Official Press Release
VISIONARY DIRECTOR GUILLERMO DEL TORO UNLEASHES HIS NEW YORK TIMES
BEST-SELLING NOVEL SERIES,
THE STRAIN IN COMICS!
SAN DIEGO, CA—JULY 20, 2011—Fans, media and industry professionals mobbed the Dark Horse booth at Comic Con this evening for a chance to catch a glimpse of Dark Horse’s fall line-up, including the upcoming comic adaptation of The Strain, created by visionary director, Guillermo del Toro and novelist Chuck Hogan.
When a Boeing 777 lands at JFK International Airport and goes dark on the runway, the Center for Disease Control, fearing a terrorist attack, calls in Dr. Ephraim Goodweather and his team of expert biological-threat first responders. Only an elderly pawnbroker from Spanish Harlem suspects a darker purpose behind the event—an ancient threat intent on covering mankind in darkness.
Adapting the first novel from Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan’s The Strain Trilogy, this horrifying first chapter—told in eight issues—deals with an outbreak of diabolical proportions that puts a terrifying twist on the vampire genre.
“When discussing The Strain, Chuck and I agreed on one thing regarding any possible adaptation: It should not start until after we were done with the last book in the trilogy and we would only entertain a medium that would allow us to expand the world and the characters we had created” said co-creator, Guillermo del Toro. Working with Dark Horse, David Lapham and Mike Huddleston provides us with the chance of expanding it further. A dream come true!”
“The chance to work with del Toro on any project was just too good to pass up” said writer, David Lapham. “But the fact that this is a vicious horror project, that I’m teamed with a great artist, and been given a great amount of creative freedom to interpret the novel has made this a dream project.”
Adapted by writer David Lapham (Stray Bullets, Kull), with art by Mike Huddleston (MK Ultra), the chilling first issue arrives on sale on December 14.
ORCHID STEMS FROM DARK HORSE COMICS!
A CLASS STRUGGLE FROM THE MIND OF TOM MORELLO!
July 20, MILWAUKIE, OR—Just when you thought it couldn’t get any better, Dark Horse Comics brings you a brand-new project from the creative mind of Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave, The Nightwatchman).
A free exclusive music track from Tom Morello will be available with purchase of each issue to serve as a soundtrack to the story! Morello’s new album under the name of The Nightwatchman, entitled World Wide Rebel Songs, is due out August 30, 2011, from New West Records.
Orchid is an epic fantasy story set in a dystopian future infused with Morello’s worldview and the politics of terror.
Part Suicide Girl, part Joan of Arc – Orchid is the tale of a 16-year-old street prostitute who learns that she is more than the role society has imposed upon her. When the seas rose, genetic codes were smashed. Human settlements are now ringed by a dense wilderness from which ferocious new animal species prey on the helpless. The high ground belongs to the rich and powerful that overlook swampland shantytowns from their fortress-like cities. Iron-fisted rule ensures order and allows the wealthy to harvest the poor as slaves. Welcome to the world of Orchid.
Orchid features a variant cover by the well-known and influential street artist Shepard Fairey, with interior art by Scott Hepburn (Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic).
Orchid is on sale October 12, 2011.
About Tom Morello
Tom Morello is a Grammy Award-winning guitarist best known for his tenure with the bands Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave, his acoustic solo act, The Nightwatchman. Tom is also the cofounder of the nonprofit organization Axis of Justice. The Harvard educated guitarist was ranked #26 in Rolling Stone‘s list of the “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time” and has sold over 30 million records.
BEST-SELLING AUTHOR P.C. CAST BRINGS HER HOUSE OF NIGHT SERIES TO DARK HORSE!
SAN DIEGO, CA—JULY 20, 2011—The Dark Horse booth was overrun with fans, media and industry professionals tonight, as Dark Horse unveiled three new titles with three new creators. P.C. Cast and her daughter, Kristin Cast, may be new names to the comics world, but to genre fiction fans, they are the beloved co-authors of the incredibly successful series of novels set in the world of House of Night. Now the Casts bring these high school-aged vampires to comics with all-new stories, tying in directly to the existing series!
Until recently, Zoey Redbird was an average high-school student worrying about grades, boys, and breakouts. But priorities have a way of changing when you are marked as a vampyre, enroll in the vampyre academy House of Night, and have to figure out a whole new social hierarchy, affinities for elemental magic, and physiological changes that make you crave blood.
In this series, taking place between scenes from Betrayed (the second book in the wildly popular House of Night series, which has sold millions of copies internationally), Zoey is in desperate need of guidance as she prepares to take over the elite student group known as the Dark Daughters. Surrounded by her group of devoted friends, Zoey turns to The Fledgling Handbook, a historical vampyre tome, in hopes of better understanding this big, new world of vampyrism.
“Watching my characters and their world come to life with the fabulous team at Dark Horse has been fulfilling and fun” said author, P.C. Cast. “Fans are gonna love these comics!”
The comic will be co-written by Kent Dallan, with art by Joelle Jones (Troublemaker). House of Night is the second new title in Dark Horse’s fall line-up, arriving in stores on November 9TH!
