Dark Horse Comics at NYAF 2008

One of the few booths I visited frequently at New York Anime Festival 2008 would have to be the Dark Horse Comics exhibition booth. Not only did they carry all the Vampire Hunter D-Hideyuki Kikuchi-Yoshitaka Amano-related books and plenty of other titles including Gantz and Blood+, but they also carried a few exclusives and early previews of what's coming soon.

On display were two beautiful Vampire Hunter D busts - one in a gorgeous mono variant (black and white) and the other in a color variant. The busts were sculpted by Tim Bruckner who said that bringing Amano's art forward in 3-D was "the assignment of a lifetime." Both busts are 8.5" tall, packaged in a deluxe full color box, and retailed at $74.99. The color variant will be released January 21, 2009, while the limited edition monochromatic style paint will be released a week later, on January 28th. Pre-orders are now open at tfaw.com.

Moving on, you may remember a certain poster that was specially commissioned for the 20th year anniversary of Dark Horse publishing manga, which featured a calligraphy-style illustration by renowned aritst Yoshitaka Amano. If you've seen it, then you know what I mean. It is stunning in its simplicity and how it "captures the elusive spirit of creativity." By popular demand, Amano-san agreed to allow Dark Horse to produce a special collector's edition of the piece as a lithograph (18" x 24") for collectors - signed and numbered. Limited to 250 pieces, this Amano Limited Edition Print is set to be released October 27 for $200.00. But as a NYAF exclusive, Dark Horse brought a couple with them for sale way before the release date. In keeping with the spirit of the VHD-themed con, oh who am I kidding, you know I jumped for it, I grabbed my # 78 signed Amano Limited Edition Print and made sure it was safely in my posession till I got home. Thank you Michael Gombos!