Buckaroo Banzai Returns

Most people who know me are aware that my favorite movie of all time is The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension. At the end of the closing credits, we are promised that our hero will return in "Buckaroo Banzai vs. The World Crime League," but alas that sequel never materialized. Many years later the Banzai Institute announced that a television series was in the works. Preliminary special effects sequences can even be found as an Easter Egg on the Special Edition DVD. Sadly, the TV show never came to fruition either.

Now, finally, Buckaroo Banzai is back. This week, the 50-cent black & white preview of the new comic book miniseries from Moonstone Books hit comic shops. It includes 8 b&w preview pages, dossiers of Team Banzai members, and an in-depth account of the events leading from the release of the original movie, through the failed attempts at a TV series, to the publishing of the new comic.

The full-color first issue of Buckaroo Banzai: Return of the Screw is solicited in this month's Previews and is scheduled to ship in April. The covers are posted below. For shots of the interior art, click here.

Return of the Screw is adapted from "Supersize those Fries," the script for the TV pilot that was never produced. Earl Mac Rauch, who wrote the original Buckaroo Banzai screenplay and novelization, is credited with the Story, while W.D. Richter, the movie's director, is credited as Consulting editor.

See also: Buckaroo Banzai FAQ, Newsarama coverage, buckaroo banzai technorati tag, original cover art by Matt Haley on Flickr.