Dark Horse comics has been around since 1986. The company had already branched out from just producing comics and manga, having opened up an Entertainment division in 1992 that oversaw the production of the properties from Dark Horse publications. A few days ago, news broke that Netflix, fresh off the huge success of their adaptation of the Dark Horse series Umbrella Academy, has signed an exclusive deal with Dark Horse entertainment (see here). How will this new deal affect the Dark Horse comic line?
The story of Dark Horse is as follows. Once upon a time there was an American comic book company that could rival the big two publishers Marvel and DC. Founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson, a comic shop owner from Milwaukie, Oregon, Dark Horse comics became the company that made possible such fan favorite and critically acclaimed series such as Mike Mignola’s Hellboy, Frank Miller’s Sin City and Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá’s Umbrella Academy.
Unfortunately, Dark Horse was hit hard when its bread and butter comic book series, titles like Star Wars, Conan, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Aliens, were all lost as an unfortunate consequence of the FOX–Disney deal. Now, however, Dark Horse has licensed its remaining properties to Netflix.
Let’s look at the speculation prospects of the new deal for some of the Dark Horse original titles.
The successful 2005 movie adaptation of this Frank Miller neo-noir classic crime comic featured Mickey Rourke, Bruce Willis and Jessica Alba, amongst others. For a long time there was talk of another movie or possibly a TV show in the works for this comic. That never happened, until….now? Since the success of the movie shows that this gritty comic from Miller can work in the live action medium, Netflix would do well to adapt it for a streaming show. Stats on Dark Horse Comics Presents Special #5, which is the first appearance of Sin City show strong returns already with the last eBay 9.8 sale on 04/23/2019 going for $300.00. Before that a copy sold on eBay on 03/18/2019 for $139.00. That makes returns over the last three months for 9.8 graded copies at positive +114.3% after these last 2 sales.
Eerie #1 (July 2012) – First issue of Dark Horse Revival of Eerie
Dark Horse’s Eerie series was both a revival and an ode to the Golden Age horror title. Originally begun as a companion to their revival and republishing of the old EC Creepy line, it soon developed into one of the best Dark Horse books transcending its origins as a mere horror anthology series. Penned by David Lapham and Christopher Taylor with art by Rafa Garres, David Lapham and a cover by Jim Pavelec, keep your eye on this book. It would make a great Netflix adaptation – restoring the old ‘Tales from the Crypt’ format of old with the Crypt Keeper replaced by Uncle Creepy. Currently this comic can be found in NM condition for around 10-20 dollars on eBay. No sales stats to date on GoCollect.com.
Lady Killer focuses on ordinary 1960s housewife Josie Schuller. On the surface a June Cleaver-style mother and wife who, to the outside world, is living the conformist suburban existence. By night however, Josie is a contract killer and she’d give James Bond a run for his money. Fredric Wertham would have loved this one. This comic has been holding steady in value and sells for around $100.00 in 9.8 graded condition. Recently, possibly due to the Dark Horse-Netflix deal, there appears to be renewed interest. Six month sales data show a positive +5% roi on sales of 9.8 with recent sales breaking the $100.00 mark for the first time. Lady Killer 2 was released in 2017 and is just as good as the original. Get a copy now because if a Netflix series happens, this comic could really appreciate.
