At the Manga Panel at the New York Comic-Con, Dark Horse editor Carl Horn announced that the company was planning to double its output of manga titles in 2006, to a total of more than 70, and expand the range of Dark Horse releases to encompass all of the major manga genres. 

Horn also announced that Dark Horse would be publishing an American version of the quarterly SS magazine of manga techniques.  SS, which will debut in the U.S. during the third quarter, features examples of art from up-and-coming artists, which are then critiqued by manga professionals.  The editors of SS are very interested in looking at art from around the world and Dark Horse plans to supply plenty of examples of works from aspiring U.S. creators, which will be highlighted in subsequent issues of both the American and Japanese editions. 

In addition to SS, which features slick color printing and high production values, Dark Horse also plans to release the equally lavish Samurai Champloo Roman Album in October -- and both SS and the Samurai Champloo Roman Album will be distributed through both the direct market and bookstore channels.

Among the new manga licenses that Dark Horse announced at the NYCC were: Shin Lone Wolf & Cub by Kazuo Koike and Hideki Mori (a 6-volume sequel to the classic series); Translucent by Kazuhiro Okamoto (the story of an eighth grade girl with a disease that turns her translucent); Who Fighter by Seihou Takizawa (about a WWII fighter pilot who shoots down a UFO), and two series drawn by Housui Yamazaki, Mail and Kurosagi Delivery Service of Corpse.