Mon Feb 18, 2008 — by Rick Marshall

ComicMix at Toy Fair: Eisner's 'Spirit' Meets Conan at Dark Horse

It's Hellboy-lite, but full of Spirit!

There was quite a bit to see at the Dark Horse Comics booth during this year's Toy Fair, from statues based on Doctor Who and The Dark Crystal to busts based on Robert E. Howard's Conan universe and various other products inspired by comics.

Most notable of the bunch, however, were a pair of statues based on the title character of Will Eisner's The Spirit comics. With a Frank Miller-helmed film based on the character scheduled to hit theaters early next year, Dark Horse Comics' statues are based on the original Eisner design for the character -- literally.

According to DH's Vice President of Product Development, the statues are based on sketches Eisner made in the event that a 3-D sculpture was ever made of the character. Dark Horse acquired the sketches from the Eisner Estate after the creator's passing, and had the statues made from teh sketched designs.

"The statues aren't just in the Eisner style," explained Scroggy, "but actually designed by Eisner."

Dark Horse also had a few busts from its upcoming "Savage Sword Collection" of products based on the work of Conan creator Robert E. Howard. The design of the busts will be based on recent covers of each character's current Dark Horse Comics series.

In the spirit (pun totally intended) of letting a picture speak a thousand words, we've put together the following gallery of highlights from the Dark Horse booth.

First, a larger image of the Will Eisner-designed statues of The Spirit.

Next is the Conan bust from the "Savage Sword Collection".

And, of course, Kull the Conqueror

A few shots from their "Classic Comic Book Characters" line, featuring The Rocketeer...

... as well as (l-r) The Goon and The Ghost.

And what would Dark Horse Comics' booth be without a little Hellboy?

A reaver ship from Joss Whedon's Serenity.

This was one of several statues based on the film The Dark Crystal displayed at the booth.

This is the "uRac" Dark Crystal statue, which reminded me of how much these creatures terrified me when I first saw the film.

Attempting to photograph this Doctor Who statue through the glass display case doesn't do it justice. The Weta-produced statue is inspired by the classic Tom Baker Doctor Who confrontation with Davros, the leader of the Daleks. You can get a better look at it here. There was also a statue of the Tom Baker-era "Master and Auton", as well as a statue based on the new series, titled "Dalek's Destruction" -- all of which were a bit too difficult to capture behind the glass of the display case.

Be sure to check back throughout the week as we post coverage of the upcoming DC Direct and Mattel comics-inspired toy lines, as well as audio and video coverage of the show.

See? You didn't even need a ticket!

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