Monarch is an old serial series of film dating from 1945, found only 2 years ago by Dark Horse after seeing a trailer of it at the Moss Film in Moscow . The only film of its kind, it came about when one Allester Galloway, a war photographer from 1942-44, was called in to work at Hollywood 's American Liberty Pictures. What he created was not political per se, but still promoted the war effort and remains highly anti-German and anti-Japanese. The series is based upon the model set by Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers , with a hero named Yellow Jacket, dressed in one.

The series fizzled out in '45 because, by then, the war was almost entirely over, and anti-German and anti-Japanese sentiments needed not be promoted any longer. Besides, the filmmakers actually hired German engineers for props, people who later used the money to make weapons. Rarely seen, the serial film is shot in Technicolor, the only serial of its time to be done so.

Today, the US government denies knowledge of Monarch of the Moon and the American Liberty Film Alliance is long gone. In fact, no one can find records of the company's existence. Thus, the rights to the film were public domain when Dark Horse acquired the footage and all that comes with it. The price of restoring it is no question, says Liberty – the first time Mike Richardson said money didn't matter. He compares it to restoring the great Lawrence of Arabia . Also in the film is a government promo reel, “Our Job in Japan ,” which is so anti-Japanese that it was cut. However, if the film takes off and becomes a big hit, Dark Horse is thinking about making a black and white version and adding the offensive material back in.

Six serials comprise the film, with a possible missing seventh out there waiting to be found. Together, the six pieces create 106 minutes of screen time, which Dark Horse has carefully cut down to 96 minutes. Mostly trimmed down were repetitive shots, as of a car taking a left turn repeatedly. Another scene pared down consisted of a fight with robots vs. the Yellow Jacket Man, with insects attacking. The film contains over 900 technical digital effects shots, a record number for the era. This led to many accidents on set, particularly involving extras.

The most recent excitement regarding Monarch was the Sotheby's auction of the Yellow Jacket's jacket in with some Lucasfilm memorabilia. Still, that the film will be released this year is of no small consequence!

Meanwhile, another Dark Horse release coming soon is Splinter , described by director Michael D. Olmos as Boys ‘N the Hood meets Seven. The film stars Olmos' father, James Edward Olmos, and Tom Sizemore, who all collaborated together to film fine performances from the actors and the new talent found in casting Latino actors and actresses. The film blends a lot of elements, many culled from Japanese and Korean cinematic techniques, including a Korean soundtrack. Look for it soon from the collaboration between Dark Horse and Image Entertainment.

Other projects coming out from Dark Horse are Driftwood, which was edited by the same person who did the original version of The Exorcist , Bud Smith, and Hellboy 2 and Alien vs. Predator , both of which have scripts in the works.

Stay tuned to the IESB for further updates!