Neil Gaiman's American Gods Comes to Comics (Finally!)

CBR

By CBR Staff

Published Oct 5, 2016

Neil Gaiman's acclaimed prose novel will arrive in comic book form even as it's making its way to television.

Neil Gaiman's "American Gods" is coming to comics in 2017 courtesy of Dark Horse. The series will be written by P. Craig Russell and illustrated by Scott Hampton and will feature cover art from Glenn Fabry and Adam Brown.

Gaiman's original novel follows the story of Shadow Moon after he is released from prison early due to the death of his wife, Laura, and his best friend. Soon after, Shadow finds employment as a driver, bodyguard and errand boy with a mysterious con man named Mr. Wednesday. Shadow and Wednesday embark on a dark road trip across America and Shadow learns that myth, folklore and dreams are all too real and they're in the midst of a battle for the soul of America.

Russell has adapted other Gaiman works into graphic novels including "Coraline" and "The Graveyard Book." He also drew the "Ramadan" issue of Gaiman's iconic graphic novel "The Sandman." Along with Russell, collaborators like Walt Simonson, Mark Buckingham, and Colleen Doran will provide interior art for the comics.

“There’s a tremendous amount of excitement, in my house and in the world, about the 'American Gods' TV series coming up on Starz. What we’ve managed to keep a secret until now is that there is something just as exciting out there: 'American Gods,' the comic,” Gaiman said in a statement published by EW.

“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.”

The comic will include 27 issues and will be broken up into three story arcs titled "Shadows," "My Ainsel" and "The Moment of the Storm. The first issue will be published on March 15, 2017.

"American Gods" is also slated to be adapted for the screen by Starz TV with executive producers Bryan Fuller and Michael Green. The series is scheduled to be released in 2017 and will star Ricky Whittle (Shadow Moon), Ian McShane (Wednesday) and Emily Browning (Laura Moon).