Announced back in February of 2017, details have finally emerged about the upcoming “Mystery Science Theater 3000” comic from Dark Horse, via ComicBook.com. The television series, recently revived by Netflix, involves characters riffing over bad movies, along with some ‘host’ segments that bring in a bit of an overarching narrative. If that seems like an odd choice for a comic, you’re probably right. That said, the Brains found a way for it to work.
The series, written by show creator/original star Joel Hodgson, will feature the current cast ‘riffing’ on public domain comics. It’s an idea that makes a lot of sense, even if the execution is still somewhat of a mystery (no pun intended). Because so much of the show is dependent on the timing of jokes, translating that to a print medium may be tricky. But the concept is a fun one, and one that may be able to survive beyond the six issue series.
Because of the use of pre-existing material, it is unclear how much new interior art, beyond the classic silhouettes, will be needed and, at press time, no interior artist was named in the ComicBook.com piece. However, both of the covers to issue #1 were released: the standard by Todd Nauck (“Deadpool: Too Soon?,” “Youngblood”), and a variant by longtime Shout! Factory artist Steve Vance, who did many of the home-release covers for MST3K episodes.
The series debuts in September, so we should be getting more information when the Dark Horse solicitations land later this month.
