey center of "The Ninth Gland." Finally, the fate of Tubby and Vim is revealed in the final chapter of Paul Pope's "The One Trick Rip-Off." Pope provides a wraparound cover, sending everything off with a bang. B&W. Cover price $2.95.