81-629: Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book , graphic novel , and manga publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon , by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, Oregon , comic book shops known as Pegasus Books and founded in 1980. Dark Horse Comics has emerged as the fourth largest comic publishing company in the United States of America. Dividing profits with artists and writers , as well as supporting artistic and creative rights in
162-534: A 1991 issue of Dark Horse Presents , Frank Miller introduced Sin City , one of Dark Horse Comics' most successful titles. In addition to this title, Miller introduced several other limited series set in dystopian societies including Give Me Liberty which ran from 1990-1991 and Hard Boiled . The Mask , a mini series from Mark Badger , debuted in Dark Horse Presents 10-20 in 1991 and had
243-490: A Chinese media production company, became a partner of Dark Horse's subsidiary Dark Horse Entertainment along with a "major investment stake" in the subsidiary. Both Forbes and Publishers Weekly reported that "the investment stake is rumored to be about $ 20 million and will give Vanguard a majority interest in Dark House". In 2020, Dark Horse announced it was severing ties with writer and editor Scott Allie "after
324-523: A Gaming and Digital Entertainment Division in partnership with AAA studios to bring many of its "older and lesser established IPs" into the gaming market. In March 2022, it was announced that Dark Horse and filmmaker Kevin Smith would be teaming up to publish the books of Secret Stash Press , a new publishing line by Smith. The first two books of the line include Maskerade , written by Smith and Andy Mcelfresh and Quick Stops , written by Smith and set within
405-407: A Hollywood studio. Companies rumored as potential buyers include Netflix , and The Walt Disney Company but a representative couldn't comment. However, later in the month, Embracer Group (a video game holding company ) announced that it launched its acquisition of Dark Horse Media, including Dark Horse Comics and Dark Horse Entertainment, and that the company would be the 10th operative division in
486-602: A business partnership with Penguin Random House Publishing as the company's new primary comic book distributor which was previously held by Diamond Comics Distributors for thirty years. On September 21, 2022, Dark Horse Comics announced the expansion of their business relationship with Penguin Random House. This multi-year distribution deal began in June 2023. Dark Horse CEO Mike Richardson stated that
567-400: A destructive force to an ally of humans, or a protector of Japanese values, or a hero to children. The name Godzilla is a romanization of the original Japanese name Gojira (ゴジラ)—which is a combination of two Japanese words: gorira (ゴリラ), "gorilla", and kujira (クジラ), "whale". The word alludes to the size, power and aquatic origin of Godzilla. As developed by Toho, the monster is an offshoot of
648-535: A failed attempt to renegotiate with the Indonesian government, film producer Tomoyuki Tanaka conceived an idea for a giant monster film inspired by The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms and the then-recent Daigo Fukuryū Maru incident. Tanaka then succeeded in convincing executive producer Iwao Mori to replace In the Shadow of Glory with his monster idea, after special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya agreed to do
729-424: A former Dark Horse employee accused him of sexual harassment and sexual assault across a period lasting more than a decade." It was reported that in 2015, "after reports of multiple instances of sexual misconduct" by Allie: Dark Horse Comics founder Mike Richardson released a statement to The Beat , which in part read, "In this particular case, action was taken immediately, though we did not, and cannot, perform
810-477: A joint venture and independent imprint. The imprint name is in reference to Kitchen's former publishing company Kitchen Sink Press which ran from 1970 until 1999. Kitchen said of the venture, “John and I have packaged books for a number of first-rank publishers, but we have long discussed the ideal house to enjoy maximum freedom and creativity,” says Kitchen. “In longtime friend and publisher Mike Richardson and Dark Horse Comics, we found just that.” The imprint's output
891-454: A near halt, ceasing production of any books concerning the characters with the publication of the last crossover books involving Ghost , in the early 2000s. Legend was a comic book imprint at Dark Horse Comics created in 1994 by Frank Miller and John Byrne as an avenue for creator-owned projects. Its logo was a moai drawn by Mike Mignola . Later on, other creators were asked to join them. The imprint ended in 1998. Dark Horse Manga
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#1732772186158972-596: A new Godzilla film of its own for a 2016 release. The film is Toho's reboot of the Godzilla franchise, after Legendary Pictures' reboot in 2014; the film is co-directed by Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi (both of whom collaborated on the anime Neon Genesis Evangelion ), with the screenplay by Anno and the visual effects directed by Higuchi. Principal photography began in September and ended in October with
1053-533: A number of titles by the all-female Japanese manga artist group CLAMP , including Clover , Chobits , Okimono Kimono , Cardcaptor Sakura , Magic Knight Rayearth , and Gate 7 . A manga magazine titled Super Manga Blast! was published by Dark Horse starting in the spring of 2000. It was discontinued in December 2005 after 59 issues. Dark Horse also publishes a number of Korean manhwa titles, including Banya: The Explosive Delivery Man . Maverick
1134-415: A platform for new creators to highlight their works. The success of Dark Horse Comics can be attributed to a change in comic book marketing that occurred in the 1980s when comics began to be sold in comic specific stores. After his success, Richardson began buying the rights to several titles including: Godzilla in 1987, Aliens , Predator in 1989, and Star Wars in 1991 (owned by Marvel prior to
1215-525: A prehistoric reptilian monster awakened and empowered by nuclear radiation. The films series are recognized by the Guinness World Records as the "longest continuously running film series", having been in ongoing production since 1954, with several hiatuses of varying lengths. There are 38 Godzilla films: 33 Japanese films produced and distributed by Toho Co., Ltd. , and five American films; one by TriStar Pictures and four films (part of
1296-510: A public flogging, as some might wish." Although Richardson said action had been taken, Allie continued as an editor for Dark Horse, transitioning from editor-in-chief to the role of executive senior editor in 2015, before departing Dark Horse as a full-time employee in 2017, continuing to work with them [until 2020] in a freelance capacity. In June 2021, Dark Horse opened a video game and digital division, called Dark Horse Games. The division will be focused on development of AAA video games based on
1377-712: A script written by Fred Dekker , titled Godzilla: King of the Monsters in 3D , which would have featured Godzilla rampaging through San Francisco in an attempt to find its offspring. Various studios and producers expressed interest but passed it over due to high budget concerns. The film would have featured a full scale animatronic Godzilla head built by Rick Baker , stop motion animation executed by David W. Allen , an articulated stop motion Godzilla figure created by Stephen Czerkas, and additional storyboards by Doug Wildey. The production design would have been overseen by William Stout. In October 1992, TriStar Pictures acquired
1458-790: A script, titled The Volcano Monsters , that focused on a new story with American characters centered around the effects footage. Toho approved of the idea in early 1957 and shipped the Godzilla and Anguirus suits for additional photography to be shot at Howard A. Anderson's special effects studio. Rybnick and Barison originally made a deal with AB-PT Pictures Corp. to co-finance the film but plans for The Volcano Monsters were cancelled after AB-PT Pictures folded. Schreibman, Goldman, and new financier Newton P. Jacobs, decided to dub Godzilla Raids Again into English instead. In 1983, director Steve Miner pitched his idea for an American 3D production of Godzilla to Toho, with storyboards by William Stout and
1539-652: A sequel to Shin Godzilla would not happen, but expressed interest in a potential shared cinematic series between Godzilla and other Toho monsters akin to the Marvel Cinematic Universe . In 2019, Toho invested ¥15.4 billion ( US$ 140 million ) into its Los Angeles-based subsidiary Toho International Inc. as part of its "Toho Vision 2021 Medium-term Management Strategy", a strategy to increase content, platform, real-estate, surpass ¥50 billion in profits, and increase character businesses on Toho intellectual properties such as Godzilla . Hiroyasu Matsuoka
1620-595: A series reprinting Playboy interviews. The M Press imprint was created to publish a diverse list of both literary fiction and non-fiction prose for authors with a unique voice. One such series is Orchid by Tom Morello , published from 2011 to 2013. The newest addition to M Press is an original graphic novel The Fifth Beatle by Vivek Tiwary , Andrew Robinson , and Kyle Baker , published in November 2013. In 2011, Dark Horse launched their iOS app and online digital comics store Dark Horse Digital , followed by
1701-597: A specific story and perhaps receive royalties from collected editions, but the bulk of the revenue, and all of the merchandising opportunities, remain with the companies". Mike Richardson was an active follower of the Amateur Press Association (APA) , an organization focused on critiquing comics through conventions, fan projects, and newsletters. As a result of his involvement, Richardson became acquainted with Randy Stradley, an early Dark Horse Comics collaborator and editor. The two used their contacts from
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#17327721861581782-482: A successful film adaptation, starring Jim Carrey , in 1994. However comic sales were not strengthened by the success of the film. In 1993, Dark Horse established their own limited series superhero realm with the creation of Comics' Greatest World . However comic publishing changed in the 1990s and all Comics' Greatest World titles were canceled except for Ghost . As a result, Dark Horse Comics returned to their smaller scale business model. Dark Horse Comics created
1863-565: A technique of practical special effects filmmaking that would become essential in Japan's film industry since the release of Godzilla (1954). For its North American release, the film was localized in 1956 as Godzilla, King of the Monsters! and featured new footage with Raymond Burr edited together with the original Japanese footage. The popularity of the films has led to the film series expanding to other media, such as television, music, literature and video games . Godzilla has become one of
1944-476: Is a standalone story, with the 1954 film serving as the only previous point of reference. Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla and Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. are the only films in the Millennium era to share continuity with each other and are also connected to 1961's Mothra . After the release of 2004's Godzilla: Final Wars , marking the 50th anniversary of the Godzilla film franchise, Toho decided to put
2025-795: Is an imprint for Japanese manga translated into English. The company's first ongoing title was Oh My Goddess! by Kōsuke Fujishima , starting in August 1994. ( Oh My Goddess! since became America's longest running manga series.) Other publications include Akira , Astro Boy , Berserk , Blade of the Immortal , Ghost in the Shell , Lone Wolf and Cub , Trigun and Blood Blockade Battlefront by Yasuhiro Nightow , Gantz , Hellsing and Drifters by Kouta Hirano , Blood+ , Multiple Personality Detective Psycho , FLCL , Mob Psycho 100 , and Oreimo . Dark Horse also publishes
2106-405: Is feared by humans. The biological nature and science behind Godzilla became a much more discussed issue in the films, showing the increased focus on the moral aspects of genetics. Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah gave Godzilla's first concrete birth story, featuring a dinosaur named Godzillasaurus that was mutated by nuclear radiation into Godzilla. Godzilla was portrayed by Kenpachiro Satsuma for
2187-650: Is infrequent, publishing 2-3 high-profile projects annually with editorial focus on art books and deluxe format collections. Creators published under the Kitchen Sink line include Will Eisner, Frank Miller, Harvey Kurtzman , Tony DiTerlizzi and collections/anthology titles include work from Jack Davis , Will Elder , Art Spiegelman , S. Clay Wilson , Monte Beauchamp , Bob Powell , Justin Green , Trina Robbins , Harvey Pekar , Arnold Roth , and Al Jaffee . Former executive editor of Vertigo Karen Berger established
2268-485: The Monsterverse franchise) by Legendary Pictures . The original film, Godzilla , was directed by and co-written by Ishirō Honda and released by Toho in 1954. It became an influential classic of the genre. It featured political and social undertones relevant to Japan at the time. The 1954 film and its special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya are largely credited for establishing the template for tokusatsu ,
2349-732: The Portland State University Library, which maintains both a browsing collection of book titles, in addition to a research collection which also includes every "print, poster, statue, figure, and all other products." As of July 15, 2016, the library has cataloged over 10,000 titles as "the official archive of Dark Horse publications". In 2011, Dark Horse Presents relaunched including the return of Paul Chadwick's Concrete and Steve Niles ' Criminal Macabre , as well as new talent including Sanford Greene, Carla Speed McNeil , Nate Crosby and others. Starting in 2013, Dark Horse began to reprint E. C. Archives , picking up
2430-576: The Shōwa era (as all of these films were produced during Emperor Shōwa 's reign). This Shōwa timeline spanned from 1954, with Godzilla , to 1975, with Terror of Mechagodzilla . The first Godzilla film initially began as a Japanese-Indonesian co-production titled In the Shadow of Glory ( 栄光のかげに , Eikō no Kage ni ) . However, the project was cancelled after the Indonesian government denied visas to Toho's crew due to anti-Japanese sentiments and political pressure. On his flight back to Japan after
2511-572: The Shōwa era , the Heisei era , and the Reiwa era . The third is called the Millennium era, as the emperor ( Heisei ) is the same, but these films are considered to have a different style and storyline than the Heisei era. Over the series' history, the films have reflected the social and political climate in Japan . In the original film, Godzilla was an allegory for the effects of nuclear weapons , and
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2592-842: The View Askewniverse . In April 2022, it was announced that Matt Kindt was launching his Flux House imprint through Dark Horse, starting with MIND MGMT : Bootleg and continuing with Hairball in April 2023. Stan Sakai moved his Usagi Yojimbo series to Dark Horse under his Dogu Publishing imprint in July 2022. It was announced in September 2022 that Eric Powell had brought his Albatross Funnybooks imprint to Dark Horse. This would include series such as The Goon , Hillbilly and Big Man Plans , as well as Brendon Small ’s Galaktikon and Rebecca Sugar ’s Pug Davis . Comic book Too Many Requests If you report this error to
2673-448: The APA to recruit artists and writers, many of whom were working for several top comic publishing groups. Dark Horse was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson with Dark Horse Presents No. 1 and featured the first appearance of Paul Chadwick 's Concrete and Chris Warner 's Black Cross, selling approximately 50,000 copies, which was far better than predictions . The series has become
2754-523: The Berger Books imprint at Dark Horse in 2017. Titles published under the imprint include Hungry Ghosts written by Joel Rose and Anthony Bourdain , Incognegro (previously published through Vertigo ) and a prequel Incognegro: Renaissance both written by Mat Johnson , The Seeds written by Ann Nocenti , She Could Fly written by Christopher Cantwell , and LaGuardia written by Nnedi Okorafor . On June 2, 2021, Dark Horse Comics launched
2835-610: The Dark Horse Comics acquisition). Dark Horse evolved further and began producing toys in 1991. Additionally, in 1992, Richardson formed Dark Horse Entertainment , the company's critically acclaimed film and television division. With the release of the first Aliens comic in 1988 and Predator in 1988, Dark Horse Comics' popular characters appeared in their own line of work as well as Dark Horse Presents and Tarzan and numerous crossovers that included Superman and Batman of DC Comics , and WildC.A.T.s . In
2916-534: The Dark Horse Entertainment subsidiary open up the potential for Embracer to push projects outside of the video game arena. Dark Horse isn't simply the fourth-largest comic book publisher in the U.S. industry, after all; it's also a company with a first-look deal with Netflix, as well as an ongoing relationship with Universal Content Productions." Embracer finalized the acquisition of Dark Horse on March 14, 2022. In June 2022, Dark Horse announced
2997-442: The Heisei films while the special effects were directed by Koichi Kawakita , with the exception of The Return of Godzilla , for which the effects were directed by Teruyoshi Nakano. Toho rebooted the franchise for a second time with the 1999 film Godzilla 2000: Millennium starting the third era of Godzilla films, known as the Millennium series. The Millennium series is treated similarly to an anthology series where each film
3078-605: The Monsters! – Harry Rybnick, Richard Kay, Edward Barison, Paul Schreibman, and Edmund Goldman – purchased the North American rights to the 1955 sequel Godzilla Raids Again but rather than localize or dub the film in English, they chose to produce a new film that would repurpose the effects footage from Godzilla Raids Again ; filming was expected to begin in June 1957. Rybnick hired Ib Melchior and Edwin Watson to write
3159-478: The Shōwa era. The Return of Godzilla was released in 1984, five years before the new Emperor, but is considered part of this era, as it is a direct predecessor to Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989), which came out in the first year of the new Emperor's reign. The Heisei films are set in a single timeline, with each film providing continuity to the other films, and brings Godzilla back as a destructive force of nature that
3240-471: The Three-Headed Monster was also significant for introducing Godzilla's archenemy and the main antagonist of the film series, King Ghidorah . Son of Godzilla and All Monsters Attack were aimed at youthful audiences, featuring the appearance of Godzilla's son, Minilla . Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla was notable for introducing Godzilla's robot duplicate and the secondary antagonist of
3321-500: The United States. At San Diego Comic-Con, Akito Takahashi, the project manager of Toho's Godzilla Strategic Conference, revealed Toho's intentions to have the Toho and Legendary Godzilla films expand together. He also revealed that the option to reintroduce political themes and old or new monsters would be available to filmmakers, should they choose to pursue it. Akito also expressed interest in re-introducing Mechagodzilla and Jet Jaguar in
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3402-503: The Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.226 via cp1108 cp1108, Varnish XID 193753892 Upstream caches: cp1108 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Thu, 28 Nov 2024 05:36:26 GMT Godzilla (franchise) Godzilla ( Japanese : ゴジラ , Hepburn : Gojira ) is a Japanese monster , or kaiju , franchise centering on the titular character ,
3483-407: The brand. The group wrote up a new set of mandated guidelines that all feature films and merchandise had to follow, which involved the prohibition of permanently killing off the character and keeping him from preying on "people or things" to ensure that every appearance remained authentic. In August 2016, Toho announced plans for a trilogy of anime Godzilla films with Polygon Pictures animating
3564-530: The buyout in March 2022. Dark Horse has published many licensed comics, including comics based on Star Wars , Avatar: The Last Airbender , Ninja Gaiden , Buffy the Vampire Slayer , Aliens , Predator , and Terminator . Dark Horse Comics holds a notoriety for being the most reputable publisher in regard to allowing creators to retain ownership of their work. Founder Mike Richardson created
3645-420: The character in his absence, such as Katsumi Tezuka , Yū Sekida, Ryosaku Takasugi, Seiji Onaka, Shinji Takagi, Isao Zushi, and Toru Kawai . Eiji Tsuburaya directed the special effects for the first six films of the series. His protege Sadamasa Arikawa took over the effects work for the next three films (with Tsuburaya supervising), while Teruyoshi Nakano directed the special effects for the last six films of
3726-490: The combination of radioactivity and ancient dinosaur -like creatures, indestructible and possessing special powers (see Godzilla characteristics ). The Godzilla film series is broken into several different eras reflecting a characteristic style and corresponding to the same eras used to classify all kaiju eiga ( monster movies ) in Japan. The first, second, and fourth eras refer to the Japanese emperor during production:
3807-435: The comic book industry, Dark Horse Comics has become a strong proponent of publishing licensed material that often does not fit into mainstream media. Several titles include: Sin City , Hellboy , Buffy the Vampire Slayer , 300 , Ninja Gaiden , and Star Wars . In December 2021, Swedish gaming company Embracer Group launched its acquisition of Dark Horse Media , Dark Horse Comics' parent company, and completed
3888-440: The comic book publishing industry. This model allows the company to pull poorly performing series while also retaining the ability to reprint past works without intense scrutiny. In 2006, The New York Times reported that "Dark Horse pays by the story or the page, and shares profit generated by comic books and related merchandise. That is different from the standard work-for-hire arrangement at DC and Marvel: creators are paid for
3969-501: The company decided to expand their business relationship with the legendary publishing company because they both wanted to improve comic book accessibility worldwide, and address fans concerns over high distribution fees with Diamond Comics, Inc. From 1993 to 1996, Dark Horse published a line of superhero comics under the Comics' Greatest World imprint, which was later renamed Dark Horse Heroes. After 1996, publication of this line came to
4050-523: The company receives a level of financial stability it hasn't previously enjoyed as an independent entity, even as it separates from its deal with Chinese pop culture company Vanguard Visionary Associates". The Hollywood Reporter commented that for the Embracer Group this deal was "not just an opportunity to expand properties into comics, but other media. Dark Horse's ongoing relationship with media companies through current and future adaptations and
4131-439: The company with creator rights in mind because of his frustration with the treatment of artists by comic publishers of the time. They have published several creator owned comics such as Frank Miller 's Sin City and 300 , Mike Mignola's Hellboy , Stan Sakai's Usagi Yojimbo , and Gerard Way's Umbrella Academy . With an emphasis on mini and limited series, Dark Horse Comics has given itself immense flexibility in
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#17327721861584212-438: The company's IP. In mid-November 2021, Dark Horse founder and CEO Mike Richardson announced that the company would be publishing a new line of all-ages Star Wars comics and graphic novels in collaboration with Lucasfilm and Disney Publishing Worldwide . Dark Horse had previously held the licensing rights for producing Star Wars comics between 1991 and 2015. In December 2021, Bloomberg reported Dark Horse Comics for sale to
4293-402: The company. Multiple news outlets highlighted that this deal gives Embracer Group access to Dark Horse's "300-plus pieces of intellectual property". This deal also grants Dark Horse access to additional intellectual property maintained by Embracer; "sources close to the publisher say that founder and CEO Mike Richardson maintains creative control over Dark Horse under the terms of the deal, while
4374-464: The consequences that such weapons might have on Earth. The radioactive contamination of the Japanese fishing boat Lucky Dragon No. 5 through the United States' Castle Bravo thermonuclear device test at Bikini Atoll on March 1, 1954, led to much press coverage in Japan preceding the release of the first film in 1954. The Heisei and Millennium series have largely continued this concept. Toho
4455-597: The film series, Mechagodzilla . The Shōwa period loosely tied in to a number of Toho-produced films in which Godzilla himself did not appear and consequently saw the addition of many monsters into the Godzilla continuity, three of which ( Rodan , Varan , and Mothra ) originated in their own solo films and another five ( Anguirus , Manda , Baragon , Gorosaurus and Kumonga ) appeared in their first films as either secondary antagonists or secondary kaiju. Haruo Nakajima mainly portrayed Godzilla since 1954 until his retirement in 1972. However, other stunt actors have portrayed
4536-656: The film, feeling that his wartime experience was ideal for the film's anti-nuclear themes – despite not being Toho's first choice. Principal photography ran 51 days, and special effects photography ran 71 days. Godzilla was first released in Nagoya on October 27, 1954, and released nationwide on November 3, 1954. Despite mixed reviews, it was a box office success. It became the eighth best-attended film in Japan that year, and earned ¥183 million (just under $ 510,000) in distributor rentals during its initial run, with total lifetime gross receipts of $ 2.25 million . The film
4617-444: The film. Tsuburaya initially proposed a giant octopus-like monster, and later a gorilla-like or whale-like monster to reflect the creature's name Gojira , a combination of the Japanese words for gorilla ( ゴリラ , gorira ) and whale ( クジラ , kujira ) . But Tsuburaya settled on a dinosaur-like monster designed by Teizō Toshimitsu and Akira Watanabe under his supervision. Tanaka handpicked Ishirō Honda to direct and co-write
4698-462: The films and Netflix distributing the trilogy worldwide, except in Japan where each film will be given a theatrical release by Toho. The first film, titled Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters , was released on November 17, 2017. The second film, titled Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle , was released on May 18, 2018. The third and final film in the trilogy, titled Godzilla: The Planet Eater ,
4779-454: The franchise's 68th anniversary known as "Godzilla Day", Toho announced plans to release a new live-action Godzilla film, Godzilla Minus One , on November 3, 2023, to commemorate the franchise's 70th anniversary. Toho also stated that Takashi Yamazaki was the director, writer, and visual effects supervisor for this new film and that it had entered post-production after recently completed filming. According to Collider , Minus One became
4860-563: The future. In October 2020, Toho announced plans for an anime series titled Godzilla Singular Point released on Netflix in 2021, revealing artwork for Godzilla and its principal characters. The project was directed by Atsushi Takahashi, with music by Kan Sawada, written by Toh Enjoe, character designs by Kazue Kato , and animations by Eiji Yamamori. The series was produced by Bones Inc. in partnership with Orange Co., Ltd. , featured hand-drawn and CG animation, and had no relation to Polygon's anime film trilogy. On November 3, 2022, during
4941-501: The imprint Legends and as part of their focus on creators, the publisher began working with Mike Mignola . In 1994, Mignola's character Hellboy first appeared in Hellboy: Seed of Destruction the beginning of several limited and mini series with crossovers that included Batman of DC Comics . 1994 saw the release of the monthly manga mini series, Oh My Goddess! The licensing to the unpopular limited series, Tarzan ,
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#17327721861585022-446: The incarnations from the 1998 film and animated TV series retaining the Godzilla copyright/trademark. In 2004, director Yoshimitsu Banno acquired permission from Toho to produce a short IMAX Godzilla film. In 2009, the project was turned over to Legendary Pictures to be redeveloped as a feature film. Announced in March 2010, the film was co-produced with Warner Bros. Pictures and was directed by Gareth Edwards . Godzilla
5103-634: The majority of the Millennium films, with the exception of Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack , in which Godzilla was portrayed by Mizuho Yoshida . Unlike the Shōwa and later Heisei films, the special effects for the Millennium films were directed by multiple effects directors such as Kenji Suzuki ( Godzilla 2000 , Godzilla vs. Megaguirus ), Makoto Kamiya ( Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack ), Yuichi Kikuchi ( Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla ), and Eiichi Asada ( Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. , Godzilla: Final Wars ). In December 2014, Toho announced plans for
5184-532: The manga series from Hiroaki Samura , Blade of the Immortal , in 1996 and ending in 2015. For the first Free Comic Book Day on May 4, 2002, Dark Horse Comics published Star Wars: Tales – A Jedi's Weapon and has participated in the event every year since. In 2006, Dark Horse was the third largest comics publisher. Per Diamond Comic Distributors , " Marvel had 36.9 percent of the market", DC "had 32.9 percent" and Dark Horse had "5.6 percent". In 2007, Dark Horse donated copies of all of its published works to
5265-657: The most commercially successful Japanese film in the series and "helped the Godzilla series become more popular than ever before". In 2024, Minus One won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects , becoming the first Godzilla film to win an Academy Award , as well as the first Japanese film to win Best Visual Effects. On November 1, 2024, Toho announced plans to move forward with a new Godzilla film with Yamazaki returning to direct, write, and handle visual effects. The producers of Godzilla, King of
5346-523: The most recognizable symbols in Japanese pop culture worldwide and a well-known facet of Japanese cinema . It is also considered one of the first examples of the popular kaiju and tokusatsu subgenres in Japanese entertainment. The tone and themes vary per film. Several of the films have political themes, others have dark tones, complex internal mythology , or are simple action films featuring aliens or other monsters, while others have simpler themes accessible to children. Godzilla's role varies from purely
5427-549: The popular video-game franchise Mass Effect . Dark Horse, working with Big Tent Entertainment and the NHK broadcasting corporation , brought Domo-kun to the United States with a series of products ranging from Qee figurines to journals and stationery sets. David Scroggy was Vice President of Product Development at Dark Horse for many years, starting in that department in 1993 and retiring in 2017. In 2013, Denis Kitchen and John Lind co-founded Kitchen Sink Books with Dark Horse as
5508-454: The project of reprinting classic E. C. Comics from the 1950s where Gladstone left off, using the same size and format as Gladstone, with all stories reprinted in order and in full color. In early 2017, Dark Horse Comic entered partnership with Crypton Future Media to publish official English-language Hatsune Miku -related manga. In late summer of 2018, a set of comic books for Mysticons were released. In 2018, Vanguard Visionary Associates,
5589-494: The release of the beta version of a native Android app in 2012. Any device with a modern web browser can be used to read Dark Horse comics at their web store. Initiated in 1998, Dark Horse Deluxe rolled out a line of merchandise that included model kits, toys, apparel, and collectibles. Its original purpose was to draw on Dark Horse properties but expanded to include such collectibles as Tim Burton 's Tragic Toys for Girls and Boys , Joss Whedon 's Serenity , and merchandise for
5670-563: The rights from Toho with plans to produce a trilogy. Director Jan de Bont and writers Terry Rossio and Ted Eliott developed a script that had Godzilla battling a shape-shifting alien called "the Gryphon". De Bont later left the project after budget disagreements with the studio. Roland Emmerich was hired to direct and co-write a new script with producer Dean Devlin . A co-production between Centropolis Entertainment , Fried Films , Independent Pictures, and TriStar Pictures, Godzilla
5751-456: The series on hiatus for another 10 years. Toho also demolished the water stage on its lot used in numerous Godzilla , kaiju and tokusatsu films. Yoshimitsu Banno , who had directed 1971's Godzilla vs. Hedorah , secured the rights from Toho to make an IMAX 3D short film production, based on a story similar to his Hedorah film. This project eventually led to the development of Legendary's Godzilla . Tsutomu Kitagawa portrayed Godzilla for
5832-410: The series. The Criterion Collection released the Shōwa era films as part of a Blu-ray box set in the United States and Canada on October 29, 2019. Toho rebooted the series in 1984 with The Return of Godzilla , starting the second era of Godzilla films, known as the Heisei series. The Return of Godzilla serves as a direct sequel to the original 1954 film and ignores the subsequent events of
5913-490: The special effects work following in November that year. Shin Godzilla was released in Japan on July 29, 2016, in IMAX, 4DX, and MX4D to positive reviews and was a box office success. After the release of Shin Godzilla, Toho established a "Godzilla Room", a group consisting of 14 individuals that were tasked with studying all the previous films that involved the character and to ensure that further movies would avoid damaging
5994-420: Was an imprint for creator-owned material. The DH Press imprint publishes novelizations of Dark Horse's more popular comic book titles, including Aliens and Predator . DH Press has now been absorbed by DH Books. Publications ranging from novels to film books by Leonard Maltin about John Landis , to comic related material such as a biography of Will Eisner , to health books. They have also published
6075-433: Was inspired to make the original Godzilla film after the commercial success of the 1952 re-release of King Kong and the success of The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953), the first live-action film to feature a giant monster awakened following an atomic bomb detonation. The success of the Godzilla franchise itself would go on to inspire other giant monster films worldwide. The initial series of films are named after
6156-468: Was named the representative director of the project. In 2019, Toho launched the first official English website and the first official English Twitter and Instagram for the franchise. In June 2019, Toho revealed plans to present the Toho Godzilla at San Diego Comic-Con for the first time to commemorate the franchise's 65th anniversary, as well as being part of its plan to expand the franchise in
6237-529: Was nominated for Best Picture and Best Special Effects at the Japanese Movie Association Awards, where it won the latter. Starting with Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster , Godzilla began evolving into a friendlier, more playful antihero (this transition was complete by Son of Godzilla , where Godzilla is depicted as a more virtuous character) and, as years went by, it evolved into an anthropomorphic superhero . Ghidorah
6318-454: Was purchased by Dark Horse Comics in 1995 and ended in 1998. Ghost , from Comics' Greatest World , began running as a solo title in 1995, but ended in 1998 and was subsequently launched once more the same year. Eisner Award winning Usagi Yojimbo , written and drawn by third generation Japanese-American artist, Stan Sakai debuted in Dark Horse Comics in 1996 as a monthly issue and ran until 2019. Dark Horse Comics began translating
6399-545: Was released on November 9, 2018. In January 2018, Toho announced its plans to invest ¥15 billion ( US$ 135 million ) for the next three years beginning in 2019 to co-produce content with Hollywood and Chinese studios who have licensed Toho's properties, such as Godzilla , Your Name and Pokémon . Toho would invest 25% in production costs and would earn a higher share in revenue and manage creators rights, so its creative input would be reflected in each work. In May 2018, Toho's Chief Godzilla Officer Keiji Ota revealed that
6480-456: Was theatrically released on May 16, 2014, to positive reviews and was a box office success, grossing $ 529 million worldwide against a production budget of $ 160 million. The film's success prompted Toho to produce a reboot of their own and Legendary to proceed with sequels and a shared cinematic franchise dubbed the Monsterverse : with Godzilla: King of the Monsters released on May 31, 2019; Godzilla vs. Kong released on March 24, 2021;
6561-473: Was theatrically released on May 20, 1998, to negative reviews and grossed $ 379 million worldwide against a production budget between $ 130–150 million. Despite grossing nearly three times its budget, it was considered a box office disappointment. Two planned sequels were cancelled and an animated TV series was produced instead. TriStar let the license expire in 2003. In 2004, Toho began trademarking new iterations of TriStar's Godzilla as " Zilla ", with only
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