Dark Horse at NYCC: Whedon Returns to Buffy & Serenity

I hate to admit this one, but I missed the first few minutes of the Dark Horse session. I was on the way to the room when I saw this pic that had to be taken. This meant that I had to wait for a few other people to take the same pic that I wanted, then when everyone finished I had to get contact info for the people in the photo. Don't worry, you will be seeing this pic, and many more, in the next few days. We are working on a photo gallery of the best costumes, so come back for more.

This panel promised to have lots of good info on Hellboy, Buffy, Star Wars, Serenity and many others. When I entered the room I believe that a discussion on Hellboy was going on. I was very sad to have missed this as he is one of my favorite characters that Dark Horse publishes. I know it is my own fault, but I am still sorry I was late. If any of you were there, please give me the details I missed.

The next topic covered was the state of the Star Wars lines with a focus on Star Wars Legacy. For those of you that haven't read this book, I think it may be the best that they have done in years. It is set in the future so you don't have to worry about having read the three million books and comics that have come out in the last few years. Legacy follows the adventures of Cade, the last of the Skywalker line. He isn't the nicest of characters, and takes more after the "scruffy" Solo side of the family. He is a bit of a rogue, hangs out with pirates, and generally doesn't want to be a Skywalker. After a few issues he finally gives in and starts to use his powers, but the real question is how will he use them? I highly suggest you pick up this title if you haven't already.

There will also be a comic based on the upcoming game Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. The book will be written by Haden Blackman who also worked on the game.

Next on the agenda caused a nice reaction from the room. I am sure you have all heard that there is a new Buffy the Vampire Slayer title on the way. I didn't know this, but the decision to end the last Buffy comic series was a decision between Dark Horse and Joss Whedon. They both wanted to do something special with the book, but weren't sure what to do at the time. It seems that time is now. YAY. This will follow what would have been season 8 if it had happened. Here are a few details on the first year of the book.

• Joss Whedon will write around 1/3 of the issues himself. He is taking the first five, four more next year and then the ending
• The series has been expanded to approximately 30 issues
• The first issue brings back Buffy, Dawn and Xander. More of the Scoobies will slowly join the cast over the next few issues
• The second arc will be written by Brian K Vaughn and will focus on Faith. She is now in England and is visited by Giles who tries to enlist her track down a rogue slayer
• The third arc is by Drew Goddard who worked on the original TV show and will be set in Japan

From here on out several titles were talked about that I was not familiar with. The descriptions and enthusiasm for everyone on the stage convinced me that I need to give some of the newer titles a try.

Rex Mundi is written by Arvid Nelson. This book is actually a search for the Holy Grail but told as a murder mystery. The book is set in an alternate dimension magic is real yet science is not very developed.The European Aristocracy is still in power and the Catholic Church still has a great influence on everyone.

MPD-Psycho by Eiji Otsuka will be available in June by Dark Horse Manga. Not much was revealed about this book other than that due to it's extreme blood and violence it was turned down by pretty much every publisher out there. Extreme blood and violence. How can you not look forward to that? Heh.

Fear Agent is by Rick Remender with art by Tony Moore and Jerome Opena. The main character, Heath Huston, is an alien exterminator with a drinking problem. His only friends are a bottle of whiskey and his ship's onboard computer, and even that has issues. The Fear Agents used to be a team that would keep the earth safe from hostile aliens, but eventually they met a race that almost wiped them out and now there is only Heath.

The last major announcement was that there will be a new Serenity title. This one REALLY made my day worth it. Currently scheduled for a September/October time, the book will be written by Joss Whedon and Brett Matthews. It is set in the time between the end of the Firefly series and the Serenity movie. Everyone is still alive and together like one big, if not happy, family. The main story if the book is what happens when you finally get that one big job that will make everyone rich for life and how they each deal with the results of being successful. Personally, I can't wait to see what Jayne does with his money. The mind really boggles over this one.

While not every book they do is right for everyone, Dark Horse has something that should be a good read for everyone. I know that I have several new titles to add to my pull list.