The story in 'Escape of the Living dead' begins with some law enforcement officials who break into a compound in the wilds of West Virginia. 'Escape of the Living Dead' fits into that same place, referencing a previous zombie uprising, but with a story that stands all on its own. 'He got his money before we did, which made it a bit harder for us to get our money.' Now, how does this all apply to the upcoming 'Escape of the Living Dead' comic? Much like the other films, they all reference a common thread that at some point there was a zombie uprising, but none of the films are really direct sequels to the original. 'George needed that because the deal with United Film's might have been killed if they couldn't call it a sequel,' Russo told CBR News late last week. At the same time Russo was allowed to turn his novel 'Return of the Living Dead' into a film, but that wouldn't officially be called a sequel. Russo was happy to help, so they did an agreement which gave Romero the right to do 'Dawn of the Dead' and to call it a sequel.

When Romero made 'Dawn of the Dead' he had a deal with United Film Distributing that required Russo to sign off on. CBR News spoke with Russo to find out more about the story he's cooked up.įirst off we should explain the rights situation with 'Night of the Living Dead.' Russo & Romero jointly own the copyright to 'Night of the Living Dead,' but each went their own way following the completion of that film.

This October sees the release of the first of a five issue series from Avatar Press called 'Escape of the Living Dead,' based on a story by Russo that's been adapted by writer Mike Wolfer with art by Indian artist Dheeraj Verma. Russo's not done with zombies, thought, not by a long shot. Since then both men went their separate ways, with Romero following-up 'Night of the Living Dead' with films like 'Dawn of the Dead' and 'Day of the Dead.' Russo also kept active in the field, seeing his book 'Return of the Living Dead' made into a film in 1985 (far different than the original story, as we'll explain later).

Return of the Living Dead by John Russo