Titan Publishing has just announced a collaboration with Netflix to publish tie-in books and a new comics series for their upcoming series Cowboy Bebop. The UK-based publisher will be releasing three new projects in the coming months: Cowboy Bebop: The Comic Series, which follows the crew of the Bebop on a never-before-seen adventure; Cowboy Bebop: A Syndicate Story: Red Planet Requiem, a brand new novel set in the world of the series; and Cowboy Bebop: Making the Netflix Series, a nonfiction production diary.
Based on the hit '90s anime series from director Shinichirō Watanabe, Netflix's new live-action series casts John Cho as Spike Spiegel, a bounty hunter on the spaceship Bebop. His crewmates include Jet Black (Mustafa Shakir), a former police officer, and Faye Valentine (Daniella Pineda), an amnesiac con artist. Together, they hunt down the solar system’s most dangerous criminals as they attempt to escape their own pasts.
The new Cowboy Bebop comics will be written by DC veteran Dan Watters, whose recent run on Sandman Presents: Lucifer concluded earlier this year. The series will be drawn by Lamar Mathurin, an artist who cites the original Cowboy Bebop as a key influence. The story finds the Bebop crew chasing down an ex-gang member who holds a vest which gives the wearer unlimited luck. The series will join a tradition of comics tie-ins to the franchise, including a 1997 Manga series by Cain Kuga, and a 1998 series by Yutaka Nanten.
Cowboy Bebop: A Syndicate Story: Red Planet Requiem is written by series writer Sean Cummings. Set before the events of the series story is described as exploring the show's fictional history through the eyes of a young Spike Spiegel and his friend turned rival, Vicious.
But the highlight of the new releases might just be Cowboy Bebop: Making the Netflix Series. Written by Jeff Bond, whose previous behind-the-scenes nonfiction work includes Narcos: The Art and Making of the Show, and The World of the Orville, the book will feature an exclusive foreword by showrunner André Nemec. Packed full of beautiful concept art and behind-the-scenes photos, the book chronicles the long and tumultuous production of the series, which was halted when Cho was injured during a stunt, and then again when COVID protocols shut down production in New Zealand. Throw in the fascinating path the series took from beloved cartoon to live-action series, and this should make for one heck of a coffee table book.
Cowboy Bebop will debut November 19 on Netflix. Its tie-in comic, Cowboy Bebop #1, will be on sale in December. Cowboy Bebop: A Syndicate Story: Red Planet Requiem will be available in paperback on November 23. Cowboy Bebop: Making the Netflix Series will be available in hardback on January 11, 2022.
