A Dark Horse editorial employee was unable to locate the art pages for SpyBoy #13 last week on the day they were to be shipped to the seriesÂ’ inker, Norman Lee, sources at the publisher say. Production of the issue has been put on hold while the editorial staff of the Oregon-based publisher attempts to determine where the pages might be. While pages of art are sometimes misplaced for a period of hours while in transit from department to department in the Dark Horse offices, both the production staff and the editors claim no art has actually gone missing for more than a couple of days, and the art for an entire book has never before been misplaced in-house.

"I don’t quite know what to make of this," said SpyBoy editor Phil Amara, who was attending the 2000 International ComiCon held in San Diego when the pages were reported missing. "We’ve double-checked with Pop (artist Pop Mhan—ed.) and even the series’ writer, Peter David, to make sure that it wasn’t accidentally shipped to either one of them, and it wasn’t. At this point we’re beginning to consider the possibility of a theft, but I’d hate to think that could be what happened."

Dark Horse manga editor Mike Hansen compared the recent SpyBoy art disappearance to an incident that occurred earlier this year, in which artist Adam WarrenÂ’s car was stolen with an entire pencilled issue of The Dirty Pair sitting in the front seat. The car was recovered within a few days, and, fortunately, so was the art. Dark Horse editorial is hoping for a similar outcome with this matter.

Inflammatory reports have appeared on the official SpyBoy website (www. SpyBoy.net), but the claims of those posting these allegations have not been substantiated and will not be confirmed by Dark Horse unless they are proven true.

Stay tuned to www.darkhorse.com for news and updates on this matter.