Viper announces ongoing Dead@17 series

Viper made their ongoing Dead@17 comic official yesterday with a press release:

The adventures of Nara Kilday have come to a close, but danger still falls on the town of Darlington Hills. So cute girls with short skirts and axes beware!

"It's been something I've been thinking about for awhile," says series creator Josh Howard, "I needed a break from the Dead world to recharge my batteries and figure out where I wanted to take it. I'm just coming off of two other books for other publishers, and it just felt like the right time to return."

Things get kicked off with Free Comic Book Day this May as a new 10 page DEAD@17 story appears in the VIPER COMICS PRESENTS anthology. "I knew I didn't want to just slap in the first 10 pages from issue 1 or write some kind of meaningless introduction," continues Howard. "I had the idea of a voice over, of someone giving this almost poetic re-introduction to the DEAD@17 world. It's the closest thing you can get to a comic book trailer."

The new series will debut this August and Howard promises to introduce the world to a new cast of Darlington Hills residents. "New readers aren't really required to know anything about what's come before. I'm doing my best to make this accessible to everyone."

VIPER COMICS PRESENTS is a free book available at comic shops everywhere on May 6th as part of the annual Free Comic Book Day event. In addition to the new DEAD@17 story, the anthology will contain excerpts from upcoming Viper titles EMILY EDISON, A BIT HAYWIRE, and A DUMMY'S GUIDE TO DANGER. "This is the company's first time participating in Free Comic Book Day," says Assistant Editor P.J. Kryfko. "We couldn't be more excited. I think we have a great anthology for people, and best of all. it's free!"

For more information, check out the Viper Comics website or Josh Howard's blog.