Richard K. Morgan Expands His Cyberpunk Classic
March 20, Mt. Laurel, NJ: Dynamite announces Altered Carbon: Download Blues, an Original Graphic Novel written by Richard K. Morgan in his acclaimed New York Times bestselling science fiction saga.
Morgan is joined by co-writer Rik Hoskin (White Sand, Red Rising) and artist Ferran Sellares (Grimm Fairy Tales) for the first ever graphic novel entry in Altered Carbon and the first major new story in over a decade.
In the world of Altered Carbon, technology has advanced to allow human consciousness to be stored digitally. Following death or for other reasons, people can be transferred into new bodies, nicknamed “sleeves.” This has drastically overhauled the criminal justice system, as well as unlocking interstellar travel. Series protagonist Takeshi Kovacs is a former soldier turned PI, plenty experienced with sleeves himself.
The original Altered Carbon novel was released in 2002 and exploded Morgan’s career with near universally positive critical reception, including winning the prestigious Philip K. Dick Award. Science fiction fans ate up the hard boiled story of Takeshi Kovacs and the New York Times Bestseller continues to fly off shelves. Two sequel novels followed, Broken Angels and Woken Furies. In 2018 the novel was adapted for a Netflix TV series of the same name starring Joel Kinnaman. A second season will release, with Anthony Mackie taking on the Kovacs role as a new sleeve.
Morgan has experience already in the comics medium, having written two Black Widow series. He was the lead writer on the hit EA video game Crysis 2 and wrote the tie-in comic series.
“When you go to Dynamite for a sequential art incarnation of your much loved anti-hero, you know you’re not going to get short-changed. These, after all, are the guys who took on The Boys without blinking. No compromise, no punches pulled,” said Richard K. Morgan. “I couldn’t wish for a happier, more hard-boiled home in which to have Takeshi Kovacs make his comic book debut.”
“What a wonderful extension of this incredible world and what a delight to have the creator of Kovacs himself – Richard Morgan – overseeing the entirety of our first graphic novel. Rik and Ferran have done a masterful job bringing the pages to life and pushing Kovacs into a bold new direction,” said Executive Editor Joseph Rybandt.
“The mythos Richard K. Morgan has created is so rich, it’s easy to see why the novels are so successful and how it has become a huge hit on Netflix. We’re honored that Richard is allowing us to work with him to create new stories to continue to grow this universe. Dynamite has experienced great success with retailers and fans creating original stories of popular prose series in the graphic novel format, striving to offer something wholly original for hardcore fans,” said Nick Barrucci, Dynamite Publisher/CEO. “Altered Carbon is one of the true masterpieces of sci-fi and we can’t wait for fans to check out this story!”
Altered Carbon: Download Blues will be solicited in Diamond Comic Distributors’ March 2019 Previews catalog, the premier source of merchandise for the comic book specialty market, and slated for release in May 2019. Comic book fans are encouraged to preorder copies with their local comic book retailers. It will also be available for individual customer purchase through digital platforms courtesy of Comixology, Kindle, iBooks, Google Play, Dynamite Digital, ComicsPlus, and more!
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