Almost 30 years after it spooked cinemagoers in 1997, Paramount‘s cult horror “Event Horizon” is getting its first expansion.
Rather than hitting screens, however, “Event Horizon: Dark Descent” is an official comic book prequel series from IDW Publishing, with the first issue hitting shelves in August.
The five-part series will, according to the publishers, “embrace the hard-R rating” of the movie and “terrifying cinematic universe” created by director Paul W.S. Anderson and writer Philip Eisner. Taking place before the events of the film, the comics will tell the story of the final fate of the original Event Horizon crew and ask, what really happened to Captain Kilpack and the first crew as their ship journeyed across a nightmarish realm of torments beyond imagining?
At the helm for “Event Horizon: Dark Descent” are a crew of acclaimed comic book creators, including multiple Eisner Award-winner Christian Ward (writer of “Batman: City of Madness”), powerhouse sci-fi artist Tristan Jones (“Aliens: Defiance”), and rising star colorist Pip Martin (“That Texas Blood”).
“It’s a huge privilege to be handed the keys of such a beloved film, one I take very seriously and I have some extremely exciting things up my sleeve,” said Ward. “Big gory swings will be happening. You’ll never see the film in the same light again.”
“I think what Christian’s laying out and adding to the lore is going to surprise people,” added Jones. “It’s certainly given me a lot of gnarly, visceral stuff to chew on visually, which is always fun and knowing that this is being done directly in collaboration with the team behind the film certainly helps lock things in as something fans of the film will want to explore with us.”
“Event Horizon: Dark Descent #1,” which goes on sale August 20, will feature a primary cover by Jeffrey Alan Love, variant covers by Ward, Martin Simmonds, and Joshua Hixson, a foil full art variant of Ward’s cover, and a sketch cover.
“Event Horizon: Dark Descent” is part of the horror imprint IDW Dark, which is expanding further blockbuster films in Paramount’s library into comic book form. Others will include “A Quiet Place,” “Smile,” “The Twilight Zone” and “Sleepy Hollow”
