Dark Horse teams with synthwave band The Midnight for a new graphic novel

Zack Kaplan, Stephen Thompson and Jahnoy Lindsay will bring the band’s music to the comics page.

Music and comics will collide in a new graphic novel this fall, as the synthwave band The Midnight teams with Dark Horse for The Midnight: Shadows.

Written by Zack Kaplan with art by Stephen Thompson and artist Jahnoy Lindsay, the graphic novel is about a soon-to-be father who gets literally sucked into a cyberpunk video game from his youth called The Midnight. Colorist Thiago Rocha and letterer DC Hopkins round out the team.

“Before I got the privilege to write this graphic novel, I was a fan,” Kaplan said. “Intoxicated by the immersive beats and heartfelt lyrics since their very first demo. It was no surprise to me to see them become one of today’s best synthwave bands. Their presence is so narrative that it was dying to be shared in this form. And it’s been a joy to bring it all to comic life, to partner with Dark Horse for such a vivid and mind-bending series, and to create this electrifying world with a powerhouse creative team, Stephen, Jahnoy, Thiago and DC, that will blow your mind with one visually stunning page after the next. Whether you are a listener of the music or you just love a good sci-fi adventure, we cannot wait to take you to that place half in dark and half in light, where arcade dreams are a reality, where heroes battle monsters. Get ready for a truly epic, synth wave adventure.”

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Viking bankers go to war in ‘Kill All Immortals’

Zack Kaplan, Fico Ossio + team present a new tale starring Erik the Red in the modern day.

Ahead of New York Comic Con this weekend, Dark Horse Comics has announced Kill All Immortals by prolific writer Zack Kaplan, artist Fico Ossio, colorist Jordie Bellaire, designer Tom Muller and letterer Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou.

The story will feature famed Viking explorer Erik the Red, who discovered the secret of immortality and runs a banking empire in the modern world. His daughter decides to leave the family business, which leads to a savage conflict with the rest of her family.

Kill All Immortals is my 10th creator-owned series to date and I am so freaking thrilled to return to Dark Horse Comics,” said Kaplan, “a publisher that is a pinnacle for supernatural action comics, from Hellboy to Black Hammer. And I’m stoked to be joined in combat by this team of immortal and cutthroat comic warriors, Fico Ossio, Jordie Bellaire, Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou, Oliver Barrett, Tom Muller and the entire Dark Horse family, all ready to bring this series to life.”

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Mind control goes viral in Kaplan + Pearson’s ‘Mindset’

The new Vault Comics series debuts in June.

Vault Comics will publish the “new psychedelic sci-fi thriller” Mindset, written by Zack Kaplan (Eclipse, Port of Earth), drawn and colored by Eisner-winning Blue In Green artist John J. Pearson, lettered by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou and designed by Tim Daniel. 

Mindset is a mind-bending sci-fi thriller about four wide-eyed grad students who discover mind control and put it in an app, and a dark journey that follows, twists and turns, murder and mystery, love and heartbreak through the absurd world of overnight technopreneurs and social media empires,” said Kaplan. “But the series is really about a dilemma I think we all feel today. How do we use devices, social media and apps to connect with each other and feel influential without allowing the technology to influence the very choices we make and thoughts we have? We believe the timing for the story couldn’t be more socially reverent, since we’ve increased our dependency more than ever on technology, but as Silicon Valley tightens its digital grip on our behavior, mind control exists right now.”

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Top Cow announces high-concept ‘Port of Earth’ from Kaplan and Mutti

New series sees aliens arrive on Earth — with a business proposition.

During Comic-Con International, Top Cow announced a “gritty new science fiction series” by Eclipse writer Zack Kaplan and Rebels artist Andrea Mutti called Port of Earth.

“After exploring the solar apocalypse in Eclipse—which was just announced to be in development for TV, but more on that later—I’m thrilled to be tackling a very unique alien arrival story with another amazing creative team,” Kaplan said in a press release.

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