LPWire: Disney's The Haunted Mansion Ride to be Adapted to Comic Book Form

Disney's The Haunted Mansion Ride to be Adapted to Comic Book Form
Series Based on Classic Disney Attraction to Debut October 2005

Foolish mortals everywhere will have reason to host their own swinging wakes when SLG Publishing, in partnership with Disney Publishing Worldwide, releases the first issue of The Haunted Mansion, a comic book anthology based on the classic Disney E Ticket attraction. Scheduled for an October 2005 release, The Haunted Mansion will feature stories by some of SLG Publishing's top creators including Roman Dirge (Lenore), Serena Valentino (Gloomcookie, Nightmares & Fairy Tales), as well as from some talented newcomersSLG's Haunted Mansion comic book will draw from the strong visual elements of the ride for it's stories and will not be based on the feature film. "The ride's elements really lend itself to an anthology comic book" commented SLG Publishing president and series editor Dan Vado "there are 999 ghosts living in the mansion, that means there is potential for 999 different stories."

The comic, in a series of stories that will run through the first several issues, will create a new back story for the Mansion and tell the intertwining stories of The Ghost Host, Madame Leotta, and the Bride who resides in the attic. How they all came to be in the mansion, and the mansion's powerful attraction to spirits and ghouls, will all be revealed. "The goal is to create a comic book that feels like a little piece of the ride living in your bookshelf," added Vado. "The end result should be something that will satisfy the casual reader as well as the hard core ride fans (like myself) who have spent good chunks of their lives riding The Haunted Mansion over and over again."

Vado admits that the partnership between SLG Publishing and Disney seems like an odd fit. Known for comics like Lenore, a dark humor comic featuring stories about a little dead girl by Roman Dirge, SLG is hoping that the combination of the companies creative sensibilities and Disney's vast wealth of characters will make for, at the very minimum, some interesting comic books. "SLG Publishing has a reputation for publishing entertaining and cutting-edge comics," said Margie Chan, vice president, English Language Licensing Worldwide, DPW. "They have used these talents once again to bring an entirely new vantage point to our classic properties."

Haunted Mansion will be a 32 page black & white comic book with a cover price of $2.95. Covers will be by Roman Dirge. Haunted Mansion will be available at better comic book stores and select book stores this October as well as on Amazon.com and at Hot Topic stores. The comic will also be available through the publisher's web site at www.slgpublishing.com

--Posted October 5, 2005
Source: SLG Publishing