Comics
Extremely Rare ‘Vampire Hunter D’ Short Story Being Adapted Into a Comic Book
While we’re all waiting for more news on the upcoming “Vampire Hunter D” CGI series, Unified Pictures has announced that today they’re opening a Kickstarter that will adapt a nearly never-before-read short story written by D creator Hideyuki Kikuchi for a fan event in Japan but was never reprinted or translated…until now.
Unified Pictures explains, “We’re creating a multi-issue comic book series for “Vampire Hunter D: Message from Mars”. It’s an adaptation of “Message from Cecile”, a Vampire Hunter D short story by Hideyuki Kikuchi. This story was only published for a fan event in Japan and will make it’s English debut in this comic book series published by Stranger Comics.”
The limited edition comic will be written by Brandon Easton (Bad Moon Rising, “Agent Carter”) with page art by Michael Broussard (The Darkness, Captain Midnight, The Walking Dead, Castlevania, Minecraft: Story Mode) and concept art from Christopher Shy (Dead Space: Salvage, Pathfinder, Ascend).
The Kickstarter has some pretty incredible rewards available depending on which tier backers support. These include a printed copy of issue #1 with a Kickstarter exclusive cover, art prints, buttons, patches and even a life sized 3D printed model of the Left Hand.
For those who want to be immortalized, there’s even a tier where you can send in a likeness of yourself and you’ll be put in the comic where you’ll be killed by D! I think we can all admit that that’s a badass way to have a presence beyond the grave!
The campaign will run from June 30th, 2016 (the start of Anime Expo) and conclude on August 8th, 2016 (the last day of Gen Con), so make sure to get your support in before it’s too late!
The supernatural world of Korean folk horror movie Exhuma grows larger with the arrival of prequel spinoff webtoon Maengjong this weekend, Variety reports today.
Naver Webtoon debuts Maengjong on May 30.
The series hails from Haemuri (Olgami) and will trace the high school origins of how shaman duo Hwarim and Bonggil, played by Kim Go-eun and Lee Do-hyun in the 2024 film, came together to face occultish threats.
The story is set to begin when “Hwarim, who has been concealing her identity following a childhood encounter with a snake spirit called Jin, crosses paths with Bonggil at their school.”
Variety notes that Exhuma director Jang Jae-hyun participated in the project’s early concept stage.
“We are presenting ‘Maengjong,’ a new series capturing the appeal of the horror-occult genre, ahead of the full summer season,” said Lee Jeong-geun, Naver Webtoon’s Korea webtoon content leader. “With the high school story of Hwarim and Bonggil, who left a strong impression in the film ‘Exhuma,’ enhanced by Haemuri’s characteristic tense direction, we expect it will be a welcome work for genre fans.”
“It is meaningful that the spin-off story of ‘Exhuma,’ loved by many audiences, expands by meeting the new grammar of webtoon,” said Lee Hyeon-jeong, managing director of the film business division at Showbox, which distributed the film. “We hope it will be a fresh experience for both film fans and webtoon readers.”
Exhuma was a breakout hit in 2024, becoming the first Korean occult film to surpass 10 million ticket buyers and the country’s highest-grossing film of the year. I wrote in my review that “the intricately woven Exhuma delivers one of the year’s biggest surprises in horror so far.”
The bond between Hwarim and Bonggil was one of the film’s highlights, making this prequel webtoon a must for fans.
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