Comics
‘Sleepy Hollow: The Witches of the Western Wood’ Comic Serves As a Prequel to Tim Burton’s Film
The legend of Sleepy Hollow continues to grow, but how did it all start?
Following the success of last year’s Return to Sleepy Hollow, which served as a continuation of Tim Burton‘s 1999 film, IDW Dark has announced a prequel comic titled Sleepy Hollow: The Witches of the Western Wood.
The five-issue limited series is written by Delilah S. Dawson (Star Wars: Phasma) with art by Jose Jaro, colors by Xenon Honchar, and lettering by LetterSquids.
Before Mary Van Tassel terrorized the town of Sleepy Hollow with the devilish Headless Horseman, she was Sarah Archer — a young girl trying to survive her witch of a mother.
Sarah and her twin are raised in the wild Western Wood, taught the ways of witchcraft, and forced to endure abuse and neglect. But a chance encounter with the hellish Hessian at the moment of his beheading lights a fire in Sarah, giving her the power to overcome those who have wronged her and grow into a fearsome witch.
Sleepy Hollow: The Witches of the Western Wood #1 will feature four variant covers by Jaro, Luana Vecchio, Savanna Mayer, and Sara Richard.
Heads will role when the series launches May 6. Pre-orders for the first issue are due at comic shops by March 30.
Cover A by Luana Vecchio
Cover B by Jose Jaro
Retailer Incentive Cover (1:15) by Savanna Mayer
Retailer Incentive Cover (1:25) by Sara Richard
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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