Tag Archives: blacula

Spawn, Savage Dragon, and Blacula are all coming to Killadelphia

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The Eisner Award nominated ongoing series Killadelphia from writer Rodney Barnes and Jason Shawn Alexander have more surprises in store for fans with a fleet of iconic characters ready to join in on the action. The new story arc begins with issue #31 in November from Image Comics.

The Killadelphia series follows a small-town beat cop who returns home to bury his murdered father, revered Philadelphia detective James Sangster Sr. What he doesn’t anticipate is digging up a mystery that will lead him down a path of horrors and shake his beliefs to their core. The city that was once the symbol of liberty and freedom has fallen prey to corruption, poverty, unemployment, brutality… and vampires. Now, it’s up to Jimmy and an unexpected companion to stop long-thought-dead president of the United States John Adams from building an undead army and staging a bloody new American revolution.

The forces of Heaven and Hell clash on the battleground that is Philly and weave into the tapestry of a larger universe when Todd McFarlane’s greatest creation crosses over into the pages of Killadelphia! All the power SeeSaw has gained and all the magic he’s learned will be put to the test when he faces off against comics’ greatest anti-hero! Anything can happen in this bold jumping-on point for new readers that will redefine the Killadelphia universe as we know it. The sold-out, Eisner Award-nominated series continues in a landmark story arc that will also feature canon surprise appearances by recognizable characters from outside Philadelphia’s city limits.

This next arc also contains a backup stories featuring Hell’s Baddest Badass: Johnny Gatlin.

Killadelphia #31 will be available at comic book shops on Wednesday, November 15:

  • Cover A by Alexander – Lunar Code 0923IM415
  • Cover B by Francesco Mattina – Lunar Code 0923IM416
  • Cover C by Jae Lee – Lunar Code 0923IM417
  • Cover D by Alexander B&W noir edition – Lunar Code 0923IM418

Blacula: Return of the King sells through its first printing

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Zombie Love Studios, the newly launched publishing home to the work of Rodney Barnes released the first of its 2023 releases in January with the critically acclaimed sequel to the classic 1972 film Blacula from the team behind the hit Image Comics series Killadelphia; writer Rodney Barnes and artist Jason Shawn Alexander. Less than two months later, the first printing of Blacula: Return of The King has sold out at Diamond, with the last remaining copies on shelves in comic shops and bookstores.

Set in Los Angeles, two souls; one looking for vengeance and the other seeking the truth, share one thing in common; they are both searching for the legendary vampire Blacula. Tina Thomas is a reporter for the blog Dark Knights, which chronicles all things unnatural, uneasy, and undead. She meets a young man named Kross, who asked her to help him kill Blacula, after his family was forever changed by the vampire. 

Blacula: Return of the King brings the same high emotional stakes storytelling fans have come to expect from the long-running vampire epic Killadelphia to the classic characher, redefining and reinventing him for a modern audience seeking thought-provoking horror in comics and beyond.

Blacula: Return of The King 

Blacula Returns as a Graphic Novel from Rodney Barnes and Jason Shawn Alexander

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Zombie Love Studios, the comic studio and publishing imprint founded by Eisner Award nominated graphic novel creator and award-winning television writer-producer Rodney Barnes, has announced it plans to release a graphic novel adaptation of the classic 1970s film Blacula. Securing the graphic novel rights from Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM), Barnes has reteamed with his Killadelphia collaborator and fellow Eisner Award nominee Jason Shawn Alexander to illustrate the property.

Expanding from the original film, Barnes’ Blacula builds a bridge from the 70’s version of the iconic bloodsucker to our present-day world and all of its complications. Under the agreement, Barnes will adapt and release the property through his Zombie Love Studios. The graphic novel is slated for a February 2022 release. 

Originally released in 1972 by American International Pictures (AIP) and later acquired by MGM through the studio’s acquisition of Orion Pictures, Blacula quickly became one of the highest-grossing films of its year, landing at #24 on Variety’s list of top films. The original Blacula is widely considered one of the first depictions of a Black vampire on-screen, and has been credited with sparking a wave of Black-themed horror films that would follow. However, it is the film’s storytelling and layered subtext that sparked Barnes creative interest. Using vampirism as a metaphor for slavery’s long-term repercussions, the original film offered cultural commentary that spoke to a deeper social and psychological curse inflicted upon a whole people. This creative characteristic is one that falls very much in line with Barnes’ approach to genre and content as a whole, but also speaks directly to the inspiration and motivation for launching his own comic studio and publishing imprint.

Blacula