The Black Beetle: Night Shift #0
Written by Francesco Francavilla
Art by Francesco Francavilla
Cover by Francesco Fracavilla
Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: December 19, 2012
Cover Price: $2.99

The Black Beetle: Night Shift #0 is all set up and all AWESOME! Let’s be honest, there’s plenty of pulp heroes running around these days, but The Black Beetle is all sorts of fun. No downbeat, depressing, down on humanity story here, just some fantastic action and adventure!

Writer Francesco Francavilla really surprises me by turning out a really good comic book. NO, not the art, that’s a given, what I was impressed so much by was the story. This seems like a story that Francavilla’s had cooking for a while and one that he was desperate to tell, because you, the reader, can plainly feel the love and hard work that he put into every single page, panel, and line of dialogue. Everything is well thought out and it combines the 1940’s spirit of high adventure with the mystery man/superhero genre. There’s also a FEW running mysteries throughout the issue, which makes it that much more enjoyable to read. This issue is definitely a page-turner and by the end you won’t be able to wait for the next issue!

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!

It’s cover preview time again with a five spot of covers from our friends at Dark Horse comics. Here is an exclusive first look at the covers for five books that will be released in February and April. Out in February is the issue #2 of Francesco Francavilla’s The Black Beetle (can’t wait for this series to come out!) Then in April we’ve got The Creep by John Arcudi (B.P.R.D., The Mask) and Jonathan Case (Green River Killer) with a cover by Tonci Zonjic.

Also in April are three volumes from Dark Horse’s manga line; Bride of the Water God volume 13, Oh My Goddess! volume 44 (I can’t believe this series has been going on for that long), and Gantz volume 27. Be sure to pre-order these and all the other fine books from Dark Horse comics.

Click on the images below for full-sized versions. Enjoy the covers!

Dark Horse Comics announced yesterday that Francesco Francavilla‘s pulp-inspired The Black Beetle will be making its way into the pages of Dark Horse Presents.

Dark Horse Presents has been a great way for creators to showcase their creator-owned work, so it makes perfect sense that Dark Horse approached Francavilla to bring his pulp-noir hero of Colt City to the anthology comic series.