Thursday, October 14, 2010

Special Announcement for XOMBI fans


As many of you may already be aware, last weekend at the New York Comic Con, DC Comics Co-Publisher, Dan Didio announced that there would be a new XOMBI comic book debuting in February 2010.

XOMBI was a comic book published by Milestone Media from 1994-1996. The book was critically acclaimed, praised by such luminaries as Harlan Ellison, Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Mike Mignola, Reggie Hudlan, Warren Ellis, and many others. It developed a really devoted fan following, many of whom I still hear from today. All of this was great, but the series never sold well, and was cancelled after 22 issues. Even so, I continue to receive more email about Xombi than anything else I've written, and apparently DC received enough queries about Xombi that it's getting a second chance at life.

Xombi  centers around David Kim, a medical researcher who was attacked in his laboratory by strange creatures and left for dead. His supernaturally induced mortal injuries were repaired by nanomachines injected into his body. The combination of science and the supernatural has left him with two consequences. 1. He cannot die. Ever. he can heal any wound, any disease, never has to brush his teeth, diet, worry about aging, or use a toilet. The nanomachines in his body process everything and keep him in peak physical condition. This condition brought on my artificial means is what makes him a xombi 2. He has now become a weirdness magnet. All manner of really strange stuff occurs with him somehow winding up in the center of it.

The series was about David Kim coming to terms with both of these conditions, learning his way around in a world most of us never get to see occupied by the most bizarre characters and situations while desperately trying to maintain a place in our mundane everyday world.

This is all you need to know to read the upcoming new series.

One thing the announcement at New York Comic Con failed to mention was the creative team. There's been a lot of speculation on whether or not I will be the writer, and a lot of people have emailed me to ask this.

The answer is yes. Xombi came straight from my DNA and I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to return to the story of David Kim. This is an absolute dream come true for me.

As of this post, no art team has been picked. I've only written one issue so far and plan to start the second sometime this coming weekend. No additional information is available at this time, but check back here regularly because I will certainly be making announcements as we move forward.


16 comments:

Trix said...

Congratulations on a dream come true!! This is wonderful news! I'm more than a little excited to get my hands on the first issue.

Ken H. said...

Congratulations!

I was hoping you'd be the writer but I didn't want to get my hopes up too much. Can't wait for it and I'm looking forward to the eventually art team announcement as well.

Michael Jones said...

I regret never reading it in its initial run. This is good new indeed.

LMPjr007 said...

Milestone Media products were just ahead of their time and the rest of the world needed time to catch up. Congrats!

Robert Pope said...

Congrats pally!

Martin said...

Congratulations! I can't wait to read the first issue.

Michael May said...

That's what I've been hoping for! Woohoo! Cannot WAIT.

Rob Barrett said...

Wonderful news! I'll add it to my pull list the minute it's available.

Dane said...

Congratulations! I will spread the good news at Geektress.

John Rozum said...

Thank you, everyone. Now to make sure it sells really well.

Anonymous said...

Fantastic news, John! In between reading and enjoying your Halloween posts, I've waiting anxiously for word from you on this! I'll certainly be spreading the word.

Steve said...

I just read this on io9. Congratulations!

Terence said...

Outstanding! I hope this will result in TPBs for the original series-

pulpcitizen said...

Great news Mr Rozum - I loved the first volume, and thought it was one of the strongest books both conceptually and in execution oin the Milestone fold (possibly my favourite comic book line of all time).

Quick questions time: is there any chance of a guest appearance by the Hangman; they seem a natural fit in terms of contrast as well as vague similarities, and the Hangman could have a storied past that ties in to David Kim, his suppoting cast, or indeed any past Xombis. And if tyou did that, yopu could finally do a little more with Mr Justice after that one panel cameo/tease.

akachris said...

Can't wait for the new series, especially with the news of Frazer Irving as the artist.

Any chance of a Xombi trade paperback of the Milestone issue prior to the series debut?

I'd also love to see a guest appearance by Resurrection Man, another nanobyte enhanced entity in the DCU.

AS said...

Weird news, for I was sure this series would never see either continuation or reprint. I of course loved it back in the day but it seemed nobody else even knew the series existed.

But I am excited to see more of this now. Will we see also the return of Nun of the Above and Catholic Girl? I'll be sorely disappointed if we don't...