5 out of 5

Well: My compliments to editor Mike Richardson for finally finding what I feel like is the best representation of DHP yet.  While the classic anthology has never had the appeal of something more thematically focused – such as 2000 AD – to me, I’ve always enjoyed the concept of DHP, and reading any given issue is generally worthwhile.  When you’re collecting them, it’s easy to miss a ‘backbone’ story that keeps going for a while, like ‘Sin City,’ or something you can reliably return to every few issues, and that potential problem still exists in volume 3.  However, the now 48-page format is the perfect size for swallowing the hodgepodge of tales you’re guaranteed in any given issue.  In the original volume, at regular comic size, Dark Horse Presents could generally only fit about 3 stories in, making it way too apparent when all the entries were flubs.  A few years ago, with the 64-page (I think) 7.99 version, it was the opposite deal: DHP invites a mix of well-knowns and newbies and seemingly gives them pretty free range to tell whatever story they want, so while you almost always get a batch of readable, interesting bits, the true standout – something that was meant for the short format – is a rarity.  And thus with too many pages, it all starts to blend together.  So now we’re in the middle, and it’s perfect.  Even when an issue is average, you’ve sat with it for long enough to warm to it, but not so long that you put it down before you’re done.  And the thick, glossy cover stock and heavy pages give it a really professional flare, so the book just looks good.  I can take or leave Darrow’s spot illustrations, but it’s cool that Richardson has held on to him as a house artist for a couple of volumes.

Sure, I can’t tell you that DHP is astounding cover-to-cover month to month, but there’s absolutely a lot of great bits to discover in the mag, and I’m happy that Richardson and crew have settled on what I think is the ultimate format to make such discoveries happen.