DEAR DRACULA GETS ANIMATED

Image Comics/Shadowline graphic novel adaptation to air on Cartoon Network

DEAR DRACULA, a graphic novel for kids published by the Image Comics imprint Shadowline, has been adapted into an animated feature for Cartoon Network. The hour-long feature will air on October 16 at 7 p.m. (ET, PT) as part of Cartoon Network's "Spooky Specials" Halloween programming.

A scarily sweet story of a young boy named Sam who loves horror films and vampires so much that he writes to Dracula for Christmas instead of Santa Claus, DEAR DRACULA was written by Joshua Williamson and drawn by Vicente "Vinny" Navarrete. Sam gets an unexpected reply to his letter when Dracula himself shows up on his doorstep, ready to make Sam's dream of being a vampire come true.

Giving voice to DEAR DRACULA is a cast of well-known Hollywood veterans as well as breakout young actors:

Ray Liotta as Dracula
Nathan Gamble (Dolphin Tale) as Sam
Ariel Winters (Modern Family) as Emma
Emilio Estevez as Renfield
Marion Ross (Happy Days) as Grandma

The DEAR DRACULA animated feature is produced by Kickstart Productions (Voltron Force, Wolverine and the X-Men, The Amazing Screw-On Head), with a screenplay by Brad Birch (Johnny Test).

DEAR DRACULA by Joshua Williamson and Vicente "Vinny" Navarete is a 48-page, full-color hardcover graphic novel for $7.99. Its ISBN is 978-1-58240-970-2. It was released in 2008 and received glowing reviews:

"This 48-page hardcover should find a permanent place in a child's library. It's especially satisfying for a youngster who loves classic monsters, Halloween and cheese."
-The Washington Times

"Dracula is presented as a kindly grownup, and all the horror elements are played strictly for laughs, so even younger children are unlikely to find the book too scary. Behind the scenes is a subtle lesson about learning about and respecting others' differences, but the creators wisely avoid hitting the reader on the head with an obvious moral."
-The Graphic Novel Reporter

"This book is a rarity: a well-crafted, beautifully illustrated all-ages love letter to a horror icon. It deserves a place in everyone's library."
-Comics in the Classroom

ABOUT IMAGE COMICS
Image Comics is a comic book and graphic novel publisher founded in 1992 by a collective of best-selling artists. Image has since gone on to become one of the largest comics publishers in the United States. Image currently has five partners: Robert Kirkman, Erik Larsen, Todd McFarlane, Marc Silvestri and Jim Valentino. It consists of five major houses: Todd McFarlane Productions, Top Cow Productions, Shadowline, Skybound and Image Central. Image publishes comics and graphic novels in nearly every genre, sub-genre, and style imaginable. It offers science fiction, romance, horror, crime fiction, historical fiction, humor and more by the finest artists and writers working in the medium today. For more information, visit www.imagecomics.com.