If you're like me, you've noticed that your '96 calendar mysteriously ends somewhere around the last part of December. I'm not sure who thought this was a good idea, but it's prompted me to take a look back at the high points of the past twelve months:

  • Tom Yeates, inker on Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan, and sweetheart Laurie Almeida gave birth to a baby girl, Olivia, last January. The whole family is doing fine.

  • Hard Looks author Andrew Vachss was presented with a Bob Clampet Humanitarian Award for his work on the Thailand boycott to help end child sexual exploitation in Thailand.

  • Famed author Harlan Ellison received a Bram Stoker Award for "Chatting with Anubis" from Harlan Ellison's Dream Corridor #4.

  • At the Eisner Awards this year (held at the San Diego Comic-Con International), Stan Sakai, creator of Usagi Yojimbo, picked up two awards -- one for "Talent Deserving of Wider Recognition," and one for "Best Lettering."

  • Geof Darrow won an Eisner as "Best Penciller/Inker" for his amazing work on The Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot.

  • Writer-artist Frank Miller added yet another Eisner to his growing collection when Sin City: The Big Fat Kill won the award for "Best Limited Series."

  • The Eisner for "Best Graphic Album -- Reprint" went to writer-artist Bryan Talbot for his acclaimed story The Tale of One Bad Rat.

  • Creator Evan Dorkin also scored an Eisner ("Best Short Story") with "The Eltingville Comic-Book, Science-Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, and Role-Playing Club in Bring Me the Head of Boba Fett" from Instant Piano #3.

  • According to The Mask and Lobo/Mask artist Doug Mahnke, he and wife Michelle now have a second daughter. Says Doug's note: "Teresa Nicolle Mahnke was born 8/30/96 at 10:41 PM. A beautiful little baby girl of the finest quality."

  • Meanwhile, at World-Con, the World Science-Fiction Convention, penciller, painter, and Godzilla artist Bob Eggleton won a coveted Hugo Award for "Best Artist." It was the second time Bob has won this award.

  • Monkeyman & O'Brien creator Arthur Adams and the aforementioned Bryan Talbot were both recently in Spain for the Salon Internacional Del Comic Del Principado De Asturias convention, where they were each presented with Huxtur Awards. Arthur won for his cover illustration for Classic Star Wars: A New Hope #1, and Bryan won for A Tale of One Bad Rat.

    All in all, it was an eventful year for Dark Horse creators, and we at Dark Horse congratulate all of them on their achievements. We also want to thank you, our readers, for your continued support and enthusiasm -- we couldn't do it without you.

    Happy holidays to all, and best wishes for the coming year!

    Randy Stradley
    creative director