Halloween has come and gone, but in 2018, it’s time for Sandy Claws to make a return appearance. As we reported in July, Tim Burton‘s The Nightmare Before Christmas is getting a comic book sequel next year from Tokyopop, and the first look at the character designs from the project have arrived online.
Via Entertainment Weekly (EW), Burton is providing story approval for The Nightmare Before Christmas: Zero’s Journey, a 20-issue sequel series written by Tokyopop founder Stu Levy, with art by Ken Ishiyama, and covers by Kiyoshi Arai. Ishiyama and Arai have also shared their take on the Pumpkin King himself, Jack Skellington, as well as his beloved ghost dog, Zero.
ICYMI: check out the new #ZerosJourney character designs courtesy of @kei60522230 (Kei Ishiyama) and @akaiie (Kiyoshi Arai)! pic.twitter.com/kkpAUi8rWo
— TOKYOPOP (@TOKYOPOP) November 1, 2017
As the name implies, Zero’s Journey will place the ghost dog at the heart of the story. According to EW’s report, Zero will find himself lost in Christmas Town while Jack puts the breaks on the annual Halloween celebration to find his faithful companion. There’s never been an official comic book continuation of Jack’s adventures before, but the video game The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie’s Revenge was essentially a sequel as well. And we wouldn’t be surprised at all if Oogie Boogie makes his return in this comic as Jack’s primary adversary.
Tokyopop will release The Nightmare Before Christmas: Zero’s Journey #1 in May 2018 as a full-color comic book that maintains the left-to-right format of manga titles. From there, the story will be collected as both a black-and-white manga digest and as a larger format trade paperback printed in color.
Are you excited to revisit the world of Nightmare Before Christmas? Sing us a catchy tune in the comment section below!
Image: Disney
Stay in Halloween Town with more Nightmare Before Christmas stories!
- An incredible Nightmare Before Christmas carousel pie.
- Ranking all the songs in the movie.
- Make some monster Christmas wreath cookies.
