Earlier this month, it was announced that the upcoming film adaptation of Frank Herbert’s Dune novel was delayed. With many movie theatres around the world closed or limiting audience capacity due to COVID-19, it made a lot of sense for Warner Bros. to shuffle their movie releases around. Even though we were just teased with an exciting trailer, the movie has been moved from mid-December 2020 to October 1st, 2021.
That’s a long time to wait! Luckily, comics are picking up the slack with two upcoming Dune projects to choose from. The even better news is that you won’t have to wait long to read either of them.
The first project is Dune: Atreides. Published by Boom Studios, this twelve-issue comic series will adapt the novel of the same name.
For those who are not familiar with the Dune novels, Dune: Atreides is the first novel in the Prelude to Dune series. This was the first book to be published after original series author Frank Herbert’s death. His son Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson would become the custodian’s of the novel franchise and would continue writing more of them based on Frank Herbert’s notes.
With Boom Studios’ comic book adaption, Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson are returning to the story they published in 1999. Along for the ride is artist Dev Pramanik and colourist Alex Guimarães.
If you’re looking forward to the movie and want to know what happens beforehand, then this prequel is a good place to start. It’s set in the years leading up to the original Dune novel, which the upcoming film is based on.
Like the original novel, Dune: House Atreides is set on the desert planet Arrakis. It’s the only known source of Spice, a rare substance that can do everything from enabling interstellar travel to prolong life. As a result, it’s the most valuable thing in the universe. From that basis, the science fiction franchise has been able to explore themes around environmentalism, politics, and mysticism.
The monthly adaptation will follow several characters who are connected to Arrakis in different ways. While they all seem unconnected to each other, they will eventually be drawn together to shape history.
Dune: House Atreides #1 (of 12) will be available at all good comic book stores, online stores, and digitally on October 21st. Boom Studios has already announced a second printing will arrive on November 11th.
Take a look at some of the art for Dune: House Atreides #1 below.
The other project is a graphic novel adaptation of the original Dune novel by Frank Herbert. Just like Dune: House Atreides, this will also be adapted by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson. These adaptations will be published by Abrams ComicArts.
With art by Spanish artist Raúl Allén and lettered by Patricia Martin, it is the first of three graphic novels that will cover the entire book. Book 1 will focus on the novel’s first act (roughly the first 200 pages), with all intentions of being faithful to the source material as possible. Anderson has described it as “a definitive, scene-for-scene adaptation of Dune, faithful to the story as Frank Herbert wrote it, but brought to a visual form.”
Future graphic novels will focus on the book’s second and third act. Release dates haven’t been announced for these yet, but we can assume that at least one of them will arrive in 2021.
For those who have read the novel, then this is a chance to experience it in a new way. For those who haven’t, then this a chance to get a taste of it to see if you like it.
Take a look below at some of Raúl Allén’s character designs for the graphic novel, as originally revealed over at Entertainment Weekly.
Dune: The Graphic Novel, Book 1 will be available in all good comic book stores, online stores, book shops, and digitally on November 24th.
A Few Dune Bonuses
I had a few other Dune related things that didn’t quite fit into the main article, so I thought would chuck them down the bottom here.
- This is not the first time that Dune has been in comics. Marvel published a comics adaptation of the David Lynch movie. This was written by written by Ralph Macchio with art by Bill Sienkiewicz. It was originally printed as Marvel Comics Super Special #36: Dune and later reprinted as Dune #1-3. Due to licencing, it’s currently not in print and is on the expensive side on eBay.
- For anyone who is looking to read the Dune novels but, due to the vast number of them, have no idea where to begin: here is a great Reddit thread to point you in the right direction.
- While it was written in 1965, Dune continues to influence science fiction and fantasy to this day. One franchise that was inspired a lot by Dune is Star Wars.
Have Your Say!
Will you be reading any of these Dune comics? Let me know in the comments below or via Facebook or Twitter.
Have your say!