This comics publisher has been standing up to Marvel and DC for almost 30 years - and isn't slowing down
Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse has long been a steady powerhouse in the comics industry - few publishers have managed to stick around as long as Dark Horse has while remaining independent. If you've read comics over the past three decades, chances are you've read a Dark Horse book, and rightfully so: From longstanding series like "Hellboy" and "Sin City" to more recent books like "Mind Mgmt" and "Lady Killer," Dark Horse has long been home to excellent work.
"When I say 'independent,' I mean it in the truest sense of the word," says Dark Horse co-founder and president Mike Richardson. "We still have the same people, the same owners, we are independent - although the word has been used in the comics business to mean 'independent of Marvel and DC.'"
Dark Horse Comics
In a world where Marvel Studios has helped turn comic books from niche entertainment to movie powerhouses, Dark Horse still seems resolutely old school. The company's current TV and film ambitions - which include the SyFy series "Dark Matter" and a "Tarzan" film slated for 2016 - don't mimic the mad dash to build multimedia mega franchises and cinematic universes seen in other companies.
At least, not yet. San Diego Comic-Con has just begun, and big announcements are a vital part of every big convention.
"We're a comics company, first and foremost, but for a long time our growth was sort of held up," says Richardson. "When we sat down to discuss what we would do, there were a lot of great ideas that would come up and I would think 'how do we do that as a comic?'"
Over the years, Richardson has pivoted from that stance. "Even though comics are the love and core of our company, we're really a content company," he says. "And content has different forms of expression."
That's not to say that Richardson is any less enthused to be in the comics business - on the contrary, he's still pretty excited. Dark Horse Comics
And like any publisher, more readers is all Richardson really wants.
"Our ultimate goal is for Dark Horse to be available in every distribution channel, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year in every country in the world that reads comics," says Richardson. "That's our long term goal."
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