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Dark Horse Books lines up “Transplants”, marking comics debut for screenwriter and producer Dave Collard

By John Freeman on April 7, 2023

Dark Horse Books has announced Transplants, a thought-provoking science fiction/superhero graphic novel written by David “Dave” Collard (Family Guy, Chickenhare and the Hamster of Darkness) in his comics debut. Domenico Carbone joins as the penciller and inker along with colourist Josh Rodriguez and letterer Frank Cvetkovic.

Dave, who began his career writing on Family Guy, was also a producer on feature films such as the award-winning Out of Time, and Annapolis.

in addition to his work for Dark Horse, Italian artist Domenico Carbone has created some standout work for European publishers such as Editions Petit, including a fabulous-looking biography of singer Nina Simone.

Transplants by Dave Collard and Domenico Carbone (Dark Horse Books, 2023)

When Jess finally receives the long-awaited organ transplant that she desperately needs to live, she believes all her troubles are behind her. That is until she starts developing some interesting side effects from the transplant – a newfound set of fantastical abilities and superpowers. When she discovers that everyone else who received organs from this donor is also experiencing the same thing, they must all figure out who this donor was, and decide what to do with the powers – use them for good, evil, or simply ignore them altogether.

“The idea for this graphic novel came, like all great ideas, while I was standing in line at the DMV,” said Collard. “When I checked the box on my license renewal, consenting to be an organ donor, I thought, ‘I feel bad for the poor sap who gets my very near-sighted eyes.’ And that led (naturally) to the questions, ‘Hey, what if Superman was an organ donor? And what if this square-jawed white dude had his powers transferred to a group of people who traditionally haven’t had power?’ All of a sudden, I finally had my way into telling a superhero story.

“With Transplants, I’m trying to deconstruct the superhero genre a little while placing it in the ongoing national debate about power and privilege. I hope you like it. But if you don’t, blame the Department of Motor Vehicles.”

• Transplants TPB lands in book shops on 21st November 2023 and in comic shops on 22nd November 2023. It is now available to pre-order for $19.99 at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and at your local comic shop and indie bookstore

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.