CAPTAIN TRIPPS AND THE DARK MAN

Announced months ago by author Stephen King, Marvel Comics this weekend at WizardWorld Philly announced the comic book adaptation of The Stand. Written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacaso (sp? he wrote Marvel's "4" title about the Fantastic Four) with art by Mike Perkins, Marvel E-I-C Joe Quesada held back the number of issues the comic adaptation would run.

Considering the book itself (the unabridged version, at least) clocks in at well over a 1000 pages, it is hard to see the adaptation being anything less than 12 issues. Even the ABC television miniseries was an 8 hour event and that left out a lot from the book. With King being fully involved in the project as he has been with Marvel's adaptation/expansion of his Dark Tower series, it seems that the book will be given a lot of room to tell its story.

The refusal of Marvel to lock-down a finite number of issues seems keyed to the business end of things, however. It's not easy to get a casual comics fan to commit to an ongoing series that extends over more than a year, especially when they know the book will be collected eventually in a handsome hardcover package. Throw in the rising cost of gas and the difficulty of finding a comic shop in this direct market only comics-world, and you have a recipe for a tough sell - even for a writer as popular as King and a book as popular as The Stand.

Either way, it is something that I am sure many King fans are excited about, and certainly, anyone who has picked up the Dark Tower adaptations knows how good and good-looking those books have been. I look forward to the project myself, and just point out Marvel's strange secrecy on the issue number as a point of curiosity.

At right: feast your eyes on a small black and white piece by series artist Mike Perkins!