Vault Comics, in partnership with Slash of Guns N’ Roses, Shout! Studios, and Raven Banner Entertainment, has announced a single-issue comic book series of Deathstalker, an adaptation of the beloved cult classic sword-and-sorcery movie franchise, Deathstalker.
Based on a story by writer, director, and legendary creature effects artist Steven Kostanski (Psycho Goreman, The Void), the comic reunites the team from the publisher’s hit weird western series, West of Sundown: writer Tim Seeley (Grayson, Hack/Slash, Money Shot), artist Jim Terry (Come Home, Indio), and colorist Kurt Michael Russell (Brandon Sanderson’s Dark One, Money Shot).
“I’m excited to be kicking off a new era of Deathstalker,” said Slash. “From Tim Seeley, artist Jim Terry, writer-director-creature FX-wizard Steven Kostanski, and myself, our Deathstalker is a reimagining of that fine specimen of 80s sword and sorcery. With fantasy, you get a little of everything: horror, magic, sex, thrills, blood, guts, swords, and weirdness. You know—all those things you can’t look away from. And that’s what we’re bringing. So—please—if you share my love of all things wicked, check it out!”
“We obviously adore sword and sorcery at Vault,” said CEO Damian Wassel. “So, when Slash approached us with the opportunity to relaunch a cult classic of the genre together with Steven Kostanski, and our friends at Shout! and Raven Banner, we couldn’t say no. The whole idea of this project is to balance nostalgia for the so-bad-it’s-good fantasy filmmaking of the 1980s with the storytelling sensibilities of our time. There’s no one we could trust more to turn that into a wickedly hilarious, fantastically epic comic than Tim Seeley and Jim Terry.”
“I’m a child of the 80s,” added Seeley. “I remember when my dad bought our first VCR in 1982. And I remember the slew of weird and imaginative sword and sorcery VHS tapes that followed. Deathstalker has been near and dear to my heart since I was completely disturbed and aroused by it at a far-too-young-age. And as a fan of the films of Steve Kostanski, I was thrilled to contribute to this project and the ongoing mythology of Deathstalker with my good friend and frequent collaborator, Jim Terry at Vault!”
“Some went to church, some had friends, I had the video store,” said Terry. “Being young at the birth of the VHS explosion was magic, and it felt like a time when folks were telling incredibly imaginative stories with limited resources – that charm and creativity would be hard to recreate today but it’s a thrill to bask in that energy with Deathstalker. I’m already enjoying myself, and very much looking forward to wandering in a world I’m very familiar with and making something that we hope will be an absolute blast to read. Thanks to all the folks involved and to my pal Tim Seeley for inviting me along to hang out in this universe for a while.”
Deathstalker issue #1 will hit stores in March 2024, with the debut issue featuring a line of variant covers from artists such as the legendary original Deathstalker movie poster artist Boris Vallejo, Barbaric co-creator Nathan Gooden, series artist Jim Terry, Conor Boyle, Patrick Gañas, Angela Wu, and more. The full synopsis for Deathstalker #1 can be read below:
The cult-classic warrior-hero Deathstalker bursts into the comics scene from an all-star lineup of creators including Slash (Guns N’ Roses) and writer-director-creature-FX-
Deathstalker finds himself once again caught between forces larger than himself-a virgin worshiping cult, a sorcerer hell-bent on saving the world through mad science, and the pissed-off army of the Abraxeon kingdom…not to mention his ex-lover, Princess Evie. Monsters, magic, and mayhem abound…can’t a guy just swing his sword anymore?
