Comics Greatest World or The Dark Horse Heroes

[hondobrode]

Am I the only guy that LOVED this universe ? They had some of the best art and their stories were very, very smart. Sadly, it got overlooked and most fans never really tried it. Ghost did fairly well, as did X (a great Punisher-style character).

I personally loved Motorhead, Out of the Vortex and Catalyst : Agents of Change, too.

Mike Richardson wrote the framing sequence that tied all 16 one-shots together into a cohesive mesh with great art by Lee Weeks.

The titles listed were :

Barb Wire - outstanding Dave Dorman cover with interiors by Paul Gulacy and Dan Davis. Ace of Spades mini written by Chris Warner with art by Warner and Tim Bradstreet.

Catalyst : Agents of Change - very nice Perez cover with pencils by Jan Duursema and Damon Willis and inks by Rick Magyar. Ongoing lasted 7 issues written first by Eddie Campbell and John Ford and later on Barbara Kesel, drawn by Tim Hamilton and inked by Shane Glines.

Division 13 - Doug Mahnke cover and pencils and Randy Elliott inks. The ongoing was written by Keith Giffen with art by Alexander Morrisey and Bruce Patterson. #2, the last issue, was by the team of Chris Alexander on pencils, Mike Sellers and Terry Austin on inks.

Ghost - Adam Hughes pencils and Mark Farmer inks. Great Dave Dorman cover. The ongoing was Dark Horse's most successful "hero" title going the distance at 36 issues and later went on to another volume with another 22 issues. Talent on the original run included Eric Luke scripts and art by the likes of Adam Hughes and Mark Farmer, later including Matt Haley, Terry Dodson, Lee Moder, Ivan Reis, Dougie Braithwaite, John Cassaday, Colleen Doran, Tom Grummett, Paul Guinan and guys like Randy Emberlin, Bob Wiacek on inks.

Hero Zero - Art Adams cover and Eric Shanower art. He carried a Zero issue written by Michael Eury with art by Brian Apthorp and Keith Akin as well as a Vs. Godzilla one-shot written by Michael Eury with a great Art Adams cover and art by Tatsuya Ishida and Mike Miller.

King Tiger - super fine Geof Darrow cover and art by Paul Chadwick and Jimmy Palmiotti. He later shared a 2 issue mini with Motorhead written by D.G. Chicester with art by Karl Waller and Eric Shanower with covers by Doug Mahnke.

Mecha - sweet Dave Johnson cover with Karl Story inks and interiors by Chuck Wojtkiewicz and John Lowe. Randy Stradley writes the ongoing with art by Harrison Fong and Art Nichols. One Special written by Eric Luke with Jim Hall and Tom Simmons on art, and a Chris Warner cover.

Monster - Jerry Prosser story and art by Derek Thompson and Ande Parks with a nice Doug Mahnke cover.

Motorhead - stylin' cover and interiors by Vince Giarrano. Ongoing written by D.G. Chichester with art by Karl Waller. Inks by Tim Bradstreet and Eric Shanower. Covers by Simon Bisley. Special written by John Arcudi with a cover by Jae Lee and interiors by Dan Norton and Avon.

Out of the Vortex - unbelievably cool Frank Miller cover and very good Bob McLeod art inside. 12 issue mini written by Michael Eury with pencils by Randy Green and inks by Mike Barriero.

Pit Bulls - nice Bob McLeod cover and art by Joe Phillips and John Dell

Rebel - nice Jerry Ordway cover with Tim Hamilton pencils and Gary Martin inks

The Machine - really nice Mike Mignola cover and interiors by Ted Naifeh. Ongoing written by John Arcudi with pencils by Ted Naifeh again and covers by Dave Johnson.

Titan - *SQUEE* ! Simonson cover and insides by Brian Apthorp and Jimmy Palmiotti. Special written by Peter Ford & Michael Eury with interiors by Chris Sprouse and Tim Hamilton and a nice Bart Sears cover.

Wolf Gang - Chris Warner cover and interiors

X - awesome Frank Miller cover with real nice art by Chris Warner and Tim Bradstreet. Ongoing written by Steven Grant with art and covers by Doug Mahnke, Jimmy Palmiotti, Rick Leonardi, Chris Warner, Frank Miller and Javier Saltares.


The Arcadia arc consisted of X, Pit Bulls, Ghost, and Monster, all written by Jerry Prosser.

The Cinnabar Flats arc consisted of Division 13, Hero Zero, King Tiger, and Out of the Vortex, all written by Randy Stradley.

Golden City arc consisted of Rebel, Mecha, Titan, and Catalyst : Agents of Change, all written by Barbara Kesel.

Steel Harbor arc consisted of Barb Wire, The Machine, Wolf Gang, and Motorhead, all written by Chris Warner.

All the interconnecting framing sequences were penciled and inked by the great Lee Weeks.

What I see more than anything killing this line is not putting strong enough star talent on board. If the concept is ok, not great but acceptable, which all of these were IMO, a strong star talent can build a following

Some of the series were really good. Out of the Vortex was great, X and Ghost were really great too.

I asked Mike Richardson about them about 5 years ago at SDCC and he said they were planning on bringing them back, but alas, perhaps the tall one was just appeasing the token fan.

I know they will come back someday. I'm keeping hope alive.

[Vault-Keeper]

I thought this was an interesting line. The first issues were only $1 each, so it was easy to start up.

Each of the four 'groups' also had a Retailer Insentive TPB, collecting all four issues under one special cover, which featured the symbol for that particular group in colored foil, with a black background. I have three of the four, & a duplicate of the Steel Harbor one.

Even though this line didn't last long, at least it DID have one hit movie made off of Barb Wire, starring Pam Anderson in all her double-D glory! Her wet strip tease in during the opening credits was hot! That's more than what you can say about Valiant's failed attempts at movie stardom.

Ghost did well also, & had several crossovers. Nice Adam Hughes artwork! Dark Horse has always put out quality stuff, IMO.---Steve

[BrianT]

I think Will to Power #1 is the only comic I have from this universe, but I thought it had some potential. I'd like to see Dark Horse give it another shot one of these days.

[hondobrode]

Big Mike told me hisself they would. I'll bet it happens eventually. Hopefully this next time with an A list of creators to really do it justice.

[Todd Luck]

Everything I saw and read from them was just too generic for my taste. I've read it all before someplace else . But still, solid comics with great artists on them . The Miller covers on X are definately worth getting. I must also note that they have the most amusing "theme month I've ever seen: They had each hero encounter a Predator!

[hondobrode]

Well, it's interesting to hear why people did or did not like them.

I can certainly see where some of the characters were kind of hum drum, but others like Motorhead were more unique.

Yes, I liked that Predator theme month.

[dac55]

I thought Out Of The Vortex was a really good read.I would like to see it come back. And the price was right. Ghost was good. And Barb Wire was OK.

dac

[Todd Luck]

Yes, I liked that Predator theme month.

See, DC and Marvel theme monthes and crossovers are usually lame. If you're going to force all your heroes to do the same damn thing atleast make it something cool. Imagine Predators going after every hero in the Marvel Universe for a month