Dark Horse Comics headquarters

Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.

Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book store, Pegasus Books, in Bend, Oregon, in 1980. From there he was able to use the funds from his retail operation to start his own publishing company. Dark Horse Presents and Boris the Bear were the two initial titles in 1986 and within one year of its first publication, Dark Horse Comics added nine new titles to its roster, including The American, The Mark, Trekker, and Black Cross. In 2011, Dark Horse Presents relaunched including the return of Paul Chadwick's Concrete and Steve Niles's Criminal Macabre, as well as new talent including Sanford Greene, Carla Speed McNeil, Nate Crosby and others.

Overview[link]

This section requires expansion with: History.

Dark Horse publishes many licensed comics, including comics based on Star Wars, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Aliens, Predator, Mass Effect, Conan, and Who Wants to be a Superhero? Dark Horse also publishes creator owned comics such as Frank Miller's Sin City and 300, Mike Mignola's Hellboy, Stan Sakai's Usagi Yojimbo, Gerard Way's Umbrella Academy, and Michael Chabon's The Escapist. Today, the comic arm of the company flourishes despite no longer having its own universe of superpowered characters.^[1]

Imprints and studios[link]

Comics' Greatest World/Dark Horse Heroes (1993–1996)[link]

From 1993 to 1996, Dark Horse published a line of superhero comics under the Comics' Greatest World imprint, which was later renamed Dark Horse Heroes. After 1996, publication of this line came to a near halt, ceasing production of any books concerning the characters with the publication of the last crossover books involving Ghost, in the early 2000s.

Legend (1994–1998)[link]

Legend was a comic book imprint at Dark Horse Comics created in 1994 by Frank Miller and John Byrne as an avenue for creator-owned projects.^[2] Its logo was a moai drawn by Mike Mignola. Later on, other creators were asked to join them. The imprint ended in 1998.

Members[link]

• Art Adams
• Frank Miller
• John Byrne
• Mike Mignola
• Mike Allred
• Paul Chadwick, Dave Gibbons, and Geof Darrow were also on the initial Dark Horse Legend launch tour.

Dark Horse Manga[link]

Dark Horse Manga is an imprint for Japanese manga. Publications include Akira, Astro Boy, Berserk, Blade of the Immortal, Ghost in the Shell, Trigun and Blood Blockade Battlefront by Yasuhiro Nightow, Gantz, Hellsing and Drifters by Kouta Hirano, Blood+, MPD Psycho, and America's longest running manga series, Oh My Goddess! by Fujishima. Dark Horse also publishes a number of CLAMP titles including Clover, Chobits, Okimono Kimono, Cardcaptor Sakura, Magic Knight Rayearth, and Gate 7. A manga magazine titled Super Manga Blast was published by Dark Horse starting in the spring of 2000. It was discontinued in December 2005 after 59 issues.^[3]

Maverick (1999–2002)[link]

Maverick was an imprint for creator owned material.

DH Press[link]

The DH Press imprint publishes novelizations of Dark Horse's more popular comic book titles, including Aliens and Predator. DH Press has now been absorbed by DH Books.

M Press[link]

Quirky publications ranging from novels to film books by Leonard Maltin about John Landis, to comic related material such as a biography of Will Eisner, to health books. They have also published a series reprinting Playboy interviews. The M Press imprint was created to publish a diverse list of both literary fiction and non-fiction prose for authors with a unique voice. The newest addition to M Press is an original comic series by Tom Morello called Orchid. Issue one is due out October 12, 2011.

[edit] Dark Horse Digital

In 2011, Dark Horse launched their iOS app and online digital comics store, followed by the release of the beta version of a native Android app in 2012. Any device with a modern web browser can be used to read Dark Horse comics at their web store.

DH Deluxe[link]

Initiated in 1998, Dark Horse Deluxe rolled out a line of merchandise that included model kits, toys, apparel and collectibles. Its original purpose was to draw on Dark Horse properties but expanded to include such collectibles as Tim Burton's Tragic Toys for Girls and Boys, Joss Whedon's Serenity, and most recently, merchandise for the popular video-game franchise Mass Effect. Dark Horse, working with Big Tent Entertainment and the NHK broadcasting corporation, brought Domo-kun to the United States with a series of products ranging from Qee figurines to journals and stationery sets.

Titles[link]

Dark Horse Comics has acquired the rights to make comic book adaptations of many popular films and series. Some of these include Aliens, Army of Darkness (before Dynamite Entertainment acquired the license), Indiana Jones, Predator, Predators, RoboCop, Star Wars, The Terminator, Timecop, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (and its spin-off, Angel), Planet of the Apes, and Let Me In.

Dark Horse Entertainment[link]

Dark Horse's production studio arm, Dark Horse Entertainment, produces films and television shows based on Dark Horse Comics. Established by Richardson in 1992, Dark Horse Entertainment set up shop on the lot at Twentieth Century Fox through a first-look deal with Larry Gordon and Largo Entertainment. Dark Horse Entertainment has produced over two dozen films and television projects.^[4]

Television[link]

The following are TV projects based on Dark Horse comic books:^[5]

• The Mask (1995–1997 animated series)
• Timecop (1997 series)
• Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot (1999–2001 animated series)
• The B.P.R.D. Declassified (2004 special)
• The Amazing Screw-On Head (2006 pilot)

Films[link]

The following are feature films based on series from Dark Horse Comics:^[6]

• The Mask (1994)
• Timecop (1994)
• Barb Wire (1996)
• Mystery Men (1999)
• Virus (1999)
• Alien vs. Predator (2004)
• Hellboy (2004)
• Sin City (2005)
• Son of the Mask (2005)
• Hellboy: Sword of Storms (2006, animated, direct-to-video)
• 300 (2007)
• Hellboy: Blood and Iron (2007, animated, direct-to-video)
• Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007)
• Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008)
• El Zombo Fantasma (2010)
• R.I.P.D. (2013)
• Beasts of Burden (2013)
• The Umbrella Academy

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Richardson, Mike; Frank Miller, et al. (March 2008). Dark Horse Comics: The First Twenty Years. Dark Horse Comics. ISBN 1-59307-608-8. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Dark Horse Comics

	Comics portal
	Anime and manga portal
	Oregon portal
	Companies portal

• Official website
• Things From Another World Online retailer of comics and collectibles; sister company of Dark Horse Comics.
• Dark Horse Comics at the Grand Comics Database
• Dark Horse Comics at the Big Comic Book DataBase
• Dark Horse Comics at the Comic Book DB
• Dark Horse Comics at the INDUCKS
• Dark Horse Comics in the Oregon Encyclopedia

Interviews[link]

This section includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (April 2009)

• From the Editor's Desk: Tim Ervin. Comic Book Resources. January 8, 2009.
• From the Editor's Desk: Chris Warner. Comic Book Resources. January 14, 2009.
• From the Editor's Desk: Diana Schutz, Part I. Comic Book Resources. January 20, 2009.
  • From the Editor's Desk: Diana Schutz, Part II. Comic Book Resources. January 22, 2009.
• From the Editor's Desk: Randy Stradley. Comic Book Resources. February 25, 2009.
• From the Editor's Desk: Shawna Gore. Comic Book Resources. March 16, 2009.

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2011)

Dark horse is a term used to describe a little-known person or thing that emerges to prominence, especially in a competition of some sort^[1] or a contestant that seems unlikely to succeed.^[2]

Origin[link]

The term began as horse racing parlance. A dark horse is a race horse that is not known to gamblers and thus is difficult to place betting odds on.

The earliest-known use of the phrase is in Benjamin Disraeli's novel The Young Duke (1831). Disraeli's protagonist, the Duke of St. James, attends a horse race with a surprise finish: "A dark horse which had never been thought of, and which the careless St. James had never even observed in the list, rushed past the grandstand in sweeping triumph."^[3]

Use in the political arena[link]

The term has been used politically in such countries as Peru, Philippines^[4] and United States.

Politically, the term reached America in the nineteenth century when it was first applied to James K. Polk, a relatively unknown Tennessee Democrat who won the Democratic Party's 1844 presidential nomination over a host of better-known candidates. Polk won the nomination on the ninth ballot, and went on to win the presidential election.

Other famous dark horse candidates for the United States presidency include:

• Franklin Pierce, chosen as the Democratic nominee and later elected the 14th president in 1852.
• Abraham Lincoln, chosen as the Republican nominee and elected as the 16th president in 1860.
• Rutherford B. Hayes, elected the 19th president in 1876.
• James A. Garfield, elected the 20th president in 1880.
• Warren G. Harding, elected the 29th president in 1920 after his surprise nomination.
• Jimmy Carter, elected the 39th president in 1976; in the beginning of that same year, Carter was a relative unknown outside his home state of Georgia.

Outside of the United States, the term was also applied to Alberto Fujimori, who rose to the Presidency in Peru and Jejomar Binay, who rose to the Vice Presidency in the Philippines.^{[citation needed]}

Recently Sarah Grainger for the BBC News website, used the term to refer to former army officer Diosdado Cabello, who helped Hugo Chávez to stage a failed coup in 1992, in an article about possible successors for Hugo Chávez.^[5]

Use in film[link]

The term dark horse is also used outside the political context. Surprising or unlikely nominations for such prizes as the Academy Award (awarded by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences) are referred to as dark horses.

Use in music[link]

Guitarist and singer-songwriter George Harrison was nicknamed the "dark horse" of The Beatles, as his visibility as a songwriter and vocalist increased later in the Beatles' career, particularly on Abbey Road. Harrison went on to name his solo label Dark Horse Records, and to release both an album and a song named Dark Horse.

The blues band Savoy Brown have been called the "Dark Horse" band before, because of how under-appreciated they were.

The rock bands Crazy Town and Nickelback have albums titled Darkhorse and Dark Horse, respectively.

American Idol season 8 winner Kris Allen was coined as the "dark horse" of the competition as he went on to win the competition and defeat the crowd favorite and front-runner Adam Lambert.

Jai McDowall was described as a "dark horse" of the show before beating hot favourite Ronan Parke in Britain's Got Talent.

Switchfoot's first single off album Vice Verses is called Dark Horses.

Independent guitarist and singer-songwriter Don Amero produced a song based on the end of a relationship titled "Dark Horse", similar to George Harrison's idea of Dark Horse

Use in publishing[link]

Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book publisher.

See also[link]

• Stalking horse
• Underdog (competition)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Experts Say Philippines is Dark Horse of Asia
• Jan 2012 - Philippine Market continue its charging rush to be Asia's Dark horse

Look up dark horse in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Dark Horse may refer to:

• Dark horse, a political candidate who is nominated unexpectedly, or an underdog in other fields who achieves unprecedented success

Music[link]

• Dark Horse (George Harrison album)
  • "Dark Horse" (song), the title song
• The Dark Horse (album), a 2005 album by Achilles
• Dark Horse – A Live Collection, a 2006 album by Ryan Star
• Darkhorse, a 2002 album by Crazy Town
• Dark Horse, an unreleased album by Caitlin & Will
• Dark Horse (Nickelback album), 2008
• Dark Horse, an album and book by John Fischer
• "Dark Horse" (Amanda Marshall song), a 1996 song by Amanda Marshall from her self-titled album, also recorded by Mila Mason
• Dark Horse Recording Studio, a studio complex in Franklin, Tennessee, U.S.
• Dark Horse Records, a recording company owned by George Harrison

Film and television[link]

• The Dark Horse (film), a 1932 American film directed by Alfred E. Green
• Dark Horse (1992 film), an American film directed by David Hemmings
• Dark Horse (2005 film), a Danish-Icelandic film directed by Dagur Kári
• Dark Horse (2011 film), an American film
• Dark Horse Entertainment, a film and TV production arm of Dark Horse Comics (see below)
• "The Dark Horse" (Tanner '88), an episode of Tanner '88

Literature[link]

• Dark Horse (novel), a 2008 novel by Ralph Reed
• Dark Horse (Knebel novel), a novel by Fletcher Knebel
• The Dark Horse (novel), a children's novel by Marcus Sedgwick
• The Dark Horse (magazine), a magazine published in Scotland
• The Dark Horse, a novel by Craig Johnson
• Dark Horse Comics, a comic book publisher

Other uses[link]

• Dark Horse (astronomy), a large dark nebula
• Dark Horse Brewery, a brewpub in Marshall, Michigan, U.S.
• 3rd Battalion 5th Marines, nicknamed "Dark Horse", an infantry battalion in the U.S. Marine Corps
• IBM Roadrunner, a hybrid 3D system proposed by Los Alamos National Laboratory prior to RoadRunner, DarkHorse

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Gerard Way
Gerard Way in 2012.
Background information
Birth name	Gerard Arthur Way
Born	(1977-04-09) April 9, 1977 (age 35) Summit, New Jersey, United States
Origin	Belleville, New Jersey
Genres	Alternative rock, post-hardcore
Occupations	Musician, comic book writer
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	2001–present
Labels	Reprise, Warner Bros., Eyeball
Associated acts	My Chemical Romance

Gerard Arthur Way (born April 9, 1977) is an American musician and comic book writer who has served as lead vocalist and co-founder of the band My Chemical Romance since its formation in 2001. He is also the writer of the Eisner Award-winning comic book The Umbrella Academy.

Early life[link]

Gerard Way was born April 9, 1977 in Summit, New Jersey^[1] to Donna Lee (née Rush) and Donald Way. He has Italian ancestry on his mother's side and Scottish ancestry on his father's. He was raised in Belleville, New Jersey and first began singing publicly in the fourth grade, when he played the role of Peter Pan in a school musical production. His maternal grandmother, Elena Lee Rush, was a great creative influence who taught him to sing, paint, and perform from a young age; he has said that "she has taught me everything I know".^[2] Also, while in elementary school, the glam metal band Bon Jovi was instrumental in forming his love of music.^[3]

At the age of 15, Way was held at gunpoint, as he said in an April 2008 Rolling Stone interview: "I got held up with a .357 Magnum, had a gun pointed to my head and put on the floor, execution-style." He went on to say that "no matter how ugly the world gets or how stupid it shows me it is, I always have faith."^[4] At age 16, Way appeared on an episode of Sally Jesse Raphael which discussed the controversy surrounding the publicizing of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer's crimes in comic books[1].

Way attended Belleville High School until he graduated in 1995. Deciding to pursue a career in the comic-book industry,^[5] he attended the School of Visual Arts in New York City, graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1999.^[2][6]

Career[link]

Music[link]

As teenagers Gerard and his brother Mikey Way, who later became the bassist of My Chemical Romance, were influenced by the bands Iron Maiden and The Misfits as well as British artists such as Pulp, Blur and Morrissey and The Smiths. Way originally wanted to be a guitarist. His grandmother bought him his first guitar at the age of eight and he played in short-lived bands such as Ray Gun Jones and Nancy Drew with future bandmate Ray Toro, but when he was not successful (one band kicking him out due to his lack of skill with the guitar), he chose to concentrate on his art career.^[7]

Way was working as an intern for Cartoon Network in New York City during the September 11, 2001 attacks. Seeing the effects of the attacks first-hand prompted Way to change his views on life in the following weeks. He told Spin magazine, "I literally said to myself, 'Fuck art. I’ve gotta get out of the basement. I’ve gotta see the world. I’ve gotta make a difference.'"^[8] To help deal with the emotional effects the attacks had on him, Way wrote the lyrics to the song "Skylines and Turnstiles", which has since been identified as the first song by My Chemical Romance.^[9] Soon after, My Chemical Romance began to assemble as a band.

Way has contributed vocally to bands such as Every Time I Die's 'Kill The Music', Head Automatica's 'Graduation Day', Say Anything's "In Defense Of The Genre", and The Oval Portrait's "From My Cold Dead Hands" and "Barnabus Collins Has More Skeletons In His Closet Than Vincent Price".

In many interviews Way has stated that music turned out to be an effective outlet to deal with his longtime battles against depression, alcoholism and prescription drug use. The use of music as a way to resolve personal battles has caused Way to create deeply personal songs such as "Helena,"^[10] which was written in memory of his late grandmother.

In 2008, Way and musical project Julien-K remixed a version of the song Sleep When I'm Dead by The Cure for their EP 'Hypnagogic States'. All profits gained from the sales of the EP go to funding the International Red Cross.

In early 2009, Way and Japanese singer Kyosuke Himuro co-produced the new theme song for Advent Children Complete, the Blu-Ray director's cut of the movie sequel to the popular video game franchise, Compilation of Final Fantasy VII. He is also credited with writing the lyrics, and singing alongside Himuro. The song is entitled "Safe and Sound" and was released on iTunes on April 29, 2009.^[11] "Safe and Sound" is only heard on the Japanese release of the film; the English release uses Himuro's "Calling" (the original ending theme for Advent Children) in place of it. He also is contributing vocals for the vocal mix of the deadmau5 song "Professional Griefers".

Writing[link]

Gerard Way's first attempt at writing a comic was at the age of 16, writing a short-lived comic series called 'On Raven's Wings', which was cancelled after Issue 2 due to losing the art team; he was credited as Garry Way.^[12]

In 2007, Way began writing the comic-book miniseries The Umbrella Academy. Way wrote the story and illustrated the original version, but cartoonist Gabriel Ba recreated all of Way's original drawings in the final version. A few of Way's first drawings of the characters can be seen in the last few pages of the first book in the series, "The Apocalypse Suite".

The Apocalypse Suite was first released by Dark Horse Comics in their Free Comic Book Day issue on May 5, 2007.^[13] Since then, an eight-page story has been published on MySpace, entitled "Safe & Sound".^[14] The first official issue was released on September 19, 2007.^[15] The first issue to sell out and consequently there was a second printing released on October 17, 2007.^[16] The next installment was released on November 26, 2008.^[17]

He and fellow artists Shaun Simon and Becky Cloonan are currently in the process of developing and creating a new comic-book series titled "The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys", which Way announced at Comic Con 2009. In 2011 My Chemical Romance confirmed the comic's connection with their music, and they also stated that Mikey and Gerard are working on another comic book project which they have kept under wraps as of mid-2011.

Cartoons[link]

In 2001 Way co-created a cartoon with Joe Boyle called The Breakfast Monkey. They pitched it to Cartoon Network, but the network declined to pick up the concept on the grounds that it was too similar to the existing property Aqua Teen Hunger Force.^[18]

Personal life[link]

Way has struggled with alcoholism and prescription drug addiction for many years and has now been sober since August 2004.^[19] In a recent issue of Spin magazine, he said that, having become a happier person and feeling more in control, he has been able to enjoy the occasional recreational drink.

On September 3, 2007 after a concert in Colorado, Way married LynZ of Mindless Self Indulgence backstage on the final date of the Projekt Revolution tour. A member of Live Nation's touring staff that was also an ordained minister performed the low-key ceremony.^[20] He currently lives with his wife in Los Angeles, California.^[21] Their daughter, Bandit Lee Way, was born in California on May 27, 2009.^[22]

Discography[link]

My Chemical Romance[link]

References[link]

Notes[link]

1. ^ "Teen Titans" — Rolling Stone (2005-07-14)

Alternative music portal

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Gerard Way

• My Chemical Romance Official Website
• Gerard Way at the Internet Movie Database
• Gerard Way on Twitter

In law, an alien is a person in a country who is not a citizen of that country.^[1]

Categorization[link]

Types of "alien" persons are:

• An alien who is legally permitted to remain in a country which is foreign to him or her. On specified terms, this kind of alien may be called a legal alien of that country. This is a very broad category which includes tourists, guest workers, legal permanent residents and student visa resident aliens.
• An alien who has temporary or permanent residence in a country (which is foreign to him/her) may be called a resident alien of that country. This is a subset of the aforementioned legal alien category.
• An alien who is visiting a country (which is foreign to him/her) may be called a nonresident alien of that country. This is a subset of the aforementioned legal alien category.
• An alien who is present in a country (which is foreign to him/her) unlawfully or without the country's authorization is known as an illegal alien of that country.^[2] An undocumented alien commonly refers to a foreign national who resides in another country unlawfully, either by entering that country at a place other than a designated port-of-entry or as result of the expiration of a non-immigrant visa.
• An enemy alien is an alien who is a national of an enemy country.

Specific jurisdictions[link]

The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article and discuss the issue on the talk page. (December 2010)

• In Australia, alien status is regarded in relationship to citizenship status. The following documents normally constitute evidence of Australian citizenship:
  • a valid Australian passport
  • a birth certificate issued by or on behalf of an Australian state or territory (only for those born before 20 August 1986)
  • a certificate of evidence of Australian citizenship
  • an Australian naturalisation certificate
  • a certificate of Australian citizenship by descent

Some people who live in Australia are not Australian citizens - they are either permanent residents; temporary residents; or illegal residents (technically called "unlawful-non citizens").^[3] Most non-citizens (i.e. those who lack citizenship documents) travelling to Australia must obtain a visa prior to travel. The only exceptions to this rule are members of the British royal family, and holders of New Zealand passports and citizenships who may apply for visas after travel according to the Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement. ^[4]

• In Latvian passports, alien is used for non-citizens (nepilsoņi): former citizens of USSR who don't have voting rights for parliament of Latvia but have specific rights and privileges under Latvian law and international bilateral treaties like they are simultaneously allowed to travel without visas both to EU and Russia, that is not possible for citizens.

• In the United Kingdom, alien means a person who is not:^[5][6]
  • a British citizen
  • a citizen of Ireland,
  • a Commonwealth citizen, or
  • a British protected person.

• In U.S. law, an alien is "any person not a citizen or national of the United States."^[7] The U.S. Government's use of alien dates back to 1798, when it was used in the Alien and Sedition Acts.^[8] U.S. law makes a clear distinction between aliens and immigrants by defining immigrants as a subset of aliens.^[7] Although U.S. law provides no overarching explicit definition of the term "illegal alien," the term is used in many statutes^{[9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]} and elsewhere (e.g., court cases, executive orders). U.S. law also uses the term "unauthorized alien."^{[18][19][20][21][22]} U.S. immigration laws do not refer to illegal immigrants, but in common parlance the term "illegal immigrant" is often used to refer to any illegal alien.^[23] Because at law, a corporation is a person, the term alien is not limited to natural humans because what are colloquially called foreign corporations are technically called alien corporations. Because corporations are creations of local state law, a foreign corporation is an out of state corporation.

Etymology[link]

"Alien" is derived from the Latin alienus, meaning stranger, alien, foreign. Similar words in other languages are also derived from it, for example Italian "Aliense". Among others, "Aliense" was the sobriquet of the Sixteenth Century painter Antonio Vassilacchi, (1556 – 1629), who was so named because of being a Greek who spent most of his life and artistic career in Venice.

See also[link]

• Dual citizen
• Enemy alien
• Immigration
• Naturalization
• Gaikokujin
• California Alien Land Law of 1913
• Alien and Sedition Acts
• Non-citizens (Latvia)
• Illegal immigration

References[link]

External links[link]

• Resident Alien Information
• Aliens (Encyclopedic Entry)
• D. C. Earnest Noncitizen Voting Rights: A Survey of an Emerging Democratic Norm, 2003
• University of Minnesota Human Rights Center: Study Guide: The Rights of Non-Citizens, 2003
• UK Aliens' registration cards on The National Archives' website.
• Council of Europe Commission for Democracy through Law Report on noncitizens and minority rights, 2007
• The rights of non-citizens, UN OHCHR, 2006
• http://www.illegalaliennewsupdate.com