With the upcoming film starring Chris Evans, Tilda Swinton, Jamie Bell, Ed Harris, Alison Pill and John Hurt due for a US/UK release in 2014 after rave international reviews, the original comic, Le Transperceneige, is due for publication as Snowpiercer on January 29.

snowpiercer_1I first wrote about Snowpiercer and it’s bande dessinée origins back in April, and I’m thrilled that the comic – a classic in its own right by Jacques Lob and Jean-Marc Rochette – will now finally have an English translation that will reach even more readers across the world.

Not only are Titan publishing the first volume of Le Transperceneige as Snowpiercer Volume 1: The Escape, but the second volume, Snowpiercer Volume 2: The Explorers, will follow on February 25.

Titan have kindly provided the following information, along with the covers to Volume 1 and 2, and two interior pages from Volume 1:

Coursing through an eternal winter, on an icy track wrapped around the frozen planet Earth, there travels Snowpiercer, a train one thousand and one carriages long. From fearsome engine to final car, all surviving human life is here: a complete hierarchy of the society we lost…

The elite, as ever, travel in luxury at the front of the train – but for those in the rear coaches, life is squalid, miserable and short.

Proloff is a refugee from the tail, determined never to go back. In his journey forward through the train, he hopes to reach the mythical engine and, perhaps, find some hope for the future…

The thrilling original graphic novels have been adapted into an astounding new film directed by Joon-ho Bong (The Host), starring Chris Evans (Captain America), Alison Pill (Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World), Tilda Swinton (The Chronicles of Narnia, We Need To Talk About Kevin), Jamie Bell (Billy Elliott, The Adventures of Tintin), Ed Harris (A History of Violence, The Abyss, Apollo 13) and John Hurt (Hellboy, V For Vendetta, Alien, Doctor Who), and distributed in the U.S. by The Weinstein Company, and due for release in Q1 2014

Check out the trailer here

Written by the late Jacques Lob, winner of the Grand Prix de la ville d’Angoulême, and Benjamin Legrand, the author of numerous thriller novels, screenplays, and comic scripts, Snowpiercer is illustrated by Jean-Marc Rochette, who has worked across a variety of projects and genres, from science fiction comics to children’s cartoons – including adaptations of Voltaire’s Candide and Homer’s Odyssey.

Retailers can order Snowpiercer vol. 1: The Escape from November PREVIEWS (order code: NOV131240). Snowpiercer vol. 2: The Explorers will be available to order from December PREVIEWS.

To keep up-to-date with news about Snowpiercer join Titan Comics on Facebook or follow @comicstitan on Twitter.

For more information about Titan Comics, visit www.titan-comics.com

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The Korean-American-French film is still my hot pick to be a huge blockbuster when it hits US screens next year, so I’d recommend you get your pre-orders in for these volumes sharpish.

And the film aside, these are utter classics for anyone who is a fan of sci-fi, dystopian fiction, or just good comics.

Laura Sneddon is a comics journalist and academic, writing for the mainstream UK press with a particular focus on women and feminism in comics. Currently working on a PhD, do not offend her chair leg of truth; it is wise and terrible. Her writing is indexed at comicbookgrrrl.com and procrastinated upon via @thalestral on Twitter.

5 COMMENTS

  1. If it’s like the french ed, it’ll have three volumes. Do note that the first one is pretty much self-contained – and the one everyone remembers!

  2. Yes, Le Transperceneige has three volumes, with the first written by Jacques Lob and the other two written by Benjamin Legrand. Art throughout is by Jean-Marc Rochette and it’s the first book that the film is based on.

    In terms of a series, it’s quite a loose one – different settings and characters in each.

  3. Really? You couldn’t have mentioned Song Kangho once in this article, when he had a bigger part and more screentime than at least three of the white actors you named? And no Octavia Spencer?

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