Guillermo del Toro's love of comics as seen in the lone hero "Hellboy"

What is Dark Horse Comics, the third largest company in the American comic industry?

When it comes to publishing companies of comics in the United States, that is, American comics, the most famous ones are Marvel Comics, which produced Spider-Man and Iron Man, and DC Comics, which created Batman and Superman. Following in the footsteps of these two major long-established publishers is the third force in the American comic book industry, Dark Horse Comics. Movies based on Dark Horse Comics include Cameron Diaz's feature film debut " The Mask " (1994), Bruce Willis' " Sin City " (2005), and Zack Snyder's "300" (2006).

Marvel Comics and DC Comics are publishing companies with a very long history, dating back to before World War II. Dark Horse Comics is a relatively new company compared to these long-established companies, but in the 30 years since its establishment, it has rapidly become the third largest publisher in the American comic book industry. Dark Horse Comics has acquired licenses (the right to make comics) for existing popular movies such as Star Wars ( 1977), Robocop (1987), and Predator (1987), and has published various comics based on various movies. This has become a cash cow and helped the company flourish. It has also expanded its reach into Asian comics such as those from Japan and Korea, publishing English translations of Asian comics such as Masamune Shirow's Appleseed and Ghost in the Shell , and Katsuhiro Otomo's Akira .

"Hellboy" MOTION PICTURE (C) 2004 REVOLUTION STUDIOS DISTRIBUTION COMPANY, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. TM, (R) & Copyright (C) 2013 by Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

In Japanese manga, it is standard for the artist to create everything from the illustrations to the story and character settings. For example, the artist of " One Piece " is none other than Eiichiro Oda. However, this is not the case with American comics. In American comics, there is a complete division of labor between the writer who writes the script, the penciller who draws the rough sketches, the inker who inks the rough sketches, the colorist who colors the black-and-white manuscript, and the letterer who writes the dialogue into the finished color manuscript. Although the creators of "Spider-Man" are the famous Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, there have been many creators who have been in charge of "Spider-Man" up to now. This is because the rights of each comic magazine belong to the publishing company under contract. Since the company holds the rights, the change of artist is at the sole discretion of the company.

Although it would be unheard of in Japan, it is said to be a very natural contract in the American comic industry. However, Dark Horse Comics does not seem to attach importance to this contract, which is common in the industry. In the company, the copyrights of each comic belong to the creator himself. The attitude of putting creators first is probably the reason why the company has risen to third place in the industry in just a few decades. That is why Mike Mignola, who released "Hellboy" to the world, has been involved in almost all "Hellboy" works to date. Although he has sometimes entrusted the drawing to other creators due to his busy schedule, Mignola's name is always credited in every work you read. It is extremely rare in the American comic industry for someone to be involved with a character for so many years, from its birth in 1993 to the present.

<Reference>

Hellboy(2004) movie theater program

" Hellboy: Volume 1 - Seeds of Ruin/Awakening of the Demon God " (Shogakukan Shueisha Productions) by Mike Mignola (author) and Miho Sakai (translator)

Text: Hayato Otsuki

Born in May 1993 in Sapporo, Hokkaido. Writer, editor. He started his writing career in 2016 and currently contributes columns, movie reviews, etc. to various media. By reading the creator's Arrival from a bird's-eye view, we incisively analyze and explain the original intention of the work. His writing publications include "THE RIVER", "IGN Japan", and "Real Sound Movie Club". My specialty is action and fantasy.

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Hellboy

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Publisher: NBCUniversal Entertainment

MOTION PICTURE (C) 2004 REVOLUTION STUDIOS DISTRIBUTION COMPANY, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. TM, (R) & Copyright (C) 2013 by Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

*Information as of August 2019.