Forever Free #1. Art by Marvano.

Way back in February, writer Joe Haldeman and artist Marvano told Freaksugar that Gay Haldeman, who had back-translated the duo’s graphic adaptation of The Forever War, was doing the same for the sequel, Forever Free, to be published by Titan Comics. After almost a year, Titan announced Monday that Forever Free #1 would be shipping in April 2018. The news comes the same week that Titan’s re-issue of Haldeman and Marvano’s The Forever War hits bookstores nationwide as a graphic novel.

Both series/graphic novels are adaptations of books by Haldeman. First published in 1974, The Forever War won a Nebula Award in 1975, and the Hugo and Locus Sf awards in 1976, additionally, the book was praised by science fiction grandmaster Robert A. Heinlein as being perhaps “the best future war story I have ever read.” Forever Free, a direct sequel to the Forever War, was first published in 1999 and earned praise from Charles de Lint as being “everything good science fiction should be but so often isn’t: a grand adventure into what it means to be human, told through rich characterization and thoughtful scientific (not to mention religious) speculation that doesn’t lag for a moment.”

Volume 1 of the original 3-volume graphic novel adaptation of The Forever War was first published in a Dutch edition in 1988, and was later translated into French, Spanish, Polish, and Czech before being released in an English edition in late 1990. The adaptation didn’t sell well in the US, but was successful in Europe, leading to a further collaboration on Forever Free (published in French as Libre à Jamais), but Titan’s re-issue of The Forever War earlier this year was the first time the adaptation had been reprinted in the US in some 30 years, this time to great success, and even greater anticipation of this week’s graphic novel release.

Judging by the preview pages provide by Titan, Forever Free maintains the same high quality of the previous series, and Marvano’s art and panel work continues to be breathtaking, making full use of the comics medium in a way that far too few modern artists do. This one will be on my pull-list come April – and it ought to be on yours too.

Look for Titan to solicit Forever Free in February’s Previews, and pick up the graphic novel collection of The Forever War at your local comic shop or from Amazon today.