First released in 1984, one of Europe’s most popular comics, XIII has sold over 16 million copies with a regular run of around 550,00 per book. Even with this massive success, a fully translated copy has yet to reach America.
Marvel Comics and Dabel Brothers Productions have teamed up to translate the French comic into graphic novel format that is scheduled to hit stores January 31, 2007. Best of all, the publishers have decided to use William Vance’s work without censoring the art.
Major Spoilers have a five page preview after the jump.
Here is how the company describes the title:
Written by Jean van Hamme and illustrated by William Vance with a story similar to Robert Ludlum’s THE BOURNE IDENTITY, XIII soon established itself as a fantastic adventure full of twists and turns as readers followed the travels of a man who had no memory of who he was or what he had done.
The first volume will sell for $14.99, with a second volume planned for the summer.
1 Comment
looks good. I loved Bourne Identity (the book, not the mediocre translation to film).
I checked on this comic in the history and it looks like it was offered in Previews as a periodical by Alias through issue 6 (no idea if they made it out though). A trade was then offered in Oct 05 by Alias. Mar 06 is when Dabel Bros offered a trade (no idea if that one made it out either).