Fans of Neil Gaiman’s American Gods are set to get a bounty of adaptations in 2017. Joining the television series, which is being adapted by Bryan Fuller (Hannibal) and will be premiere on the Staz network next spring, is another retelling of the story, this time in comic book form. Dark Horse announced the new title yesterday; the first issue (American Gods: Shadows #1 ) has an on-sale date of March 15, 2017. It finds “Shadow Moon released from jail only to discover his wife has died. Broken and uncertain about his future, Shadow Moon meets the mysterious Mr. Wednesday, who employs him to serve as his bodyguard. This fateful decision thrusts Shadow into a deadly supernatural world where ghosts of the past come back from the dead, and a brewing war between old and new gods hits a boiling point.”
Now, as for who will be working on the books…
“Dark Horse tapped P. Craig Russell (The Sandman: The Dream Hunters)—who, having worked on Coraline and The Graveyard Book, is no stranger to adapting Neil Gaiman’s work—to adapt and co-write the comic series, while Scott Hampton (Hellboy, Batman) lends his illustrative skills to the complex world Gaiman created. Glenn Fabry (Preacher) and Adam Brown (Predator vs. Judge Dredd vs. Aliens) create the hauntingly beautiful cover art. David Mack (Kabuki, Fight Club 2) and Dave McKean (Black Dog, Cages) provide variant covers for the first issue. The American Gods comic series will feature guest interior art by Walt Simonson (Thor), Mark Buckingham (Fables), Colleen Doran (The Sandman), P. Craig Russell, and more.”
“There’s a tremendous amount of excitement, in my house and in the world, about the American Gods TV series coming up on Starz,” said Gaiman in the official press release. “What we’ve managed to keep a secret until now is that there is something just as exciting out there: American Gods, the comic. I’ve been watching P. Craig Russell breaking down the book into comic form, watching Scott Hampton painting the pages, watching Glenn Fabry create the covers, and grinning to myself with delight, because the American Gods comic is going to be an astonishing, faithful, and beautiful adaptation.”
In all, the series will play out in 27 issues covering three story arcs (Shadows, My Ainsel, and The Moment of the Storm), each of which will be collected in a hardcover edition.
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