Buena Vista PicturesIt was announced in July the follow on to Nightmare Before Christmas – the second best festive flick after Die Hard – would be reaching us in time to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the original.
And in comic book form.
Stuart Levy, founder of Tokyopop, announced the sequel will start publishing in May 2018, during a Disney Manga panel at New York Comic Con this week, according to the Daily Dot.
So Christmas comes early and late, so to speak.
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The story will follow Jack’s ghostly dog, Zero, on a journey that will travel 20 issues. It’s the best dead dog news we’ve heard in ages.
Levy told Comic Con:
What happens is that Zero gets lost, as dogs do.
And along the way he gets into a lot of trouble, as dogs do.
Zero’s Journey will be published with a mixture of mediums and released on a monthly basis as you’d expect from a Marvel or DC Comic but will read right to left like tradition manga.
Buena Vista PicturesLevy wasn’t able to show any concept art to fans, as he explained it had to go through several channels – Tim Burton included – before they could be released, but one important factor fans would want to know was made known.
The series will include a core element of the original – song lyrics.
Levy explained:
No music because it’s a book, but my dream is that maybe he’d go,
‘Wow, these are so awesome, I’m gonna write music for this!’
Probably won’t happen, but you never know.
Buena Vista PicturesWhile the original wasn’t exactly a box office hit when released in 1993, taking $75 million off a budget of $18 million, it became a cult classic and is a hugely loved film worldwide, spawning a universe of merchandise for freaky fans.
Levy, who is writing the script under the name DJ Milky, explained there will be four trade paperbacks with the first one coming out next Halloween.
Nightmare Before Christmas fans will be wishing on a dark star the comics are a success and inspire a full-length movie release like the original.
Tim Horner is a sub-editor at UNILAD. He graduated with a BA Journalism from University College Falmouth before most his colleagues were born. A previous editor of adult mags, he now enjoys bringing the tone down in the viral news sector.