Neil Gaiman's American Gods Comic Book Series Announced

Fans of Neil Gaiman's classic novel, American Gods, were ecstatic when it was announced that Starz was adapting the story into a TV series. On Wednesday, Dark Horse took the excitement one step further.

It was announced that the comic label would print its own adaptation of the book, beginning in 2017. It seems that the whole industry is going all-in on American Gods, and for good reason.

The sotry centers around a man named Shadow Moon, who learns his wife has died as he is released from prison. He later meets a man named Mr. Wednesday, who hires Shadow to be his personal body guard. This new appointment forces Shadow into a supernatural world, and right into the middle of a war between gods of the past and present.

Dark Horse also announced that P. Craig Russell would serve as writer for the series. Russell has worked on adaptations of other Gaiman mediums, such as Sandman and The Graveyard Book, so he is extremely familiar with the tone of Neil's writing.

In addition to Russell's writing, Scott Hampton has signed on to illustrate the project. Hampton has worked on legendary characters, like Hellboy and Batman, and looks to use his creativity to break into the vast world of Neil Gaiman.

Neil Gaiman is ecstatic to see his novel come to life, on both page and screen. He had this to say regarding the adaptations:

"There's a tremendous amount of excitement, in my house and in the world, about the American Gods TV series coming up on Starz. What we've managed to keep a secret until now is that there is something just as exciting out there: American Gods, the comic. I've been watching P. Craig Russell breaking down the book into comic form, watching Scott Hampton painting the pages, watching Glenn Fabry create the covers, and grinning to myself with delight, because the American Gods comic is going to be an astonishing, faithful, and beautiful adaptation."

American Gods will be released as 27 single-issues. Those issues will be broken into three nine-part story arcs, called Shadows, My Ainsel, and Moment Of The Storm.

American Gods: Shadows #1 will hit shelves on March 15, 2017.