Dark Horse Comics began running full comic stories on the social networking site MySpace in 2007. The site myspace.com/darkhorsepresents offers exclusive content from star Dark Horse creators in the tradition of the Dark Horse Presentsanthologies from the 1980s, only free to anyone online. So far, those comics have been collected into four anthologies. This latest collection is a smorgasbord of stories and art styles, offering readers an introduction to the variety of titles Dark Horse publishes.

With a nod to two of their most pop-culture friendly series, the anthology begins with a Buffy the Vampire Slayer story and ends with a Star Wars one. The Buffytale is written by creator Joss Whedon with art by Buffy comics cover artist Jo Chen. It’s a brief but funny look at the Slayer and some of the side characters from her past, with a little something-something for the fan girls. The Star Warsstory is set in the Dark Times series, approximately four months after Revenge of the Sith. Written by Mick Harrison, with art by Douglas Wheatley, it also is one for the fans, though even casual knowledge of the Star Wars universe allows readers to see the strength in Harrison’s quiet writing and Wheatley’s realistic art.
 
Other Dark Horse comic series make their appearance as well. A brief Rapturestory, written by Taki Soma and Michael Avon Oeming (who also handles the illustrations), will whet the appetite for more of that apocalyptic/tough-girl series. Sinfest: Street Poetry (written and illustrated by Tatsuya Ishida), The Marquis and the Coachman (from the series The Marquis: Inferno by Guy Davis),And What Shall I Find There? (a Hellboy/B.P.R.D. story from Mike Mignola and Joshua Dysart with art by Douglas Wheatley), and The Goon and Ann Romano: Gone Dishin’ (by Ann Romano with art from Kristian Donaldson) all also offer something extra to fans, while still being eye-catching introductions for new readers.

Topping things off are stories from Matt Kindt (The Secret Files of the Giant Man in Paris), Gilbert Hernandez (Dreamstar), Alec Longstreth (R.J. Jr.: The Dragon’s Librarian), Carolyn Main (A Day at the Zoo), and more, which are complete in and of themselves. These round the collection out nicely, keeping it out of the realm of “sales catalog” and making it seem more like what it really is: a collection of terrific, fun comic stories.