RUSH's 'Clockwork Angels' Album To Become A Comic Book

According to The Pulse Of Radio, RUSH's 20th studio album, "Clockwork Angels", will be adapted into a comic book next spring. The six-issue series will be published by independent company Boom! Studios beginning in March 2014. The 2012 concept album was already the basis of a novel by science fiction writer Kevin J. Anderson, who worked closely with RUSH drummer and lyricist Neil Peart to develop the storyline.

Anderson will also be writing the comic book series. He promised that the comics will contain snippets of lyrics and other hidden references to earlier RUSH albums, saying, "We think RUSH fans are attentive and intelligent. It just gives them the extra thrill of seeing that this isn't just a straightforward story. There's a lot of interconnected things, too.”

Peart said about the idea of expanding upon the album's concept, "Kevin and I had talked for years about combining a novel and an album in some fashion, but I guess the idea had to grow up as Kevin and I did — gaining maturity and confidence in our own separate crafts, while gaining the life experience necessary to give the story its scale and depth."

The coming-of-age story is about a naive youngster in a turn-of-the-century world of airborne steam liners, pirates, carnivals, alchemists and wind-up contraptions
RUSH recently released a new live DVD titled "Clockwork Angels Tour". The band was filmed and recorded last November at a Dallas concert for the project.

Neil Peart and Kevin J. Anderson have been friends for more than 25 years.

Anderson has written or co-written novels and comics in the "Dune", "Star Wars" and "X-Files" universes, among others.

Boom! Studios has previously published comics written by musicians like SAY ANYTHING's Max Bemis and COHEED AND CAMBRIA's Claudio Sanchez.

Other rockers who have authored comics include Rob Zombie, Corey Taylor of SLIPKNOT, ANTHRAX's Scott Ian and MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE's Gerard Way.