As of July 2000, the Dark Horse Maverick imprint will be celebrating its very first birthday. And what a year it's been! Having launched with the first issue of Frank Miller's Sin City: Hell and Back, Dark Horse Maverick consolidated our creator-owned, creator-produced titles under one roof -- such diverse titles as Mike Mignola's Hellboy, Stan Sakai's Usagi Yojimbo, Paul Chadwick's The World Below, Matt Wagner's Grendel, and Sergio Aragonés' Groo, to mention just a few -- while opening its doors to new projects by new creators, such as The Horror of Collier County by Rich Tommaso, or providing a home for established creators' labors of love, such as P. Craig Russell's The Ring of the Nibelung. A year ago, I wrote in this same space that attempting to unite the unique visions of each individual creator was a paradoxical enterprise at best, and yet, thanks to the unparalleled design work by Maverick art director Cary Grazzini, each of the Maverick titles has benefited from both a distinctive look as well as a unified approach to that look. And, let's face it, everyone just loves the horse heads! That was the boss's idea -- Mike Richardson, that is -- an idea that truly reflects the spirit of independence that is Dark Horse Maverick.
We're adding a new horse head to the herd, one we're especially proud of. In July, Will Eisner's Last Day in Vietnam will be published under the Maverick imprint. Will is perhaps the original "maverick" of the comics field. Creator of The Spirit, Will was one of the first cartoonists to recognize the potential of the medium as an art form. He wrote and drew what is arguably the first graphic novel ever, the seminal A Contract With God, and has since gone on to produce many more graphic novels as well as the field's first textbook, Comics & Sequential Art. Last Day in Vietnam is Will's newest graphic novel, a memoir of short stories about soldiers in wartime who are engaged in larger, more personal combat. Some of the stories are comical, some heartrending, some frightening, yet all display the incredible insight into humanity characteristic of Will's entire oeuvre.
As if that weren't enough to offer you on the occasion of Maverick's first anniversary, we've also got a birthday treat entitled Dark Horse Maverick 2000. This 48-page anthology will also be released in July and will showcase stories by several Maverick mainstays as well as newcomers to the line. Frank Miller grants us "Mercy!" while Paul Chadwick's Concrete ventures out into "Family Night." Jason Pearson brings us a long-awaited, new Body Bags strip, and Stan Sakai recounts his adventures in Norway with Sergio Aragonés. 
Brian Ralph, C. Scott Morse, and Dylan Horrocks round out the issue with their respective tales: "Deep-Dig," "Ancient Joe," and "Western Wind."If you're not yet familiar with these three young cartoonists, you will be soon -- trust me!
You are cordially invited to join us in celebrating Dark Horse Maverick's first birthday -- it's gonna be a helluva party! And just wait 'til you see what we've got lined up for Year Two. Did I hear someone mention Neil Gaiman?
-- Diana Schutz
senior editor