Dark Horse Presents #35

Published by: Dark Horse Comics
Released on: Apr. 16, 2014
Writer: various
Artist: various
Cover: Dean Motter

Dark Horse's long-running anthology series is in its second volume and delivers a variety of stories and serials in a mixed genre bag: fantasy, mystery, crime drama, sci-fi, horror, superhero…just about anything. A host of talent creating a myriad of stories is what DH Presents is all about. As always, every issue contains a number of stories already in progress, a couple of story conclusions, and also some serials just starting out. This issue's cover is provided by Mister X artist (and writer/creator) Dean Motter, with Geof Darrow providing some spot illustrations as well as the AWESOME back cover. This month's stories:

• “Usagi Yojimbo: The Artist Chapter 1” by Stan Sakai. Yoshi's unique painting of Usagi Yojimbo's portrait leads the rabbit ronin to question his technique. Yoshi reveals he studied under foreigners, but contact with foreigners is something that will get you executed. Yoshi believes he is not on the government's radar, but Usagi knows better. But what Usagi doesn't know is why assassins were sent to dispatch Yoshi.
• “S.H.O.O.T. First: Bett And Byron Chapter 2” by Justin Aclin and Nicolas Daniel Selma. Byron has a tough time accepting the fact that Bett is better than he in a leadership role, and her ascension over him puts them at odds. Her taking the reins in taking out an “outside actor” (i.e. supernatural creature) and saving him due to his stupidity gives a slap to the ol' pride of big bad Byron.
• “Breaking Out” by Chad Lambert and Arpi Kubiantoro. Writer Chad Lambert stars in this tale of his leaving the cutthroat radio business for and even rougher career: telemarketing. And if that didn't suck enough, he went from there to an ad agency.
• “Mister X: Frozen Assets Chapter 3” by Dean Motter. In the conclusion, Honeycutt the repo man gets Goldfarb's head thawed out and wants to know where the old man stashed all the money. A fast-lived fallout with his buddy Boyd ends poorly, but the info Goldfarb give Honeycutt was legit. But there's just one thing he didn't consider: Mister X. And there's something Mister X didn't count on either.
• “The Secret Order Of The Teddy Bears Chapter 2” by Mike Richardson and Ron Chan. This colorful looking tale, pink bear Armel arrives to the training camp to be made a true teddy bear. He wants to protect the children from the ancient bear killer Arktophonos, and Artie the one-eyed teddy is the right bear to train him. He must first pass the rigorous test of remaining motionless despite all distractions.
• “Mr. Monster Vs. The Brain Bats Of Venus! Chapter 3” by Michael T. Gilbert. Part three ends the story of Mr. Monster and the Brain Bats. Still on the hunt for those nasty Brain Bats, Mr. Monster pursues them with his replacement Gal Friday, Babs, into the swamps. With the help of a voodoo-witch he enlists the aid of an army incapable of having their brains controlled: an army of the living dead.
• “Davey Jones And The Mystery Of The Monocle Men Part 2” by Dennis Culver. Looking to help their grandfather, two children call up Davey Jones from the sea. Jones leads them down into the sewers to find their gramps along with a scallywag he captured. The little scallywag says he's bringing them to the old man, and he does. But it might be too late.
• “Cruel Biology Chapter 3” by Christopher Sebela and Brian Churilla. The disease dropped on the island by the military balloon has kicked into high gear and the natives are dropping like flies. Said natives decide it's the fault of Zimmerman, Curtis, and O'Brien, the three US soldiers on the island, and look to exact some revenge. The ship at sea can't get them until the morning, so they'll have to stick it out until then.
• “The Deleted Chapter 4” by Brendan McCarthy and Darrin Grimwood. So ends the most colorful tale in the issue, which is also the most boring tale in the issue. Sim world, virtual reality, videogame story. Blah. Sorry. Just could not get into it through the whole four chapters.
• “Integer City Chapter 6” by Jamie S. Rich and Brent Schoonover. Tekthulu, the resurrected demon thing, has no interest in being held by the cult as a captive and escapes into the electrical grid. Jonny Kilmeister gets Nathalie back to her crime boss of a father. The authorities want to shake Jonny down to pay for all the property damage he caused but he gets a little help from someone looking to maintain her reputation. This chapter concludes the story.

A number of stories conclude this time around and only one new one started, presumably a 2-chapter story. Why? Because this title, or at least this version of it, is stopping with the next issue. They'll be slimming down the page count and re-launching the title at some point in the near future. This issue finishes some good tales like “Integer City” and the Mr. Monster one, and surprisingly “The Secret Order of the Teddy Bears was fun. Stan Sakai's Usagi Yojimbo was a treat, as his visual style has always been so appealing. All-in-all, issue #35 is a good one, and nearly every story inside has merit.