Monk Creator Comes to Comics!

I told you we had a slew of Dark Horse press releases - all of them good, too! So here's yet another one, this time about Monk creator, Andy Breckman, and his new DH project (his first foray into sequential art):

USA’s hit show Monk lends Dark Horse their creator Andy Breckman. Paired with legendary artist Peter Gross, the team delivers Long Lost, a drama full of loss, suspense, and mystery. Andy Breckman has a long history in comedy, having been a stand-up comedian, movie writer, and television producer. For the first time ever, Breckman takes a stab at both drama and the comics medium in this electrifying emotional narrative. The fantastic art of Peter Gross adds an element of honesty and realism to the masterpiece that is Long Lost.

When a mother suddenly comes face to face with a teenage boy claiming to be her son who was kidnapped as a baby, she is skeptical of this spontaneous return is real. Of one family’s tragedy is explored in this twisting story of grief, psychosis, and deception. Long Lost takes every parent’s worst nightmare and turns it into a thrilling tale that keeps readers on their toes.

Breckman explains the background of the project: “Sometimes—not often, but sometimes—things work out exactly the way they’re supposed to. I’ve been kicking Long Lost around for a while. After years of writing comedy, I wanted to try something new. I wanted to try scaring the shit out of people. I was proud of the story, and aching to tell it. But how? It was too dark—too twisted—for TV. And way too intense—too claustrophobic—for the big screen. Then I met the amazing Peter Gross and his blessed-by-God right hand. He sent me a few rough pages, and that was it. Long Lost was home. I realized it was always meant to be a graphic novel, and Peter was always meant to bring it to life. I can sleep easy. My baby is in good hands.”

“I’m always a little wary about working with writers from other mediums who want to dip into comics for the first time, because it’s a harder medium than they expect, with unique challenges all its own. After talking to Andy the first time, I knew I had to do this project—he’s smart, funny, personable, and has a great story . . . and he promised me I would be the ‘director’ of this project, with all the story-cutting privileges that go along with that. After watching Andy geek out at the NY Comic-Con, paying big bucks for an early issue of Jimmy Olson that he loved as a kid, I knew he had comics in his blood. He’s just one of those guys who became incredibly successful in other media so he could break into comics,” said Gross on the collaboration.

Long Lost is scheduled for a 2008 release date.