Subsidiaries:
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[[Mike Richardson]] opened his first comic book store, Pegasus Books, in Bend, Oregon in 1980, and the business soon expanded to include several retail locations in Oregon and Washington State.<ref name="DH History"/> Frustrated by a perceived lack of quality in the products he was selling, Richardson began investing profits from his retail operation into producing new, original comic stories, to be released by his own publishing company, Dark Horse Comics. The company launched with two initial titles in 1986 — ''Boris the Bear'' and an anthology series called ''[[Dark Horse Presents]]'', but this lineup soon expanded.<ref name="DH History"/> Currently, the publisher is based in Milwaukie, Oregon. Notable properties that originated with Dark Horse Comics include [[Frank Miller]]'s ''Sin City'' and ''300'', [[Mike Mignola]]'s ''Hellboy'', Paul Chadwick's ''Concrete'', Stan Sakai's ''Usagi Yojimbo'', Gerard Way's ''Umbrella Academy'' and Michael Chabon's ''The Escapist''.
[[Mike Richardson]] opened his first comic book store, Pegasus Books, in Bend, Oregon in 1980, and the business soon expanded to include several retail locations in Oregon and Washington State.<ref name="DH History"/> Frustrated by a perceived lack of quality in the products he was selling, Richardson began investing profits from his retail operation into producing new, original comic stories, to be released by his own publishing company, Dark Horse Comics. The company launched with two initial titles in 1986 — ''Boris the Bear'' and an anthology series called ''[[Dark Horse Presents]]'', but this lineup soon expanded.<ref name="DH History"/> Currently, the publisher is based in Milwaukie, Oregon. Notable properties that originated with Dark Horse Comics include [[Frank Miller]]'s ''Sin City'' and ''300'', [[Mike Mignola]]'s ''Hellboy'', Paul Chadwick's ''Concrete'', Stan Sakai's ''Usagi Yojimbo'', Gerard Way's ''Umbrella Academy'' and Michael Chabon's ''The Escapist''.
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Dark Horse was started partly with the express purpose of acquiring various movie licenses to publish high quality adaptations and continuations of famous movie property story lines, and expanding on such franchises. While licensed projects had been around for decades before the formation of Dark Horse, most publishers at the time devoted few resources to titles they did not own. Dark Horse took a different approach by employing top talent and plotting stories to create comic series that were essentially sequels to popular theatrical films. This fresh approach met with enormous success, and sales on these popular titles sailed into the millions.<ref name="DH History"/> Today, Dark Horse is the acknowledged industry leader in this profitable publishing niche.<ref name="DH History"/> Over the years, the company has acquired many prominent movie licenses, including ''[[Alien (franchise)|Alien]]'', ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'', ''Conan'', ''Indiana Jones'', ''Planet of the Apes'', ''[[Predator (franchise)|Predator]]'', ''RoboCop'', ''Serenity'', ''The Terminator'', ''The Thing'' and, perhaps their most-widely known franchise, ''Star Wars''. Dark Horse also own the rights to produce comic books based on the ''Mass Effect'' video game series.
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Dark Horse was started partly with the express purpose of acquiring various movie licenses to publish high quality adaptations and continuations of famous movie property story lines, and expanding on such franchises. While licensed projects had been around for decades before the formation of Dark Horse, most publishers at the time devoted few resources to titles they did not own. Dark Horse took a different approach by employing top talent and plotting stories to create comic series that were essentially sequels to popular theatrical films. This fresh approach met with enormous success, and sales of these popular titles sailed into the millions.<ref name="DH History"/> Today, Dark Horse is the acknowledged industry leader in this profitable publishing niche.<ref name="DH History"/> Over the years, the company has acquired many prominent movie licenses, including ''[[Alien (franchise)|Alien]]'', ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'', ''Conan'', ''Indiana Jones'', ''Planet of the Apes'', ''[[Predator (franchise)|Predator]]'', ''RoboCop'', ''Serenity'', ''The Terminator'', ''The Thing'' and, perhaps their most-widely known franchise, ''Star Wars''. Dark Horse also own the rights to produce comic books based on the ''Mass Effect'' video game series.
From its inception, Dark Horse has always been keen to cross over into producing movies based on its properties, and has done so with such films as ''The Mask'' (1994), ''Timecop'' (1994), ''Hellboy'' (2004) and {{AVP1}} (2004). Dark Horse has also expanded into the publication of books and novels and has published various original novels and reference books based on its various movie series, including a number of ''Alien'' and ''Predator'' novels.
From its inception, Dark Horse has always been keen to cross over into producing movies based on its properties, and has done so with such films as ''The Mask'' (1994), ''Timecop'' (1994), ''Hellboy'' (2004) and {{AVP1}} (2004). Dark Horse has also expanded into the publication of books and novels and has published various original novels and reference books based on its various movie series, including a number of ''Alien'' and ''Predator'' novels.
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===''Aliens'', ''Predator'' and ''Aliens vs. Predator''===
===''Aliens'', ''Predator'' and ''Aliens vs. Predator''===
[[File:Aliens1.jpg|thumb|Cover to ''[[Aliens (1988 comic series)|Aliens]]'' #1 by [[Mark A. Nelson]], Dark Horse's first comic in the ''Alien''/''Predator'' universe.]]
[[File:Aliens1.jpg|thumb|Cover to ''[[Aliens (1988 comic series)|Aliens]]'' #1 by [[Mark A. Nelson]], Dark Horse's first comic in the ''Alien''/''Predator'' universe.]]
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In July 1988, Dark Horse released the first issue of its first ''[[Aliens (1988 comic series)|Aliens]]'' mini-series, a direct continuation of the story from [[James Cameron]]'s [[aliens (film)|film of the same name]]. Almost one year later in June 1989, Dark Horse released the first issue of the first ''[[Predator (1989 comic series)|Predator]]'' mini-series, also continuing the story from the film series. Both series were written by Dark Horse writer [[Mark Verheiden (author)|Mark Verheiden]], and both met with enormous success, establishing long-running lines that have continued until the present day.
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In July 1988, Dark Horse released the first issue of its first ''[[Aliens (1988 comic series)|Aliens]]'' mini-series, a direct continuation of the story from [[James Cameron]]'s [[Aliens (film)|film of the same name]]. Almost one year later in June 1989, Dark Horse released the first issue of the first ''[[Predator (1989 comic series)|Predator]]'' mini-series, which was also a development of the first {{P1}}. Both series were written by Dark Horse writer [[Mark Verheiden (author)|Mark Verheiden]], and both met with enormous success, establishing long-running lines that have continued until the present day.
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Dark Horse first laid the foundation for connecting the ''Aliens'' line with the ''Predator'' franchise 1989, in the company's flagship anthology series ''[[Dark Horse Presents]]''; issues #34 and #35 of the series featured an ''Alien'' and a ''Predator'' story segment, respectively, then in January 1990, {{DHP36}} featured the first ''[[Aliens vs. Predator (1989 short story)|Aliens vs. Predator]]'' title, as the two preceding stories came together for a third and final installment, the first ever officially licenced material featuring a crossover between the two franchises. The story served as a prequel to the first full-fledged ''[[Aliens vs. Predator (1990 comic series)|Aliens vs. Predator]]'' mini-series, which followed shortly in June 1990. Written by Dark Horse vice president, creative director and editor [[Randy Stradley]], the original ''Aliens vs. Predator'' comic caught the comics industry by surprise, and its success spawned an industry-wide trend of creating crossovers between franchises. Today, ''Aliens vs. Predator'' is considered a staple of the industry.<ref name="DH History"/>
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Dark Horse first laid the foundation for connecting the ''Aliens'' line with the ''Predator'' franchise at the end of 1989, in the company's flagship anthology series ''[[Dark Horse Presents]]''; issues #34 and #35 of the series featured an ''Alien'' and a ''Predator'' story segment, respectively, before {{DHP36}} in January 1990 brought the two preceding stories together for a third and final installment, the first ever officially licenced ''[[Aliens vs. Predator (1989 short story)|Aliens vs. Predator]]'' crossover. The three-part story served as a prequel to the first full-fledged ''[[Aliens vs. Predator (1990 comic series)|Aliens vs. Predator]]'' mini-series, which followed shortly in June 1990. Written by Dark Horse vice president, creative director and editor [[Randy Stradley]], the original ''Aliens vs. Predator'' comic caught the comics industry by surprise, and its success spawned an industry-wide trend of creating crossovers between franchises. Today, ''Aliens vs. Predator'' is considered a staple of the industry.<ref name="DH History"/>
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In 1992, Dark Horse launched another trend when it co-published the landmark ''[[Batman versus Predator]]'' comic, a major three-issue miniseries, in collaboration with mainstream comics powerhouse DC Comics. The crossover was a huge success and paved the way for numerous other [[Crossover comics line|collaborations and crossovers]] involving the ''Aliens'', ''Predator'' and ''AVP'' franchises, incorporating properties both from within Dark Horse and from other publishing companies.
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In 1992, Dark Horse launched another trend when it co-published the landmark ''[[Batman versus Predator]]'' comic, a major three-issue miniseries, in collaboration with mainstream comics powerhouse DC Comics. The crossover was a huge success and paved the way for numerous other [[Crossover comics line|collaborations and crossovers]] involving the ''Aliens'', ''Predator'' and ''AVP'' franchises, incorporating properties both from within Dark Horse and from other publishers. Like ''Aliens vs. Predator'' before it, it popularized the idea of inter-company comic book crossovers and inspired many other publishers to pursue similar concepts with their own properties. Around the same time, Dark Horse also expanded across the Atlantic into the UK, taking over the existing [[Aliens (UK magazine)|''Aliens'' magazine]] being run by [[Trident Comics]] and turning the monthly publication into a professional piece packed with exclusive information and articles about the ''Alien'' franchise, as well reprints of its latest ''Aliens'' comic books.
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Over the years, Dark Horse has published a large number of ''Aliens'', ''Predator'' and ''Aliens vs. Predator'' comics, in the form of limited series, short stories and one-shots, and collected variously in trade paperback form. To date, Dark Horse has published 61 ''Aliens'' titles, 36 ''Predator'' titles, 22 ''AVP'' titles, and 24 miscellaneous crossovers with other comics lines.
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Over the years, Dark Horse has published a large number of ''Aliens'', ''Predator'' and ''Aliens vs. Predator'' comics in the form of limited series, short stories and one-shots, which have in turn been collected variously in trade paperback form. To date, Dark Horse has published 61 ''Aliens'' titles, 36 ''Predator'' titles, 22 ''AVP'' titles, and 25 miscellaneous crossovers with other comics lines.
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While limited series and one-shots would become infrequent at times, the lines also had a fairly consistent home in the pages of the ''Dark Horse Presents'' black-and-white anthology, and in a subsequent color sister-anthology titled simply ''[[Dark Horse Comics (comic series)|Dark Horse Comics]]''. The comics were published fairly regularly between 1986 and 1999, but, following the ''[[Xenogenesis]]'' crossover event, the lines entered a ten-year hiatus during the 2000s, the only new comics released during this time being a handful of one-shot ''Alien vs. Predator'' film spin-off titles and several non-canon crossovers.
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While limited series and one-shots would become infrequent at times, the lines also had a fairly consistent home in the pages of the black-and-white ''Dark Horse Presents'' anthology, as well as the color sister-anthology ''[[Dark Horse Comics (comic series)|Dark Horse Comics]]''. Stories were published regularly between 1986 and 1999, but, following the ''[[Xenogenesis]]'' crossover event, ''Aliens'', ''Predator'' and ''Aliens vs. Predator'' comics entered a ten-year hiatus during the 2000s, the only new comics released during this time being a handful of one-shot ''Alien vs. Predator'' film spin-off titles and several non-canon crossovers.
===Omnibus and digital releases===
===Omnibus and digital releases===
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In 2007, the company began producing definitive [[Omnibus]] trade paperback editions that collected the pre-existing releases from many of its major properties into easily-accessible volumes; this included the ''Aliens'', ''Predator'' and ''AVP'' comic lines. In all, six volumes of ''Aliens'' Omnibus were released, four volumes of ''Predator'' Omnibus, and two volumes of ''Aliens vs. Predator'' Omnibus. While comprehensive, these Omnibus titles were not utterly exhaustive and a handful of comics, chiefly from the ''Aliens'' line, remain uncollected.
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In 2007, the company began producing definitive [[Omnibus]] trade paperback editions that collected pre-existing releases from many of its major properties into easily-accessible volumes; this included the ''Aliens'', ''Predator'' and ''AVP'' comic lines. In all, six volumes of ''Aliens'' Omnibus were released, four volumes of ''Predator'' Omnibus, and two volumes of ''Aliens vs. Predator'' Omnibus. While comprehensive, these Omnibus titles were not utterly exhaustive and a handful of comics, chiefly from the ''Aliens'' line, remain uncollected.
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In 2009, Dark Horse ended its hiatus on ''Aliens'', ''Predator'' and ''Aliens vs. Predator'' titles and began a relaunch of all three lines with the ''[[Aliens-Predator Free Comic Book Day Split Issue|Aliens/Predator Free Comic Book Day Split Issue]]'', which in turn led new ''[[Predator (2009 comic series)|Predator]]'' and ''[[Aliens (2009 comic series)|Aliens]]'' series in 2009, and a new ''[[Aliens vs. Predator: Three World War|Aliens vs. Predator]]'' series in 2010. Comics have continued to be published since, although with markedly less frequency than during the lines' heyday in the 1990s.
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In 2009, Dark Horse ended its hiatus on ''Aliens'', ''Predator'' and ''Aliens vs. Predator'' titles and began a relaunch of all three lines with the ''[[Aliens-Predator Free Comic Book Day Split Issue|Aliens/Predator Free Comic Book Day Split Issue]]'', which in turn led new ''[[Aliens (2009 comic series)|Aliens]]'' and ''[[Predator (2009 comic series)|Predator]]'' series in 2009, and a new ''[[Aliens vs. Predator: Three World War|Aliens vs. Predator]]'' series in 2010. Comics have continued to be published since, although with less frequency than during the lines' heyday in the 1990s.
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From 2013 onwards, the company also began issuing its back-catalogue of ''Aliens'', ''Predator'' and ''Aliens vs. Predator'' comic books in the digital format via its [[Dark Horse Digital]] branch, while subsequent titles have seen simultaneous digital and physical releases.
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From 2013 onwards, Dark Horse began issuing its back-catalogue of ''Aliens'', ''Predator'' and ''Aliens vs. Predator'' comics in the digital format via its [[Dark Horse Digital]] branch, making them available on virtually any electronic platform capable of supporting a web browser. More recent comic book releases have also seen digital releases put out simultaneously with the traditional physical format.
===''Prometheus''===
===''Prometheus''===
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In 2014, Dark Horse added a new line to the universe for the first time since ''Aliens vs. Predator'' 25 years previously, based on the 2012 film {{Pro1}}. The launch of the new line was marked with the ''[[Fire and Stone]]'' crossover event, which included releases from all four lines that shared a single story set on the planet from ''Prometheus'', [[LV-223]].
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In 2014, Dark Horse added a new comic book line to the universe for the first time since the original ''Aliens vs. Predator'' story hit shelves 25 years previously, based on the 2012 film {{Pro1}}. The launch of the new line was marked with the ''[[Fire and Stone]]'' crossover event, which included releases from all four lines that shared a single story set on the planet from ''Prometheus'', [[LV-223]].
==Subsidiaries==
==Subsidiaries==
===Dark Horse International===
===Dark Horse International===
{{Main|Dark Horse International}}
{{Main|Dark Horse International}}
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In the early 1990s, Dark Horse established a UK-based branch, Dark Horse International, responsible for publishing the company's material for the British market. Dark Horse International was primarily responsible for producing [[Aliens (UK magazine)|''Aliens'' magazine]], and also produced the anthology magazine ''[[Total Carnage]]''. The branch went out of business in 1994, resulting in the cancellation of its publications.
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In the early 1990s, Dark Horse established a UK-based branch, Dark Horse International, responsible for publishing the company's material for the British market. Dark Horse International was primarily responsible for producing ''Aliens'' magazine, and also produced the anthology magazine ''[[Total Carnage]]'' in which it serialised ''Predator'' and ''Aliens vs. Predator'' comics. The branch went out of business in 1994, resulting in the cancellation of its publications.
===DH Press===
===DH Press===