Missoula, MT (03/04/2025) — Vault Comics will publish a graphic novel adaptation of Rhett Bruno and Jaime Castle’s hit weird western novella, Dead Acre. The first volume in the acclaimed, award-winning Black Badge series, Dead Acre is the story of James Crowley, an outlaw who met his mortal end in a hail of gunfire, and now finds himself in purgatory, serving the White Throne to avoid falling to hell. Not quite undead, though not alive either, the best he can hope for is to work off his servitude and fade away. His not-so-sacred duty as a Hand of God? Use his new abilities to hunt down demonic beings that have infiltrated the mortal realm.
The graphic novel is written by acclaimed writer Cullen Bunn (Harrow County, The Sixth Gun, The Last Book You’ll Ever Read), drawn by Riley Brown, colored by Fares Maese, and lettered by and world design.
“I’m no stranger to supernatural westerns. I’m a huge fan of the genre. And, supernatural westerns rooted in prose is really what cemented my fandom. So, working on a story like this was a lot of fun for me,” said graphic novel writer, Cullen Bunn. “James Crowley, gunfighter returned from the grave as a kind of revenant-with-a-mission, is a character with tons of potential. There’s no end to the stories that could be harvested from his adventures.”
“There’s nothing more visual and visceral than a good western,” said Black Badge co-creator, Rhett Bruno. “Add in a little magic and what can beat it? To see Black Badge in comic form has been a dream since we came up with the idea.”
“Working alongside industry heroes like Cullen and Riley has literally made my dreams come true,” said Black Badge co-creator, Jaime Castle. “This is the best-looking western comic ever made. Like striking oil.”
The 160 page, full color graphic novel will be available on September 16, 2025, and is available for pre-order now.
Fans can get an early look at the first sixteen pages of the graphic novel today.
Meanwhile ebooks of the Black Badge novels are available from Aethon Books, and print and audiobooks editions, narrated by Roger Clark, are available from Blackstone.
