Dark Horse Comics had 52 Star Wars comic offerings in 1995, up from 36 in 1994. This averages out to 4 titles a month compared to 3 titles a month the previous year. If you were a Star Wars comic fan in 1995, the month of October was the most expensive with 6 publications for a total cover price of $18.80. In December 1994, Dark Empire II #1 would be the first standard-sized, non-enhanced Star Wars issue published with a cover price of $2.95 (issues of Dark Empire had a $2.95 cover price as well, but they had thick, rigid covers to warranted the higher price) and it was joined in 1995 by several more Star Wars titles at this price, even though the average cover price for comics from the major publishers was $2.50. Dark Horse had Star Wars titles at both price points in 1995 and it was not clear what criteria Dark Horse used to pick one price over the other.
Star Wars: Droids Special a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (January 1995)Star Wars: Droids #1a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (April 1995)
Droids Special was published in January with a gorgeous Killian Plunkett cover, reprinting the 3 part story originally published in Dark Horse Comics #17 - 19 a year earlier. A second Droids series also began in April. The first Droids volume from 1994 only ran for 6 issues and this second volume went for 8 issues. The content is humorous, not unlike the Droids title from Marvel in the 1980s. The highlight of this second series, like the first, are the Killian Plunkett covers.
Star Wars Galaxy Magazine #2a - Topps, U.S. (January 1995) contains 8 page Tales from Mos Eisley - Hegg's TaleStar Wars Galaxy Magazine #5a - Topps, U.S. (October 1995) contains 8 page Boba Fett - Twin Engines of Destruction
The quarterly Star Wars Galaxy Magazine published by Topps all contain 8-page Star Wars comic strips from Dark Horse. Issues #2 - 4 feature standalone Tales from Mos Eisley strips: Hegg's Tale, Mostly Automatic, and Light Duty. Issue #5 begins the 4-part Boba Fett: Twin Engines of Destruction story. This title sees a price increase with the 5th issue from $3.95 to $4.95.
Classic Star Wars: The Vandelhelm Mission - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (March 1995)
The Vandelhelm Mission one-shot is published in March, reprinting Marvel's Star Wars #98. Classic Star Wars: The Early Adventures ends with issue #9 a month later, putting the Classic Star Wars sub-brand on hiatus. Unfortunately for Star Wars comic fans, Dark Horse finishes publishing the Russ Manning drawn strips but never reprints the Russ Helm and Alfredo Alcala's Planet of Kadril comic strip. With the cessation of the Classic Star Wars titles, Dark Horse has shown it is ready to move beyond reprinting previous Star Wars material although they do return to the sub-brand with one more offering in 1997!
Star Wars: Jabba the Hutt - The Gaar Suppoon Hit a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (April 1995)Star Wars: Jabba the Hutt - The Hunger of Princess Nampi a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (June 1995)Star Wars: Jabba the Hutt - The Dynasty Trap a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (August 1995)
Jabba the Hutt receives a series of one-shots beginning in April. While the stories are standalone, there is a continuity through the issues. These comics successfully bridge the humor found in the Droids titles with the seriousness of other Dark Horse offerings.
Star Wars: The Mixed-Up Droid - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (June 1995) sold with audio cassette from Time Warner Kids
One thing is clear when Dark Horse was custodian of the Star Wars license, they were creative in publishing comics for distribution outside of normal channels. In 1994, they published two preview comics, Tales of the Jedi - Dark Lords of the Sith and Dark Empire II, for inclusion in the Star Wars Galaxy and Hero Illustrated Magazines. Those magazines catered to Star Wars/comic fans and were found in comic stores, but in 1995 they published a mini-comic, The Mixed-Up Droid, for inclusion in a package with an audio cassette from Time Warner Kids. No doubt this audio tape was found at stores where parents shopped for their children and this attempt by Dark Horse to reach new readers is commendable. Over the years, they would continue to find partners to distribute comics in non-traditional ways, such as including them with toys, video games, and novels. They even published a comic on the back of Kellogg brand cereal boxes!
Star Wars: River of Chaos #1a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (June 1995)
The 4-issue mini-series River of Chaos starts in June. This overlooked title contains a Rebel versus Empire story that features brand new characters. Princess Leia does appear as a supporting character, but the unknown characters take center stage. The art is rich with detail and has a pulpy vibe to it.
Star Wars: X-Wing Rogue Squadron #1a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (July 1995)
X-Wing Rogue Squadron starts in July. This title was only meant to last for 12 issues as a prequel to the X-Wing Rogue Squadron books from Bantam Spectra, but proves to be popular and ran for 35 issues. Starring fan favorite Wedge Antilles and written by Michael Stackpole, this title was conceived as a tie-in to the books which themselves are a tie-in to the X-Wing video game. The stories in the comics take place before the events in the novels.
Star Wars: X-Wing Rogue Squadron Special a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (August 1995) Apple Jacks cereal mail-away
Kellogg's Apple Jacks cereal had a free mail-away offer for the Star Wars: X-Wing Rogue Squadron Special comic. This comic aimed at children contains a new story feturing Wedge Antilles.
San Diego Comic Con Comics #4a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (July 1995)
A three page black and white preview of Heir to the Empire is published in San Diego Comic Con Comics #4 for the 1995 San Diego Comic-Con International. This flip book has a Star Wars cover by Kilian Plunkett.
Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi - The Sith War #1a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (August 1995)
The 6-issue mini-series Tales of the Jedi - Dark Lords of the Sith wraps up in March. In August, the next chapter in the popular series within a series begins with Tales of the Jedi - The Sith War #1. This 6-part story represents the half-way mark for this series. This look at past generations of Jedi remains popular today and Dark Horse wove a rich tapestry of stories that are in inspiration for other storytellers of other eras, including The High Republic soon to be explored by both Marvel and IDW.
Star Wars: Heir to the Empire #1a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (October 1995)Star Wars: Splinter of the Mind's Eye #1a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (December 1995)
Dark Horse adapts their first two Star Wars novels to comics in 1995. The 6-issue mini-series Heir to the Empire starts in October and is based on the first book in the Timothy Zahn's Thrawn trilogy published by Bantam Spectra. This novel along with the Dark Empire comic are responsible for Star Wars' revival and both launched the Expanded Universe in 1991. The second novel adaptation begins in December, Splinter of the Mind's Eye, a 4-issue min-series based on the first ever Star Wars novel from 1978. These titles prove successful enough for Dark Horse to adapt the next two chapters in the Thrawn trilogy as well as Han Solo at Stars' End.
Star Wars: Empire's End #1a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (October 1995) direct
Unfortunately, Dark Horse rushes the final chapter in the Dark Empire trilogy. Empire's End is a 2-issue mini-series that begins in October. Series writer Tom Veitch is not joined by Cam Kennedy for this third outing and the condensed story does not live up to the promise of it's predecessors.
Star Wars: Boba Fett - Bounty on Bar-Kooda a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (December 1995)
Dark Horse finishes 1995 on a high note with the publication of Boba Fett - Bounty on Bar-Kooda, a one-shot drawn by Cam Kennedy. Boba Fett, a fan favorite, will be the subject of several more one-shots and mini-series.
Title
Issue
Cover Price
Date
Classic Star Wars: The Early Adventures
6
$2.50
January 1995
Star Wars Galaxy Magazine
2
$3.95
January 1995
Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi - Dark Lords of the Sith
4
$2.50
January 1995
Star Wars: Dark Empire II
2
$2.95
January 1995
Star Wars: Droids Special
nn
$2.50
January 1995
Classic Star Wars: The Early Adventures
7
$2.50
February 1995
Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi - Dark Lords of the Sith
5
$2.50
February 1995
Star Wars: Dark Empire II
3
$2.95
February 1995
Classic Star Wars: The Vandelheim Mission
nn
$2.50
March 1995
Classic Star Wars: The Early Adventures
8
$2.50
March 1995
Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi - Dark Lords of the Sith
6
$2.50
March 1995
Star Wars: Dark Empire II
4
$2.95
March 1995
Classic Star Wars: The Early Adventures
9
$2.50
April 1995
Star Wars Galaxy Magazine
3
$3.95
April 1995
Star Wars: Dark Empire II
5
$2.95
April 1995
Star Wars: Droids
1
$2.50
April 1995
Star Wars: Jabba the Hutt - The Gaar Suppoon Hit
nn
$2.50
April 1995
Star Wars: Dark Empire II
6
$2.95
May 1995
Star Wars: Droids
2
$2.50
May 1995
Star Wars: Droids
3
$2.50
June 1995
Star Wars: River of Chaos
1
$2.50
June 1995
Star Wars: Jabba the Hutt - The Hunger of Princess Nampi
Dark Horse published 36 Star Wars comics in 1994, more than doubling the 16 comics they published in 1993.
Dark Horse Comics #17a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (January 1994)Star Wars: Droids #1a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (April 1994)
Star Wars comics were a huge success for Dark Horse and they expanded their offerings by introducing the Droids title early in the year. Like Tales of the Jedi in 1993, they ran a 3-part preview of Droids in their Dark Horse Comics anthology. Published from January to March, Dark Horse Comics #17 - 19 contains a Droids story that continues into the 6-part Droids mini-series that begins the following month. With Tales of the Jedi, Dark Horse had a 6 month gap between the preview story in Dark Horse Comics and the start of the mini-series, but with Droids, they wasted no time publishing the new title. Clearly, Dark Horse was confident in the Star Wars brand.
Classic Star Wars: A New Hope #1a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (June 1994) reprints Marvel Star Wars #1 - 3Classic Star Wars: A New Hope #2a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (July 1994) reprints Marvel Star Wars #4 - 6Classic Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back #1a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (August 1994) reprints Marvel Star Wars #39 - 41Classic Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back #2a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (September 1994) reprints Marvel Star Wars #42 - 44Classic Star Wars: Return of the Jedi #1a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (October 1994) reprints Marvel Return of the Jedi #1, 2Classic Star Wars: Return of the Jedi #2a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (November 1994) reprints Marvel Return of the Jedi #3, 4
Just under half of the Star Wars line in 1994 includes reprints under the Classic Star Wars banner. The final 5 issues of Classic Star Wars title featuring the Archie Goodwin and Al Williamson comic strips completed in June and Dark Horse immediately began reprinting other Star Wars comic material. Also in June, Classic Star Wars: A New Hope #1, a prestige format comic with a cover price of only $3.95, was published containing the first half of Marvel's Star Wars movie adaptation. This was followed the following month by the second half of the adaptation. Using the same prestige format, Dark Horse also published The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi in 2 parts each. This would be the first of many Dark Horse reprints of the Marvel movie adaptations.
Classic Star Wars: The Early Adventures #1a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (August 1994)
Star Wars comic fans were in for a treat with the title Classic Star Wars: The Early Adventures starting in August. This title reprints the, at the time seldom seen, Russ Manning Star Wars comic strips. Manning's work predates the classic Al Williamson and Archie Goodwin strips. He worked on the strip in 1979 and 1980 when he retired due to poor help. (Russ Manning passed away in December 1981.) Unfortunately, The Early Adventures title does not contain all of Russ Manning's work; it is missing the Sunday-only The Kazhyyyk Depths story. Even so, the work that is collected is clever and fun, written and drawn by an old-school comic veteran.
Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi - The Freedon Nadd Uprising #1a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (August 1994)
6 months after the 5-part Tales of the Jedi mini-series wrapped in February, Dark Horse continued the series with the 2-part Tales of the Jedi - The Freedon Nadd Uprising mini-series. Dark Horse was fond of the "mini-series within a series" style of publishing. This allowed them to present a story arc with it's own title, including a new #1. It also gave Dark Horse the freedom to stagger the publication of the stories, so readers were not disappointed when a new issue was not published the very next month.
Star Wars Galaxy Magazine 1a - Topps, U.S. (October 1994) contains 8 page Droids - Artoo's Day Out
Star Wars Galaxy Magazine #1 was published by Topps, best known for their sports trading cards. Topps has also held the U.S. license to produce Star Wars trading cards since the first movie back in 1977. While the magazine is not a Dark Horse publication, it does contain a 8-page comic strip called Droids - Artoo's Day Out which was created by Dark Horse. This 8-page strip is collected with other Droids comics in the Star Wars: Droids - The Kalarba Adventures trade paperback.
Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi - Dark Lords of the Sith #0a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (October 1994) ... Special Ashcan Edition included with Star Wars Galaxy Magazine #1Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi - Dark Lords of the Sith #1a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (October 1994)
Following The Freedon Nadd Uprising tale, the next story arc is titled Tales of the Jedi - Dark Lords of the Sith. A preview "ashcan" issue was released containing the first 12 pages of Dark Lords of the Sith #1. This preview issue was included with Star Wars Galaxy Magazine #1. The first issue of the 6-part mini-series was published in October.
Star Wars: Dark Empire II - Hero Illustrated Special a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (November 1994) included with Hero Illustrated Magazine #17Star Wars: Dark Empire II #1a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (December 1994) DirectStar Wars: Dark Empire II #1b - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (December 1994) Newsstand
Dark Horse would finish the year by publishing a sequel to their inaugural hit Star Wars: Dark Empire. A preview of the title containing the first 12 pages of Dark Empire II was included with Hero Illustrated Magazine #17. Star Wars: Dark Empire II #1 was published in December and contains the same creative team of Tom Veitch and Cam Kennedy. It starts where the previous mini-series ended; after the death of Emperor Palpatine's clone, leaders of the Empire are feuding for control of the Empire. Unlike the first series, this mini-series does not break any new ground, instead it retreads much of the original story. Dark Empire II #1 is notable however for a non-story related reason; it is the first Dark Horse Star Wars title distributed to newsstands.
Title
Issue
Cover Price
Date
Dark Horse Comics
17
$2.50
January 1994
Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi
4
$2.50
January 1994
Classic Star Wars
16
$2.50
February 1994
Dark Horse Comics
18
$2.50
February 1994
Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi
5
$2.50
February 1994
Classic Star Wars
17
$2.50
March 1994
Dark Horse Comics
19
$2.50
March 1994
Classic Star Wars
18
$2.50
April 1994
Star Wars: Droids
1
$2.95
April 1994
Classic Star Wars
19
$2.50
May 1994
Star Wars: Droids
2
$2.50
May 1994
Classic Star Wars
20
$3.50
June 1994
Star Wars: Droids
3
$2.50
June 1994
Classic Star Wars: A New Hope
1
$3.95
June 1994
Star Wars: Droids
4
$2.50
July 1994
Classic Star Wars: A New Hope
2
$3.95
July 1994
Star Wars: Droids
5
$2.50
August 1994
Classic Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
1
$3.95
August 1994
Classic Star Wars: The Early Adventures
1
$2.50
August 1994
Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi - The Freedon Nadd Uprising
1
$2.50
August 1994
Star Wars: Droids
6
$2.50
September 1994
Classic Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
2
$3.95
September 1994
Classic Star Wars: The Early Adventures
2
$2.50
September 1994
Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi - The Freedon Nadd Uprising
2
$2.50
September 1994
Classic Star Wars: Return of the Jedi
1
$3.50
October 1994
Classic Star Wars: The Early Adventures
3
$2.50
October 1994
Star Wars Galaxy Magazine
1
$3.95
October 1994
Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi - Dark Lords of the Sith
0
October 1994
Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi - Dark Lords of the Sith
1
$2.50
October 1994
Classic Star Wars: Return of the Jedi
2
$3.50
November 1994
Classic Star Wars: The Early Adventures
4
$2.50
November 1994
Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi - Dark Lords of the Sith
2
$2.50
November 1994
Star Wars: Dark Empire II - Hero Illustrated Special
nn
November 1994
Classic Star Wars: The Early Adventures
5
$2.50
December 1994
Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi - Dark Lords of the Sith
1993 was much like 1992 for the Dark Horse Star Wars line with a trickle of comics being published.
Classic Star Wars #8a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (March 1993)
In 1992 Dark Horse published 2 Star Wars titles, Star Wars: Dark Empire and Classic Star Wars, for a total of 10 comics and in 1993 this would grow to 16 comics. Out of those 16 comics, 10 were for the Classic Star Wars title which reprinted the Archie Goodwin and Al Williamson comic strips. The final 6 Star Wars comics in 1993 were for the second most important Star Wars series at Dark Horse after Dark Empire, Tales of the Jedi.
Dark Horse Comics #7a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (February 1993)Dark Horse Comics #8a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (March 1993)Dark Horse Comics #9a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (April 1993)
Dark Horse Comics is a short lived anthology title that Dark Horse used to preview stories that would spin off into their own series. Published from 1992 to 1994, this title ran for 25 issues and mostly contained stories for the various licenses Dark Horse held. It should come as no surprise that two Star Wars titles were introduced in this anthology, the first of which is Tales of the Jedi. Publish from February to April, Dark Horse Comics #7 - 9 contains a story titled The Saga of Nomi Sunrider part 1 which introduces new characters and situations approximately 4000 years before events in the movies, during the era of the Old Republic. Nomi Sunrider is the wife of Jedi Knight Andur Sunrider and mother to infant Vima Sunrider. In the story, her husband is murdered and Nomi uses her latent force powers to defeat the murderers. By setting the story in a different era, Dark Horse opened up new possibilities for Star Wars storytelling. No longer were stories confined to the main Star Wars characters or the time of the original trilogy and readers were eager to embrace these new characters and periods.
Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi #1a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (October 1993)Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi #3a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (December 1993)
In October, 6 months after Dark Horse Comics #9 was released, Tales of the Jedi #1 was published. This 5-part mini-series is broken into 2 stories. The first story titled Ulic Qel-Droma and the Beast Wars of Onderon takes place in issue #1 and 2. Set in the same time period of The Saga of Nomi Sunrider part 1, it introduces several Jedi that would be used in later Tales of the Jedi mini-series. Tales of the Jedi #3, published in December, kicks off the 3-part The Saga of Nomi Sunrider story. Issue #3 reprints the first part of the story from Dark Horse Comics #7 - 9.
Dark Horse would start 1992 by publishing Star Wars: Dark Empire #2 in February which continued bimonthly until it's final issue in October.
Star Wars: Dark Empire #2a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (February 1992)
Like previous licensed movie properties, Dark Empire was a hit for Dark Horse and they went back to print on the first three issues. Arguably, Star Wars: Dark Empire is the most important Star Wars title published by Dark Horse. It presents a serious Star Wars story that logically follows where the movies left off. For Dark Horse, it lays a solid foundation on which the rest of their Star Wars line would follow. Nar Shaddaa, the Smuggler's Moon, is introduced in the Dark Empire story, but more importantly for Star Wars comic fans, so is the Jedi Holocron. The Jedi Holocron introduces characters and events that Dark Horse will exploit when exploring new eras in the Star Wars timeline.
Classic Star Wars #1a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (August 1992)
In August, the same month Dark Horse published Star Wars: Dark Empire #5, Classic Star Wars #1 was released. In 1991, Russ Cochran Publishing published a 3 book hardcover set that collects the Archie Goodwin and Al Williamson Star Wars comic strips from 1981 to 1984 in their original black and white format. Classic Star Wars contains the same comic strips, except they are reformatted and colored. Additionally, Al Williamson supplied new art to ease the transition from comic strip to comic book format. Classic Star Wars titles that reprint previous newspaper comic strips or Marvel comics, become a staple of Dark Horse's Star Wars comic offerings for a few years. Dark Horse would finish the year by publishing Classic Star Wars #5 in December.
It is interesting to note that the Dark Empire title is priced at $2.95 and the Classic Star Wars title is priced at $2.50. The Dark Empire issues comes with a thicker, cardboard cover stock which allowed Dark Horse to justify the higher price. This was an era in comic publishing where it was common for publishers to raise cover prices based on cover gimmicks. A heavier cover stick is not the most grievous gimmick and it does lend a air of importance to the first Dark Horse Star Wars title.
Mike Richardson quit his commercial artist job in Portland and moved his young family to Bend, Oregon to opened the retail store Pegasus Fantasy Books in 1980. The retail store sold new and back issue comic books as well as new and classic science fiction paperbacks and was an early seller of Dungeons & Dragons. The store soon expanded into a chain of stores where comic creators were invited to do signings. Richardson empathized with the creators over not having intellectual propery rights to their work.
Dark Horse Presents #1 - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (July 1986) 1st Dark Horse comic
Richardson used money he raised from his retail stores to start Dark Horse Comics. The first title from this fledgling publisher came out in July 1986 and is aptly named Dark Horse Presents which introduced several notable creations over its 162 issue run. Creator owned properties like Paul Chadwick's Concrete and John Byrne's Next Men, Dark Horse's first character to be turned into a movie The Mask, and a teaming of the licensed movie properties Aliens and Predator were all introduced in the pages of this anthology title. It is Dark Horse's success with licensed movie properties that led them to securing the license for Star Wars.
Godzilla: King of the Monsters Special - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (August 1987) 1st Dark Horse Godzilla comic
Dark Horse's first foray into licensed movie properties began in August 1987 when they published an original black and white one-shot titled Godzilla: King of the Monsters Special. This comic proved successful and Dark Horse followed up with a 6-issue mini-series simply titled Godzilla that began in May 1988 and concluded in January 1989. This mini-series is a translation of a Japanese manga by Kazuhisa Iwata and is Dark Horse's first manga series. Dark Horse would hold the license and publish comics for Godzilla for 12 years. In 1998, the final year they held the Godzilla license, Dark Horse only published reprints of their previous Godzilla comics.
Aliens #1a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (July 1988) 1st Dark Horse Aliens comic
The next license Dark Horse obtained was for the franchise Aliens. They published a 6-issue black and white mini-series starting in July 1988. This original story was another success for Dark Horse and Aliens would prove to be the longest-lived movie license at Dark Horse, a license that they still hold and exercise. Dark Horse would acquire another license from 20th Century Fox which they also still hold, Predator. They published a 4-issue Predator mini-series beginning in June 1989, one month before the conclusion of their first Aliens mini-series. In February 1990, one month before the conclusion of the first Predator mini-series, Dark Horse would pair the Aliens and Predator franchise for the first time in the 3rd part of a story concluding in Dark Horse Presents #36. (Dark Horse celebrated this pairing by publishing two covers for Dark Horse Presents #36.) The first part of the story in Dark Horse Presents #34 only contains Aliens and the second part in Dark Horse Presents #35 only contains Predator. This 3-part short story titled Aliens vs. Predator was so successful, 20th Century Fox would take the concept and title when they release their first Alien vs. Predator movie in 2004. Dark Horse quickly turned this pairing into a 4-part mini-series with a continuation of the short story Aliens vs. Predator in a title of the same name in June 1990. Aliens vs Predator is arguably Dark Horse's greatest original contribution to pop culture. Over the years since this comic was released, there have been many similar pairings between otherwise separate properties.
Dark Horse Presents #36a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (February 1990) 1st Aliens vs. Predator comicDark Horse Presents #36b - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (February 1990) 1st Aliens vs. Predator comicAliens vs. Predator #1a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (June 1990)
Another major movie franchise, Terminator, was brought to Dark Horse in 1990. The license was briefly held by Now comics prior to Dark Horse acquiring it. In August 1990, Dark Horse published a 4-issue mini-series titled The Terminator. Dark Horse would publish Terminator titles on and off over the next 24 years. During this time, Marvel, Malibu Comics, Beckett Comics, Dynamite Entertainment, and IDW would also publish Terminator comics.
Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis #1a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (March 1991)
As hard as it is to believe, Dark Horse began publishing comics based on one more movie license before Star Wars. Also from Lucasfilm, Dark Horse published the 4-issue mini-series Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis starting in March 1991. Like Star Wars, Dark Horse would secure this license original held by Marvel Comics. Marvel published a 3-issue adaptation of Raiders of the Lost Ark in 1981. They also published a 34 issue ongoing series title The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones from January 1983 through March 1986. In 1989, they published a 4-issue adaptation of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, their final Indiana Jones title. Dark Horse would actively publish Indiana Jones mini-series until 1996. In 2008 when Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was released, Dark Horse released an adaptation. Dark Horse published their last Indiana Jones mini-series with the 4-issue Indiana Jones and the Tomb of the Gods which concluded in March 2009. This license, like Star Wars, reverted to Marvel in 2015.
Star Wars: Dark Empire #1a - Dark Horse Comics, U.S. (December 1991) 1st Dark Horse Star Wars comic
It was the success of these other movie licenses and the languishing of the Star Wars property at Marvel that led to Dark Horse acquiring the license along with the Indiana Jones license in 1991. Droids had ended with the eighth issue in June 1987 and the following month, Ewoks #14 was the last Star Wars comic Marvel published until they reacquired the license in 2015. There were 3 Star Wars 3-D comics published in 1987 and 1988 by Blackthorne Publishing, but no more Star Wars comics were released in the U.S. until December 1991 when Dark Horse published Star Wars: Dark Empire #1. The Dark Empire story actually originated at Marvel and appeared in an ad in Marvel Age Preview #1 in June 1990. But Dark Horse had convinced Lucasfilm the property would be better off with them instead of Marvel.
Dark Horse saw success with movie licensed comics by making them an integral part of their publishing plans. Because Dark Horse did not have any major properties of their own, they devoted a large amount of their resources to making the licensed comics the best they could be. It is this care and respect for the properties that garnered them success and allowed them to acquire the Star Wars license. For Marvel, Star Wars was just another low-selling licensed comic, not one of their core superhero titles. In fact, it was the introduction of the New Universe imprint in 1986 that prompted Marvel to cease their main Star Wars title that same year. For Dark Horse, Star Wars would prove to be their most successful property. Dark Horse was able to become the third largest comic publisher in the U.S., in no small part to Star Wars, and during the 24 years that they released Star Wars comics, many comic collectors undoubtedly saw Dark Horse as the Star Wars comic publisher, ignorant of the other titles they published.
