Soule And Sliney’s ‘Shrouded College’ Saga Expands With ‘The Bloody Dozen’

Charles Soule and Will Sliney’s supernatural horror saga ‘The Shrouded College’ gets a new six issue series this December with Image Comics’ announcement of The Bloody Dozen. Joining Soule on this new book is artist Alberto Jiménez Alburquerque (Letter 44, The Amazing Spider-Man, Web of Venom: Funeral Pyre) and features the story of space vampires being busted out of the clink:

“In The Bloody Dozen, three down-and-out astronauts are tasked with the ultimate heist: springing a clan of deadly vampires from a space prison orbiting the Sun. Apollo 13 meets Blade in this killer thriller!”

Soule broke the news on Popverse, and told them the following about this new series:

“The Bloody Dozen is the second Shrouded College story, which can be read independently of the first (Hell to Pay), but builds on the overarching narrative that will be told across the seven planned stories in the Shrouded College universe. The Bloody Dozen—like all the Shrouded College stories—is inspired by horror-action of the ’90s and ’00s—films like Blade or Event Horizon or Prophecy. The ‘just smart enough’ stories which build off a kickass hook and then deliver great action and adventure and scares. The basic premise of the Shrouded College is that ordinary people are given magic abilities and then tasked to complete supernatural ‘impossible missions’—and The Bloody Dozen gives us a doozy. I’m particularly excited to be reunited with my Letter 44 collaborator Alberto Jimenez Alburquerque for the interior art—no one draws space terror better!”

Shrouded College co-creator Sliney followed up with this statement:

“It’s class to see the Shrouded College universe expand with The Bloody Dozen. Alberto’s pages are fun, gorgeous and when they need to be, terrifying. While Charles and Alberto are up in Space with Bloody Dozen, I’m hidden away in a secret location working on another installment. In fact, you can see our road map here with these interlinked coins.”

Sliney also contributes a 1:50 variant cover that comes with its own individually-numbered, limited-edition “challenge coin,” designed by Sliney in the style of a NASA mission patch.

Series artist Alberto Jiménez Albuquerque added:

“It’s been years since Charles and I started talking about this project. Ever since, it has changed and evolved in several ways but my commitment to work with Charles again has remained intact since we finished Letter 44. And it’s paid off! This series has it all. Magic, space travel, steampunk and, of course, vampires. I have to thank Charles and Will for including me in this saga and allowing me to create and expand on their universe. I’m going to give it my all and it’s going to be epic!”

For those not in the know, Soule and Sliney’s ‘The Shrouded College’ universe is an interconnected set of seven adventure/horror stories that will be published in comic and graphic novel formats over the next several years, and is already being developed for TV by Seth MacFarlane’s Fuzzy Door

“Taken together, they tell the stories of various characters enlisted to become secret agents fighting a supernatural cold war on the side of the Shrouded College, a down-and-out organization on the edge of destruction.”

The Bloody Dozen #1 will be available at comic book shops on Wednesday, December 13th with a first look below: