John Carpenter has been thrilling us with tales of horror and science fiction for decades, from iconic movies like Halloween, The Thing and Escape from New York to video games (see our John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando review).
When it comes to graphic novels, he's been an editor and contributor on several series and anthologies, but now he's releasing a graphic novel of his own. Cathedral is a gothic horror set in LA, and, like many of his movies, it's accompanied by a synth-heavy soundtrack of the director's own composition.
Released this week by Storm King Comics, the graphic novel is set in an abandoned cathedral in Los Angeles, the city that provided the backdrop to movies like Prince of Darkness and They Live (speaking of the latter, check out the spoof Meta Glasses advert that's going viral).
"I saw it in a dream: a nightmare landscape deep underground filled with monsters too weird and sinister to exist in daylight. I knew instantly I had to get these things out of my head and into everyone else’s brains,” John says of his initial inspiration.
It's classic John Carpenter territory: there's a police investigation, underground catacombs, an ancient evil released. The art style also seems to fit his classic themes of paranoia and claustrophobia.
The book was co-written with producer and editor Sandy King and writer Sean Sobczak, illustrated by Federico De Luca and Luis Guaragna, coloured by Sian Mandrake, and lettered by Marshall Dillon. There are limited editions with covers by Francesco Francavilla, Luis Guaragna with Sian Mandrake, Leonardo Colapietro and Jason Shawn Alexander.
The art style is darkly cinematic, gothic and horror-infused, blending atmospheric line work with strong use of shadow and colour, echoing the ominous framing and architecture of movies like Prince of Darkness.
The accompanying album, coming out on Friday, 7 August, on Sacred Bones Records matches tracks to each chapter of the graphic novel. Liner notes will guide listeners through the story. The aim is add a cinematic element making this the closest thing we've had to a new movie from Carpenter since 2010's The Ward starring Amber Heard.
John Carpenter's Cathedral is priced at $22.99 and can be found on Amazon.
