Comics
[NYCC ’12] Marvel Zombies Writer To Create New Zombie Series For Dynamite!
In another big announcement from Dynamite Entertainment, Fred Van Lente (“Marvel Zombies”) has just signed on board to create a zombie miniseries in 2013. Van Lente describes the series as saying, “Think of this as World War Z with jokes and a B drive-in movie Grindhouse sensibility. At the heart of our story is a group of message-board experts”. Preview gallery and details below.
October 11th, 2012, Mt. Laurel, NJ – Dynamite Entertainment is proud to announce the signing of Fred Van Lente, who will pen a quirky zombie tale. Van Lente is hot off his Marvel Exclusive! Fans of The Walking Dead and George Romero movies will not want to miss this series, coming in 2013 from Dynamite Entertainment!
“Like a lot of things that I do, my zombie project at Dynamite mocks a genre while very much being a part of that genre,” says writer Fred Van Lente. “In a lot of zombie stories we get the beginning of plague, or the zombie apocalypse, but we skip all the military, governmental and just plain human screw ups that got us from Point A to Point B. Well, that’s all this book is about — a global disaster of this magnitude results in a lot global stupidity, and therein lies comedy. Think of this as World War Z with jokes and a B drive-in movie Grindhouse sensibility. At the heart of our story is a group of message-board experts — yes, geeks — recruited (not without real-life precedent) by the Defense Intelligence Agency to see if they can’t apply their unparalleled knowledge of the zombie genre to figure a way to solve the crisis. As a professional comics writer, will I allow Internet know-it-alls save the world, or will they all be horrifically slaughtered? I can’t wait to find out myself.”
“Fred’s an incredible talent whom we’ve wanted to work with for years. Marvel saw his potential and signed him to an exclusive where he has written The Hulk, The Incredible Hercules, X-Men, Deadpool, as well stories in key Marvel Cross-Overs including Shadowland. We approached Fred years ago, but finding out of his exclusivity, he was unable to work with us. We’ve stayed in contact, and when he was off his exclusive, we connected for a series. The first conversation was fantastic. We sat down, we pitched him our idea, he liked it and came back with his voice. I cannot wait for fans to read this. It’s going to be a fun ride! A fun ride with lots of bites, death, and everything that comes in a zombie story ;-)” – States Dynamite President Nick Barrucci
Fred Van Lente is an American writer, primarily of comic books and graphic novels. Van Lente is the co-founder, along with artist Ryan Dunlavey, of Evil Twin Comics, which produces his and Dunlavey’s non-fiction comic books, the first and most famous of which is Action Philosophers. Recent work includes becoming the ongoing co-author of Incredible Hercules with Greg Pak, as well as writing Marvel Zombies 3 and Marvel Zombies 4. with Kev Walker and X-Men Noir with Dennis Calero. Upcoming work includes two one-shots as part of Marvel Zombies Return. He also wrote the first issue of Deadpool Team-Up (number #899 as it was counting backwards from the #900 special). Van Lente created a new Power Man, Victor Alvarez, who first appeared in the Shadowland: Power Man mini-series, then in a new Power Man and Iron Fist series, also by Van Lente.
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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