Fringe fans have gotten two exciting pieces of news about their favorite show in the past few days. One is that DC Comics has confirmed that “Beyond the Fringe” the digital comic inspired by the show, which has been a top seller, will be released in a printed edition this September.
“I’m a huge fan of Fringe,” says Invader Zim executive producer writer Jhonen Vasquez, who penned several installments of the 12-chapter comic series. “So I kept my story pretty anchored to the show. I didn’t have characters flying around or becoming ninjas.” The entire series of books is filled with “what if” scenarios that all fit well within the show’s architecture, including Vasquez’s Nina-centric tale of her early days with Walter and William Bell, and Fringe star Josh Jackson’s comic-book writing debut about Peter’s experiences in an alternate timeline.
Though none of the stories collected in the complete Beyond the Fringe are necessarily canon to the show, Vasquez says the producers were indispensable in helping create original content fit for the most devoted Fringe followers. “With them helping me avoid some things and [plant] other things, it just gives the fans something they can recognize…if they [look] that deeply,” says Vasquez. “Which I know they do!”
The collected edition of Beyond the Fringe will be available at local comic stores across the country on Sept. 5.
It was also announced this week that for the show’s appearance at Comic-Con 2012 the Fringe Panel will be help in the prime line-up of Hall H, the event’s biggest venue. Appearances in Hall H are considered the show’s marquee events.
