The type of book you'll find in the Dark Horse Originals imprint is one near to my heart. Because I don't know about you, but it turns out that my favorite comics have a lot in common with my favorite people.

Here's what I mean: For as long as I can remember, I've gravitated toward folks who I like to call the "strange delightfuls." They aren't strange in a deliberate way, like hipsters wearing ugly '80s clothes out of ironic insincerity, or people collecting kitsch that's so garish it's funny -- that's too cynical for me, and I'm an inveterate cynic. No, I'm talking about the comfortable and slightly odd jobs: the people genuine enough to embrace their interests and idiosyncrasies as parts of themselves rather than shying away from them.

There's a great old quote from Gore Vidal about style that really fits them: These are the people who know who they are, what they want to say, and they don't give a damn. They're the rose among the tulips, the plaid suit in a meeting of pinstripes, or vice-versa; they defy expectations and they're comfortable with that. Maybe they supplement their daily intake of hardcore death metal with ludicrous death metal-like DragonForce or Dethklok -- or accent a Goth wardrobe with pink hearts. They're self-accepting folks who express their personalities in authentic ways, whether in the form of a costumed wedding or by simply naming their pet "Bunny Rabbit" or "Willie Nelson." Nailing down a hard and fast definition of these people is like trying to describe jazz, or nailing Jello to a wall, and completely misses the point.

Dark Horse Originals are kindred spirits with my favorite people precisely because they break the mold: They're difficult to describe because they transcend whatever genre they start in, and the only thing they truly have in common is that they're undiluted expressions of the people who created them. They often test the boundaries of the medium, challenging what you think comics can and should be-books like Beanworld, or Maxwell Strangewell, or Alice in Sunderland, and people like indie heroes Rick Geary and Tony Millionaire. You wouldn't mistake a David Lynch movie with a Stanley Kubrick film, nor a Larry Marder book with an Eric Drooker book, but you sure as hell know one when you see one. They're great creators with original visions.

Dark Horse Originals have more in common with slam poetry or expressionist art than with mainstream comics -- they're more Virginia Woolf than they are Frank Miller. They're the type of comics I get the most passionate and excited about, and are usually from the creators for whom I hold the most esteem. These people are at the top of their game and know exactly what they want to say, and nobody else would say it quite like they will.

They're Dark Horse Originals. They've been a part of our line since day one, and now they have a name.

Sometimes it's best to defy expectations.

Ineffable,

Katie Moody
Associate Editor