Release of 'Grateful Dead Origins' graphic novel moved from April to June

m_gratefuldeadoriginsbooklpcovers630_04062020
m_gratefuldeadoriginsbooklpcovers630_04062020

Z2 Comics/Grateful Dead

Z2 Comics/Grateful DeadNew details about the previously reported Grateful Dead graphic novel, Grateful Dead Origins, have been revealed.

The publication of the illustrated book, which focuses on the group’s formation and emergence as one of America’s most important and enduring bands, has been pushed back from April to June.

A limited-edition hardcover collector’s version of Grateful Dead Origins will be released on Friday, June 12, while a standard softcover edition will arrive on Tuesday, June 16.

As previously announced, the hardcover version will come packaged with a vinyl LP featuring previously unreleased live recordings from an August 21, 1968, concert at the Fillmore West in San Francisco, the cover art for which has now been unveiled. The show included the group’s first known West Coast performance of “St. Stephen.”

“We can’t wait for everyone to see and hear the amazing Origins package and we hope it will provide some comfort to music and graphic novel fans alike during these challenging times,” says Josh Frankel of the Z2 Comics company.

“Our plan was always to time the release to the week of Record Store Day, giving comic shops and booksellers the ultimate music book for their customers. We will still do that, it will just happen in June now.”

The limited-edition version of the novel also will feature exclusive prints and will be autographed by the book’s creators: writer Chris Miskiewicz and illustrator Noah Van Sciver.

Both editions of Grateful Dead Origins also will come with a code to download an exclusive 13-track companion compilation of early recordings by the band, curated by the group’s longtime archivist, David Lemieux.

The deluxe edition of the book is available for pre-order now at Z2Comics.com and Dead.net.

Here’s the track list of the Grateful Dead Origins digital compilation:

“The Golden Road (To Unlimited Devotion)” — from Grateful Dead
“Cream Puff War” — from Rare Cuts and Oddities 1966
“Walking the Dog” — from Rare Cuts and Oddities 1966
“Viola Lee Blues” — from Road Trips 2/2/68
“Hey Little One” — from Rare Cuts and Oddities 1966
“That’s It for the Other One” — from Anthem of the Sun
“In the Midnight Hour” — from the 1966 disc of 30 Trips Around the Sun
“Standing on the Corner” — from Rare Cuts and Oddities 1966
“China Cat Sunflower” — from Aoxomoxoa
“Big Railroad Blues” — from Rare Cuts and Oddities 1966
“Morning Dew” — from Grateful Dead
“Keep Rolling By” — from the 1966 disc of 30 Trips Around the Sun
“Cosmic Charlie” — from Aoxomoxoa

And here’s the track list of the deluxe edition’s live LP:

Side 1
“Dark Star”
“St. Stephen”

Side 2
“The Eleven”
“Death Don’t Have No Mercy”

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