Dark Horse Comics to Launch ‘Shaolin Cowboy’ Paperback

Next year, Lord Evelyn Dunkirk Winniferd Esq. the Third will finally get his day in the sun — alongside his human companion, the unnamed and silent Shaolin monk who accompanies him and can’t quite help but get himself into trouble. Dark Horse Comics is launching a new publishing program collecting Geof Darrow’s acclaimed Shaolin Cowboy series in its entirety in paperback for the first time.

Shaolin Cowboy initially launched in 2004 from Burlyman Entertainment, the short-lived comic book company created by the Wachowskis, with Lana and Lilly contributing opening dialogue to the first issue — the only material in the entire run not written by creator Darrow. (Darrow illustrates the entire series.) In 2013, after a publication delay of a number of years, Dark Horse Comics took over publishing, relaunching and renumbering the title.

The series has won the Inkpot Award, and been nominated for multiple Eisner Awards; Darrow himself is known for his design work with the Wachowskis on The Matrix and Speed Racer, as well as comic book collaborations with Frank Miller and Andrew Vachss.

The new collected editions, which will be released on a monthly basis following an April 2021 launch, will be the first time the series has been collected in English-language paperback editions. All three books will feature all-new covers by Darrow, colored by Eisner Award-winning colorist Dave Stewart, making their debut below.

Shaolin Cowboy: Shemp Buffer will be released April 20, 2021, with Shaolin Cowboy: Who Will Stop The Reign following May 18, 2021. The series will conclude with Shaolin Cowboy: Start Trek, schedule for a June 22, 2021 release. All three volumes are prices for $19.99.