Rat God #5
Written and Illustrated by Richard Corben
Colored by Richard Corben and Beth Corben Reed
Lettered by Nate Piekos of Blambot
Cover by Richard Corben
Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: June 3, 2015
Cover Price: $3.99

What a weird and wild ride Rat God has been! In the fifth and final issue of Richard Corben‘s horror mini-series, Clark Elwood risks all to save the woman he loves, in what is surely the strangest installement yet.

Narrated once again by Mag the Hag — a bizarre, omniscient wanderer found in many of Corben’s stories — Clark Elwood finally comes face to face with the Rat God and its worshippers. In a last ditch attempt to save Kito, Clark must fight the crazed religious fanatics and monstrous beasts. And in the end, he’ll uncover an ancient truth that will change his world forever.

Creepy Archives, Volume 18
Hardcover | Kindle Edition
Written by Various
Illustrated by Various
Dark Horse Comics
Release date: February 18, 2014
Cover Price: $49.99

Creepy Archives, Volume 18, covers issues 84-88 of the original magazine series, wherein each issues had a theme. For instance, #84 was an “all sports issue,” which while an odd fit on the surface, worked surprisingly well. “All monster” stories was the focus of #85. The next two were Christmas and Mars-themed, with issue #88 being a free-for-all smorgasbord of stories.

Overall, these Creepy Archive collections are blasts from the past, when seemingly all comics seemed more a bit more wondrous, even innocent “” including the horror ones. This volume features art from some of the big, and not so big names of yesteryear, with quality craftsmanship being a key element that they have in common.

The Raven and the Red Death
One-Shot
Written by Richard Corben
Illustrated by Richard Corben
Lettered by Nate Piekos of Blambot
Cover by Richard Corben
Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: October 30, 2013
Cover Price: $3.99

Readers like Edgar Allan Poe’s work for the way it makes them feel; for how it sucks them into his worlds and sneakily crawls under their skin. Poe’s tales and poetry — including both The Raven and The Mask of the Red Death — settle slowly and move along naturally, allowing mystery, wonder and thrill to develop in one’s mind before the real horror appears.

Dark Horse’s site describes Richard Corben‘s adaptation for Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven and The Red Death as “terrifying.” The only issue is, they aren’t scary. Corben utilizes his recurring character of “Mag the Hag” as a traveler who ends up looping through or walking in on the stories. Before I researched who Mag was, my only introduction to her was on the cover page (very nicely drawn by Corben) and on page one of the comic, where she interrupts the narrator’s musings in The Raven with the cheeky line: “The weather has put young Arnold in a melancholy mood, leading him to grimly narrate his own evening in verse.” Now, in casual conversation, this might be a humorous detail to note about The Raven, but in terms of the story, it disrupts any possibility of the reader getting involved or spooked at all.

We’re back again with an exclusive first look at a bunch of covers courtesy of our friends at Dark Horse comics. First we have the regular cover for Amalia’s Blade #1 by Michael Dialynas as well as a variant cover by Guy Davis. Then we’ve got two series that wrap up in April with their fourth issues — The Answer! #4 by Mike Norton and The Black Beetle: No Way Out #4 by Francesco Francavilla.

Then we’ve got covers for four collections hitting stores in June. Check out The Victories, Volume 1 by Michael Avon Oeming, collecting the five issue superhero/sci-fi adventure miniseries. Next we have the first volume of The Original Daredevil Archives collecting the first four issues of the golden age classic. Then there’s Forbidden World Archives, Volume 2, collecting the weird and wonderful anthology of science fiction and supernatural fantasy. Finally, there’s the next in the long line of Dark Horse’s Creepy Archives, Volume 16 featuring work by Alex Toth, Wally Wood, Neal Adams, Bernie Wrightson, and Richard Corben.

All this and more can be had, and all you have to do is pre-order them with your friendly neighborhood comic book dispenser.

Now, check these covers out right here after the jump.

Dark Horse Comics has provided Geeks of Doom with an exclusive first look at a handful of comics that they have set for March and one collection set for May, and let me tell you, they’re all awesome.

First up from these comics is the heavily praised Mind MGMT #9 from writer/artist Matt Kindt whose watercolored cover gets across a nice moment in a violent world, while also showing a hint of musical influence. I’m interested. I haven’t been picking up this comic in single issues, but based on what I’m hearing about this comic, it’s one I’m dying to read. Another comic coming in March is The Black Beetle: No Way Out #3 (of 4) by Francesco Francavilla, who is a creator whose artwork is just simply amazing and unique in the modern comics world. If you read this comic’s run in Dark Horse Presents, you know what to expect, which should also tell you that you don’t want to miss it. Also available is the new mini-series The Answer! #3 (of 4) by Mike Norton and Dennis Hopeless with cover art from Mark Englert. I’m not too familiar with the premise of The Answer!, but if it’s what it seems, I want my hands all over this comic. It appears to be a fresh and interesting take on detective based superhero comics with death traps, and if you know me, you know I love death traps. The creators are rad and the premise is strong, so this is a comic to keep your eyes on. And then, in May comes the 13th Archive edition of Eerie, a 264-page collection that features work from Wally Wood, Bernie Wrightson, Budd Lewis, Richard Corben and many, many more. If you haven’t been picking up these archives of the classic horror anthology, it’s never too late, so get on that.

Anyway, now that all the talk is out of the way, let’s take a look at all these great covers after the jump!