San Diego Comic-Con International 2009

Dark Horse

Comics publisher Dark Horse held a well-attended panel Saturday morning, spending much of the time discussing their upcoming Western comics releases and new merchandise. Hosted by founder and president Mike Richardson, the panel featured presentations from the various imprints. Amongst the upcoming projects the company announced was a licensed Mass Effect comic series, and collaborative projects with various authors and directors, like Janet Evanovich, Joss Whedon, There were also appearances by special guests, including Gerard Way, the lead singer of My Chemical Romance.

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of CLAMP, Dark Horse will be releasing omnibus editions of five of the group's titles, starting with Clover, which was released this past June, and followed by Chobits, Magic Knight Rayearth, and Card Captor Sakura. Edited by industry veterans like Carl Horn, each omnibus will be around 800 pages long, and will condense three to four graphic novels per book.

Although further details are not yet known, Dark Horse Entertainment, the company's live action movie department, is working on an adaptation of Corpse Delivery Service, a horror manga by Eiji Otsuka and Housui Yamazaki. They also hinted on a future adaptation of MPD-Psycho, also written by Otsuka, and drawn by Shōu Tajima. Both titles are part of a new feature development deal Dark Horse has entered into with Universal Studios. Both manga properties are licensed in North America by Dark Horse.

Although there is no information or news available at the moment, Richardson confirmed that Dark Horse was also in negotiations to develop a film based on CLAMP's Clover, but no deal has been reached.