The news is real. Gou Tanabe is adapting The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, and the first chapter is now in print through Kadokawa’s Comic Beam magazine. Although a translated release is likely years away, fans can either seek out the original or check fan translation sites. For now, that may be all readers outside Japan are going to get.
Considering this is one of Lovecraft’s longer works, don’t expect the story to wrap up for at least two years. Anyone who has read the original knows this tale deals with necromancy and an ancestor with a questionable past. Audio adaptations exist and those curious enough to listen to can check out the link below.
What’s exciting about this release is how Tanabe always manages to expand the source material to new heights. His sweeping vistas and dense details hint at something only large-format releases can fully reveal. Reading it in a magazine offers only a tiny layer of the full experience. Like other artists deeply invested in world building, such as Mamoru Nagano and Gothicmade (formerly Five Star Stories), readers living abroad are at a disadvantage. And by the time it reaches tankobon format, there may be two volumes.
While fans wait, the following are due out soon:
The Dunwich Horror
Dark Horse Comics
September 2026
Arriving just before Halloween, the deluxe edition is being offered over the traditional softcover. That’s good news for those who feel a standard edition doesn’t quite do justice to this seminal tale about the coming of Yog-Sothoth. This tale originally ran in the October issue of Comic Beam back in 2021, and that time frame can help readers gauge when Dexter Ward is likely to see print.
From the Press Release:
The horror was born before dawn on February 2, 1913, the feast of Candlemas, although the people of Dunwich call that ancient festival by a different name. Of unknown father, Wilbur Whateley was not christened, yet he descended still from a once-proud Puritan family that left Salem in 1692 to found Dunwich, Massachusetts. And the descent of the Whateleys and their old town has been deep indeed, its now crumbling houses overlooked by bare hills topped by stone circles, where unhallowed rituals were held before the first settlers ever came.
Yet it was none other than ten-year-old Wilbur Whateley that led Dr. Henry Armitage, head librarian at Miskatonic University, to drive the dusty, rutted roads out to Dunwich and meet the child prodigy who had been corresponding with him on the most abstruse and disturbing lore. Dr. Armitage could hardly believe the sight of the priceless hoard of occult books rotting away in the Whateley farmhouse, nor that of the dark, goatish Wilbur, for whom those books had been his only education.
The Last Day of H.P. Lovecraft
BOOM! Studios
August 2026
After a successful monthly run, this tale by Romuald Giulivo and Jakub Rebelka fictionalises Lovecraft’s final day on Earth and folds in imagery and themes from the Cthulhu Mythos. What’s presented is surreal, and it’s a must for readers who’ve ever wondered what was going on in that man’s head. The story essentially turns his xenophobia into eldritch life, so readers who followed along monthly may already feel ahead of the curve. Collected, though, those who missed it won’t feel left behind.
The Thing on the Doorstep
Image Comics
September 2026
When the collected version of Daniel Upton and Edward Derby’s fateful story will arrive is still uncertain. The series began publishing in February and runs five issues. At the time of writing, this serialised version is still rolling out, with Upton swearing he never committed the crime.
For those coming in late, or waiting for the trade, the question remains: what really happened that night at Arkham Sanitarium? Those who have read the original Lovecraft story already know, of course.
The series is written by Simon Birks (The Shadow Over Innsmouth) with art by Willi Roberts (The Dark). It looks very promising, and hopefully this publisher has plans to bring more of Lovecraft’s catalogue to the fore. Between them and Dark Horse, it’s safe to say there are plenty more tales to discover.
The Case of Charles Dexter Ward Audio Adaptation
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