Dark Horse Comics announces Starting Points

A brand new initiative from the publisher is set to get new fans into their books and onboard with the some of the best comics on the racks.

There’s no shortage of ‘jumping on points’ designed for new readers out there in comic book land. It seems like there’s an announcement every few months from a different publisher alluding to a book that’d be great for a new reader to start with as they get their feet wet in a universe or a new character. Simply put, they work- and now it’s Dark Horse’s turn.

One of the biggest independent publishers in the US, Dark Horse Comics has an almost overly impressive stable loaded with properties and series’ that flat-out impress. More than just a way for the publisher to get readers into their books, Starting Point was actually the result of a meeting with and feedback from retailers.

Why retailers? Well, turns out that they’d like to spark some more interest in the line too and draw some attention to Dark Horse’s ridiculously eclectic and all around groovy series’. Imagine that. So as a result, any book with the Starting Point branding will be clearly marked in Previews catalog, so you can’t really miss ’em, and the books will be incentivized with an eye towards “increased orders”.

Things start off with Mike Mignola’s Abe Sapien and Captain Midnight in June. Abe you probably already know a good deal about, but the good Captain’s book is actually a part of Dark Horse’s burgeoning  superhero line of comics called Project Black Sky. And if you haven’t been paying attention, much like everything else the company puts together, it’s shaping up nicely. And that fact alone would mean that Captain Midnight #12 might be a good place for a Starting Point if you’re a new reader. You dig?

For that matter, Abe Sapien is an integral part of the Hellboy-centric Mignola-verse; yet another one of Dark Horse’s collections of independent comic book universes. And unless I miss my guess, that means old Abe’s solo book would be a great place for a Starting Point as well…

In Abe Sapien #13, the amphibious Abe is haunted by guilt over the staggering death toll in Arizona and vows to never let such horrors happen again—until a crazed healer and a frog-possessed teen block his path! If you haven’t been keeping up with Hellboy’s one-time partner, there’s never been a better time to get onboard with this ongoing series cowritten by Mike Mignola and Scott Allie, with art from Sebastián Fiumara!

Meanwhile, Captain Midnight #12 kicks off a brand-new arc! Reeling from the death of one friend and the betrayal of another, Captain Midnight throws himself into his work. Disillusioned with why he wears a costume, the time-traveling hero ponders what the world needs more of: the brawn of Captain Midnight or the brains of his civilian identity, genius inventor Jim Albright.

Catch both books this coming June, and then be on the lookout for a different one each month thereafter. If you like great stories and terrifically detailed settings and characters, and I’m pretty sure everyone does, then Starting Point books are a tremendous place to start delving into some of the best.