Dune prequel House Atreides to get a graphic novel adaptation

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

If you thought that a new pic of Timothee Charlamet and Josh Brolin riding atop an ornithopter was the only DUNE-related news you'd be getting this Monday afternoon, think again! It's been announced that Los Angeles-based comic book publisher Boom! Studios has acquired the graphic novel rights to Dune: House Atreides, the New York Times-bestselling prequel to Frank Herbert’s iconic science-fiction property. For the newly-announced project, the publisher is planning to release a 12-issue adaptation scripted by the novel’s authors, Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson.

House Atreides, set more than three decades before the events of Herbert's original 1965 novel, will tell the story of the earliest days of the rule of Baron Harkonnen, as Pardot Kynes arrives on Arrakis to search for the origins of the all-precious spice and an eight-year-old Duncan Idaho escapes slavery and sets out on a path towards his destiny.

“It’s been more than twenty years since Brian and I published House Atreides, the first of our new novels set in Frank Herbert’s Dune universe,” Kevin J Anderson said in a statement about the project. “We loved exploring all the possibilities Frank created for us, and those books introduced a whole new audience to Dune. Now, in adapting House Atreides into a vibrant graphic format, it’s like rediscovering the story and the world all over again. So much of the novel is visually driven, the union of comics and House Atreides is a natural.”

“There are few novels in modern history with bigger impact and continued relevance than Dune, so it’s an honor for Boom! Studios — and for me — to be a part of sharing this unforgettable world with readers,” said Boom! CEO and founder Ross Richie.

With Denis Villeneuve's DUNE expected to hit theaters later this year, now's the perfect time for Boom! to unveil their plans for the House Atreides adaptation. It goes without saying that comic book adaptations can present stories in new and creative ways, and so it's exciting to think of Herbert and Anderson's prequel getting the Boom! treatment. As a long time fan of the publisher, I can assure you that Boom! always goes above and beyond when presenting a new series to fans. If you need proof of their ability to showcase otherworldly fantasy, you need look no further than CODA. Written by Simon Spurrier with art by Matias Bergara and colors by Michael Doig, CODA takes place in the aftermath of an apocalypse which wiped out nearly all magic from a once-wondrous fantasy world. For the epic tale, we follow a former bard named Hum (a man of few words, so nicknamed because his standard reply is “hm”), who seeks a way to save the soul of his wife with nothing but a foul-tempered mutant unicorn and his wits to protect him…but is unwillingly drawn into a brutal power struggle which will decide forever who rules the Weird Wasteland.

Sounds exciting, right? That's because it is! Now think of what the Boom! can do with House Atreides and join me aboard the hype train, won't you?

For more DUNE goodness, be sure to check out Denis Villeneuve's Dune remake when it hits theaters on December 18, 2020.