Jurassic Park Returning to Comics

One of my fondest memories of turning 13 was that a few weeks prior Jurassic Park hit theaters. The film took some liberties with the book, but overall I marveled at the fact that I was seeing dinosaurs on screen with people, and dammit if they weren't real. As an aspiring paleontologist my mind was sufficiently blown. Fast forward about 20 years to now. Not quite a paleontologist (my closest encounters with dinosaurs these days are the soothing narration sounds of Christian Slater on Dinosaur Planet), I still have a passion for all things dinosaur. Either IDW has been following my life closely (doubtful) or they realized that now is as good a time as any to announce a series of comics based on...you guessed it, Jurassic Park.

Available in print and digital, IDW's Jurassic Park starts with a five-issue arc written by IDW Senior Editor Bob Schreck. Nate Van Dyke provides the interior art and that cover you see above IS a Frank Miller cover (Tom Yeates provides one as well). Not only that, but Arthur Adams, Paul Pope and Bernie Wrightson will also be providing variant covers within the first five issues (I feel like Neal Adams should be in that list as well). IDW will be giving away a Jurassic Park poster at WonderCon, featuring Frank Miller’s cover art for issue #1. Schreck, Van Dyke and Yeates will also all be on hand throughout the weekend to sign autographs.

According to IDW COO Greg Goldstein, we're in for some good stuff with this one.

“I’ve been a fan of Jurassic Park since we first published it at Topps back in the 90’s, and it’s exciting revisit and reinvigorate the property after all these years,” said IDW chief operating officer, Greg Goldstein. “There’s so much potential for interesting stories, and we have a great team in place to bring them to life.”

This first arc will take place thirteen years after the original Jurassic Park film (and hopefully before Vince Vaughn's involvement in the mythos). Tim and Lex Murphy (John Hammond's grandchildren) are well-to-do young adults, and Lex is working with the UN to continue keepking Isla Nublar and Isla Sorna cleared out. Meanwhile, Tim is trying to repair the image of his grandfather, one that took a noticeable hit after Samuel L. Jackson became only an arm. Jurassic Park: Redemption #1 will be in stores in June for $3.99.

Full press release below.

IDW partners with Universal Partnerships & Licensing to develop
all-new comics based on blockbuster property

San Diego, CA (March 23, 2010) – IDW Publishing is pleased to announce a publishing agreement with Universal Partnerships & Licensing to create an entirely new series of comics based on the always-popular Jurassic Park franchise. Launching in June, IDW’s Jurassic Park comics will bring all of the oversized action and prehistoric adventure that fans love in a brand-new story. Plus, IDW will also reprint all the original Topps Jurassic Park comics in a trade paperback collection, most of which have never before been reprinted. Fans attending WonderCon 2010, one of the country’s leading comics and pop culture conventions, held April 2nd through the 4th in San Francisco, can get a sneak peak of the new series at the IDW booth #519 and at the Jurassic Park panel on Friday.

“I’ve been a fan of Jurassic Park since we first published it at Topps back in the 90’s, and it’s exciting revisit and reinvigorate the property after all these years,” said IDW chief operating officer, Greg Goldstein. “There’s so much potential for interesting stories, and we have a great team in place to bring them to life.”

Available in both print and digital, IDW’s Jurassic Park comics kick off with a five-issue story arc, written by IDW Senior Editor and comics veteran Bob Schreck. Nate Van Dyke provides interior art, while comics’ legends Tom Yeates and Frank Miller offer their awesome and gory covers to the first issue, with Arthur Adams, Paul Pope, and Bernie Wrightson also providing variant covers for the first storyline. IDW will be giving away a Jurassic Park poster at WonderCon, featuring Frank Miller’s cover art for issue #1. Schreck, Van Dyke and Yeates will also all be on hand throughout the weekend to sign autographs.

“Having been born in the Jurassic Era myself, I just couldn’t pass up this opportunity,” Schreck commented. “I was raised on a strict diet of Willis O’Brien and Ray Harryhausen movies and adore the Jurassic Park films. I can’t begin to convey the thrill of bringing this tale to life with so many old (and new) super-talented friends and fellow dinosaur lovers.”

The first five-issue story arc in IDW’s new Jurassic Park series, Jurassic Park: Redemtion, takes up thirteen years after the very first Jurassic Park motion picture and finds John Hammond’s grandchildren, Tim and Lex Murphy, as well-to-do young adults. While Lex is working with the UN to continue keeping people off of both Isla Nublar and Isla Sorna — her brother Tim has other ideas about how to get their grandfather’s name back in good standing.

Each issue in the arc will feature a cover by Yeates and a variant by another major artist. For issue #2, fans can expect great things from Arthur Adams, followed by Paul Pope on issue #3, Bernie Wrightson on issue #4 and the hugely popular dinosaur connoisseur Bill Stout on issue #5.

Jurassic Park: Redemption #1 (32 pages, full color, $3.99) will be available in stores in June.


Visit IDWPublishing.com to sign up for updates and learn more about the company and its top-selling books.

About the Jurassic Park franchise
Since Universal Pictures and Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment first joined forces to unleash an adventure over 65 million years in the making, Jurassic Park has become the “premier” and “authentic” dinosaur brand the world over. When Jurassic Park was released in 1993, it became an instant phenomenon. In the years that followed, two additional films were released – The Lost World: Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park III – bringing the trilogy’s worldwide box office total to more than $2 billion. The franchise continues to resonate with consumers worldwide via consumer products, popular attractions at Universal Studios Theme Parks and annual airings of the three films on a multitude of television networks.

About IDW Publishing
IDW is an award-winning publisher of comic books, graphic novels and trade paperbacks, based in San Diego, California. Renowned for its diverse catalog of licensed and independent titles, IDW publishes some of the most successful and popular titles in the industry, including: Hasbro’s The Transformers and G.I. JOE, Paramount’s Star Trek; Fox’s Angel; the BBC’s Doctor Who; and television’s #1 prime time series CBS’ CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. IDW is also home to the Library of American Comics imprint, which publishes classic comic reprints; YOE Books, a partnership with YOE! Studios; and is the print publisher for ComicMix.

IDW’s original horror series, 30 Days of Night, was launched as a major motion picture in October 2007 by Sony Pictures and was the #1 film in its first week of release. More information about the company can be found at IDWPublishing.com.

About Universal Partnerships & Licensing
UP&L oversees Universal’s consumer product licensing, film and home entertainment promotions, and all corporate alliances for Universal’s theatrical, home entertainment, theme parks and stage productions. This dedicated division is also responsible for monetizing the studio’s vast library of films and characters through licensing, branding and marketing opportunities. UP&L is part of NBC Universal, one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience. Formed in May 2004 through the combining of NBC and Vivendi Universal Entertainment, NBC Universal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group, and world-renowned theme parks. NBC Universal is 80%-owned by General Electric, with 20% owned by Vivendi.

Comments

  1. And it was IDW that wanted this, not Universal of all things...

    I just can`t understand Universal`s dislike towards another JP movie.

    Anyway great post! Just discovered the blog, awesome, keep posting!

    ReplyDelete

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