Last August, we heard that Zombie Love Studios founder Rodney Barnes was writing a Blacula graphic novel that will be released sometime this year. Now Barnes has announced another exciting project: he and iconic rapper Snoop Dogg are teaming up for a horror anthology comic book series called Tales from the Crip! A sample of Tales from the Crip art that’s reminiscent of Creepshow can be seen below.
According to a press release our friends at Bloody Disgusting got their hands on, Tales from the Crip is described as being “in the tradition of the classic EC comics of old”. The comic book series will feature
urban themed horror stories introduced by the legendary rapper and penned by Barnes.
Zombie Love Studios will be releasing Tales from the Crip sometime this fall – and the press release notes that it will be coming out after Barnes’ Blacula graphic novel, which will preview in September.
Barnes is also the creature of the Eisner-nominated comic book series Killadelphia, about a beat cop discovering that Philadelphia is infested with vampires.
I’m a fan of horror anthologies – Tales from the Crypt, Masters of Horror, Tales from the Darkside, Creepshow, Tales from the Hood, etc. – so I’m interested to see what sort of horror stories Snoop Dogg and Rodney Barnes will be telling in this comic book.
Here’s some information on Zombie Love Studios:
The brainchild of veteran award-winning screenwriter, producer and graphic novel creator Rodney Barnes, Zombie Love Studios was founded with the goal of creating the best and boldest genre-based graphic novels the industry has ever seen. The culture shifting company offers readers layered stories of the macabre that combine politics, social resonance, and history with the nuance and specificity of the unique cultural forces that influence the mindsets of its characters and the tales they tell. A creative space dedicated to storytelling centered around BIPOC voices and perspectives, Zombie Love Studios allows Barnes to simultaneously expand his creative footprint while also making a larger impact on the comic industry by eliminating the usual creative limitations and boundaries, allowing for the most raw and unfiltered depictions of the culture. Along with Tales From The Crip, Barnes and Zombie Love Studios are set to release several additional titles in 2022, including: Blacula, a graphic novel adaptation of MGM’s classic 1970s film; Crownsville, a ghost story set in the first black insane asylum in America; and Florence and Normandie, a science fiction epic set in South Los Angeles that Barnes has partnered with rapper Xzibit to create.
Tales from the Crip isn’t the only bit of Snoop Dogg horror we’ll be seeing this year. He also has an acting role in the vampire action horror movie Day Shift, which stars Jamie Foxx as a vampire slayer and will be released through the Netflix streaming service sometime in 2022.
Here’s that Tales from the Crip artwork: