MILWAUKIE, Ore. — Following the success of Kill All Immortals, Masterminds, The Midnight Shadows, and Break Out, hit-maker Zack Kaplan and Dark Horse are continuing their partnership to offer a thrilling slate of new 2026 comic series throughout the Dark Horse 40th anniversary year.
Starting with Only The Savage Are Left in June, Kaplan teams up with creator superstar artist Stefano Raffaele (Alien Vs. Captain America, Detective Comics, Star Wars), followed by The Smart Division with Eisner-winning artist John J Pearson (In Bloom, Infernals, Mindset and Department of Truth) in late summer, before finishing out the year’s lineup with Marvel superstar artist Francesco Manna (Imperial Wars Exiles, Ultraman, Carnage and Predator), for a finale to the story of Frey Asvald in Kill All Immortals III in the fall. The slate includes the work of Thiago Rocha (Sister Imperator, Kill All Immortals), and Eisner-winning letterer Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou (Masterminds, The Witcher: The Bear and the Butterfly) alongside Eisner-winning designer Tom Muller.
“My experience with Dark Horse over the past several years has been a testament to their commitment to creators, and I’m thrilled to partner with them to raise the bar in 2026. I’m joined by three amazing artists at the top of their game, Stefano, John and Francesco, we’re gonna focus on dynamic and dramatic stories, and we’re going all in to give readers something special.” – Zack Kaplan
Only The Savage Are Left
Stefano Raffaele joins Kaplan, with colors by Rocha and letters by Otsmane-Elhaou, for Only The Savage Are Left, a powerful and dramatic action-adventure story where surviving the monster-apocalypse requires you to become a monster yourself.
“I am so excited to partner with Stefano on what we hope will be a powerful standout series, Only The Savage Are Left,” shared Kaplan. “Comics like The Walking Dead were an inspiration for me to write comics, so to follow in its footsteps and to put our own take on the post-apocalyptic genre, and to explore the tragically savage nature of our society right now, well, we’re very excited. The series is dangerous and heartfelt and it’s gonna rock you.”
“Only The Savage Are Left is a dream project for me,” confirmed Raffaele. “Zack and I have been looking for the right story to collaborate on for a long time, and this one immediately felt special. It’s powerful, emotional, and visually daring, a chance for me to fully unleash my cinematic approach to comics.”
Look for Only The Savage Are Left to arrive in comic shops on June 3, 2026.
The Smart Division
Kaplan and Pearson, with letterer Otsmane-Elhaou, follow up their series Mindset with a dark and modern sci-fi detective series about the first AI app that helps us commit the perfect crimes, and the two disparate FBI agents who must hunt it down and stop it.
“John Pearson and I have been planning our second series for years,” confides Kaplan. “Looking for the right story and right time. The Smart Division takes everything you loved about our first series Mindset, the playing with form, the thoughtful commentary on technology, and the tense character drama, and raises the bar, with more danger and dread. Artificial Intelligence is the hot topic of our time, but we’re exploring it like you’ve never seen – what happens when it helps us commit the perfect crimes. You’re gonna be blown away.”
“The Smart Division is a stone-cold crime thriller that takes you on an exploration of humanity and technology, which is exactly why I’m pushing my artwork into a more traditional approach and exploring the juxtaposition of the digital and the traditional,” says Pearson. “Embracing human errors and accidents as part of the creative process is integral to making art that speaks to people in a meaningful way, so with The Smart Division that clear indication of it being made by a human hand is central to showing you the division, decay and evolution in this broken world of technological abundance.”
Find The Smart Division at your favorite comic shop in late fall. More details to come.
Kill All Immortals III
Rocha and Otsmane-Elhaou return for the violently fantastic conclusion of Kaplan’s immortal Viking trilogy alongside Manna’s high impact artwork. The series is heralded as Succession meets John Wick with the fever-pitch action of heroines like Erika Slaughter. The action-packed series finale will see Viking warrior Frey Asvald face a broken family, a modern world of immortal rivals, and the ultimate question – will she free herself from immortality or accept it? Ringo-Award winning, Clio-winning cover artist Oliver Barrett returns with Francesco Manna for some killer Issue #1 covers.
“I cannot wait to bring you the finale of Kill All Immortals,” exclaims Kaplan. “This series has been a big hit since it came out, capturing an exciting family drama of barbaric Vikings in our modern world. We’re so lucky to be joined by Marvel superstar Francesco Manna to deliver a poetic and action-packed conclusion to Frey Asvald’s story. We will not be holding back! It will be worthy of the series we’ve given you so far!”
Kill All Immortals III is expected to hit your local comic shop in the fall.
The excitement for Zack Kaplan stories from Dark Horse Comics in 2026 begins when Only The Savage Are Left #1 arrives in comic shops on June 3, 2026, for $4.99. Visit Find your comics store for more details and stores near you.
Look for more details on The Smart Division #1 and Kill All Immortals III #1 later this year.
