Grateful Dead get an origin story thanks to Z2 Comics

Noah Van Sciver and Chris Miskiewicz will take you back to the beginning of the Dead’s long, strange trip.

Z2 Comics has teamed up with the Grateful Dead for Grateful Dead Origins, a graphic novel detailing the band’s early days. And they’ve recruited Chris Miskiewicz and Noah Van Sciver to tell the story.

“We’ve seen many archival releases that offer magnificent audio representations of the Grateful Dead’s history, and several filmed interpretations of the Dead’s story. To these, we’re thrilled to add to the Dead’s narrative canon this beautiful portrayal of the Dead’s origin story in the form of this wonderful new comic,” said Grateful Dead audiovisual archivist and legacy manager David Lemieux. “Chris and Noah have captured the Dead’s sensibility in their words and images that bring to life on the page the earliest days of the Grateful Dead, from the band’s founding in 1965 through to Woodstock. We couldn’t be happier to be partnering with such talented artists who have delved so deeply into the Dead’s history and origin.”

That’s what we call “inspired casting” — Van Sciver is perfect for this.

Grateful Dead Origins will be available in a standard edition and a limited run collectors deluxe edition. The standard edition will come in a softcover version that will feature an exclusive download of Grateful Dead music from their early years to serve as a companion to the graphic novel. The limited run collector’s deluxe edition will come in a hardcover, oversized, individually numbered coffee table edition featuring prints and autographed by the comic creators. It will also come with a selection of unreleased Grateful Dead music from the era on vinyl. The deluxe edition will be available for pre-order at www.z2comics.com/shop/grateful-dead.

Here’s what the slipcase will look like:

“Jerry Garcia was an avid comic book enthusiast so it is incredibly fitting to have the Grateful Dead’s origin story told in graphic novel form,” said Mark Pinkus, President of Rhino Entertainment, in the press release. “Z2’s passion for the band’s music and mythology make them the perfect partner to bring the story to life. This will undoubtedly be a ‘must have’ item for Grateful Dead and graphic novel fans alike.”

The graphic novel will begin truckin’ your way in early 2020.

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