01:18 PM: Allan Sugarbaker says...
Dracula's Revenge comic creeps closer

This just in: the comic book based on Human Head Studios' upcoming board game, Dracula's Revenge, now has an official press release (below). I mentioned the comic a couple weeks ago, but the release gives added details on the comic's plotline, as well as author Matt Forbeck's inspiration for the story. The comic arrives in April, hopefully followed by the board game shortly thereafter.

IDW press release follows:

IDW Publishing Serves Up Some Revenge... Dracula's Revenge
Van Helsing and Dracula Clash Again on a Bloody Trail of Mystery

San Diego, CA, January 30, 2004. Get ready for the appearance of some of the most well-known and feared characters of horror in IDW Publishing's April release Dracula's Revenge.

Someone is savagely butchering the prostitutes of Whitechapel. Sounds hauntingly familiar doesn't it? Except it's been a decade since Jack The Ripper used these streets as a killing ground, and Jack never drank his victim's blood. Factor in that Dracula has been "dead" for eleven years-so why has Abraham Van Helsing been summoned to London?

Dracula's Revenge captures all the terror that has made classic horror the genre of the new millennium. Filled with characters that everyone knows and a storyline that keeps readers turning pages with a rapid heartbeat, Dracula's Revenge is based on a new board game from Human Head Studios.

Written by Human Head's Matt Forbeck, Dracula's Revenge features incredible art by Szymon Kudranski, most recently seen in the 30 Days of Night Annual. Their style and pacing will take the readers into a London that they will not soon forget.

Matt Forbeck says, "At the end of the original novel, the heroes kill Dracula with knives just as the sun sets. Of course, as Van Helsing knows, knives can't kill a vampire. There's a theory that Stoker was keeping his options open for a possible sequel he never got to write. This is that sequel, drawn from the same vein."

Dracula's Revenge #1 is a full color, 32-page comic book with a retail price of $3.99.

IDW PUBLISHING is a division of Idea + Design Works, LLC, a revolutionary creative service company with a wide range of clients including The Upper Deck Company, Electronic Arts, Ultima Online, WizKids, Cartoon Network, Sony Online Entertainment, Nickelodeon, and many more. IDW Publishing focuses on a small number of high-quality titles. Among them are CBS's CSI: Crime Scene Investigation; Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith's 30 Days of Night and its sequel, Dark Days; Ashley Wood's Lore; CVO: Covert Vampiric Operations; Beau Smith's Wynonna Earp; and Steve Niles' Wake The Dead. Columbia Pictures has optioned the movie rights to 30 Days of Night, with Sam Raimi attached to produce. Konami is producing a video game based on CVO: Covert Vampiric Operations. Dimension Films has optioned the movie rights to Wake The Dead and Hyde.

HUMAN HEAD STUDIOS is an independent video game and adventure game developer. Human Head's first video game was the cult-hit Rune, which brought heart-pounding Viking action to the PC, Mac, Linux, and Playstation 2. Its first adventure game product was the critically acclaimed Redhurst Academy of Magic. Look for the Dracula's Revenge boardgame and Dead Man's Hand-a first-person western for the PC and X-Box-this spring.