The Nightmare Before Christmas returns with manga follow-up

The Nightmare Before Christmas is coming back with a new story, one that extends beyond the classic animated film. A manga that continues on after the movie’s events is heading to stores next spring, courtesy of publisher Tokyopop.

The series is called Nightmare Before Christmas: Zero’s Journey, giving the spotlight to Jack Skellington’s ghostly dog, Zero. While Halloweentown is sure to make an appearance, this story is set in the neighboring, jollier Christmastown.

Tokyopop hasn’t set a hard date for the multi-volume release yet, although it will come to comic stores as full-color single issues first. Sometime after that, there will both be Western-style trade paperbacks and smaller manga volumes to collect the story.

The Nightmare Before Christmas has been adapted for manga before, also in a series from Tokyopop. But this is the first time that a new adventure in that world will be told — at least in comic format. A PlayStation 2 game, The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie’s Revenge, let fans of the 1993 film return to Jack Skellington’s universe for an original adventure.

We’ve also seen Jack in the Kingdom Hearts games, of course — no word yet if he’s coming back for another round in next year’s Kingdom Hearts 3.