Dark Horse Comics started out in the 1980s and quickly established a reputation among comic book fans for gritty storytelling, hard-boiled pulp fiction, and brilliant treatment of licensed characters. Each one, from RoboCop and Terminator to Tarzan and Hellboy, has helped make up the legendary publisher's existence. Iconic creators, such as Frank Miller, Mike Mignola, and Gerard Jones, have built up the company's best stories and created countless dedicated Dark Horse customers.
Dark Horse continues to help lead the world of indie comics and has a particularly strong reputation when it comes to crossover comics and original characters. The 1990s were an especially strong period for the company, but its creative output hasn't waned as the years have continued. Indeed, even the most recent decade saw some of the company's best stories told by seminal creators.
10 BPRD Plague Of Frogs
The BPRD is the core supporting cast of the main Hellboy universe, with the likes of Abe Sapien and Johann Kraus forming the best and weirdest agents of the department. One of the universe's best stories was Plague of Frogs, which had the heroes face off against the frogmen that first featured in Seed of Destruction.
Plague of Frogs followed the BPRD agents as they scrambled to defeat the frog men as they faced off against a cult as well as the rise of fungus-infected zombies. The story is one of the best things to come from the Hellboy universe, and it played up the strengths of its heroes without relying on Hellboy to make it interesting.
9 Goon
Goon is known for combining horror and comedy to bring about the comic book version of a B-movie in the best way possible. Following the man known as the Goon and his comedic, slapstick sidekick, Franky, the series takes its heroes on a journey through the mystical world of zombies and monsters.
Goon had many great stories, but the crossover between the tough hero and Hellboy himself after he was transported into a Goon comic. The series is, overall, a light-hearted action comedy perfect for fans of movies like Army of Darkness or Bubba Ho-Tep, bringing the same level of tongue-in-cheek humor to a horror story.
8 Transformers Vs Terminator
Though technically a collaboration between IDW and Dark Horse, Transformers vs Terminator can't be ignored as one of the greatest IP crossovers in Dark Horse history. The series followed a reimagined timeline for both worlds, this time with the Autobots teaming up with Arnie's T-800 protector.
Transformers vs Terminator followed the alliance between the two heroic machines as they faced off with the Decepticons. The series was a brilliant callback to both the classic Saturday morning cartoon — with its original designs — and the unrelenting nature of a Terminator intent on carrying out its mission.
7 300
300 took one of the greatest battles in history and turned it into an epic comic book action story, exaggerating just about every aspect of the Battle of Thermopylae. Focused on Leonidas' valiant last stand with his 300 greatest soldiers against the enormous Persian invasion, the mini-series combined a historical epic with a touch of fantasy.
300 is an exploration of Leonidas' life, Spartan warrior culture, and a true David and Goliath showdown as the Spartans defended their island from conquest. The series doesn't pretend to be accurate, and that's its strength, allowing for a dark fantasy tone as the Persian forces are reimagined as almost unstoppable superhumans.
6 Sin City: That Yellow Bastard
Frank Miller's Sin City universe contains many great characters and stories, but That Yellow Bastard stands out, especially thanks to its hero, Hartigan. While it was the story of Marv that kicked off the universe, Hartigan's struggle after being falsely accused of heinous crimes is
It's no small wonder that Miller's Sin City movie chose That Yellow Bastard to start with, delivering the most tragic of all the stories in his library. Following his release, Hartigan gets pursued by the eponymous Yellow Bastard he defeated at the start of the comic. It's a classic tale of an honorable old hero protecting a young woman from an irredeemably evil foe.
5 Predator Vs Judge Dredd
Predator vs Judge Dredd brought the legendary alien hunter race to Mega City One, where it tore through the street Judges for a final showdown with Dredd. With psi officer Schaeffer, the descendant of Dutch from the original movie, Dredd learned this Predator was dying — and it chose him as its dying battle.
While the Yautjas have countless comic book appearances — some of the best at Dark Horse — the battle with Dredd was by far the most action-packed and surprisingly emotional. The sci-fi action epic matches the movies themselves in quality and then some, pitting two of the greatest action characters against one another.
4 Dark Horse's Indiana Jones
Indiana Jones has changed hands in comics a few times, but it's hard to deny Dark Horse did the adventure hero justice better than anyone. This was thanks to its format of telling contained adventures across mini-series rather than the more serialized nature of the Marvel series.
Stories like The Fate of Atlantis and The Sargasso Pirates followed Indy as he traveled the world in search of priceless artifacts, battling Nazis and rivals along the way. Dark Horse's Indiana Jones stories put together are perhaps the best depiction of the hero outside of the original trilogy.
3 The Umbrella Academy
Gerard Way's iconic superhero team comic, The Umbrella Academy combines a family dynamic, fantasy and just plain weirdness to form one of indie comics' best teams. After the death of their adoptive patriarch, the Hargreeves children, each one miraculously born, return home and reunite to save the world.
The Umbrella Academy went mainstream through its Netflix TV adaptation, but the comic universe remains king, and the eccentricities of the heroes shine through much better on the page. The series combines the oddities of the Doom Patrol with the personality dynamics of The Breakfast Club to create one brilliant and unique universe.
2 Black Hammer
Black Hammer is perhaps the best new Dark Horse creation of the 2010s and was one big homage to classic superheroes like Captain America and Adam Strange. The influence of Golden Age science fiction on the series is what makes it an especially strong book, and it gives readers a deeper-than-normal look at its characters.
The Black Hammer universe spans several series and is perfect for readers who love comics that embrace the strange and the unknown. The long, building mystery about the heroes' banishment to a farm and their lives as heroes creates an excellent and unique spin on superhero team books.
1 Hellboy: Seed Of Destruction
Hellboy is arguably the face of Dark Horse Comics when it comes to their creator-owned IP and has been in constant print since his breakout mini-series, Seed of Destruction. Here, the hero faced off with Rasputin himself as the Russian villain sought to resurrect an ancient terror from another universe.
The Hellboy universe has incredible consistency in quality, and Seed of Destruction is far from the only excellent story. Stories like Occult Intelligence, Wake the Devil, and Long Night at Goloski Station all help make this one of the best shared universes in comics.