Darkest Dungeon Graphic Novels Coming From Vault Comics
Vault Comics and Red Hook Studios are bringing the gothic roguelike RPG to graphic novels with a canonical new story by John Lees and Maan House
Darkest Dungeon is heading to the world of graphic novels.
Vault Comics announced that it will publish new graphic novels based on the acclaimed Darkest Dungeon video game series from Red Hook Studios. The project will be written by John Lees and drawn by Maan House, with Red Hook Studios co-founder and Darkest Dungeon creative director Chris Bourassa working closely with the creative team.
For fans of punishing RPGs, gothic horror, doomed adventurers, and grim fantasy storytelling, this is a major new expansion of the Darkest Dungeon universe.
Vault Comics Enters the Darkest Dungeon
First released in 2016, Darkest Dungeon became known for its brutal difficulty, gothic atmosphere, and focus on the psychological toll of adventuring. Instead of simply sending heroes into monster-filled ruins, the game forces players to manage stress, disease, fear, trauma, and the constant threat of collapse.
That makes it a natural fit for Vault Comics, a publisher with a strong history of horror, fantasy, and creator-driven genre storytelling. Comic Book Addicts readers can follow more from the publisher through our Vault Comics coverage.
The upcoming Darkest Dungeon graphic novels will tell a canonical story set inside the game’s universe. According to the announcement, the books will reveal new details, introduce new mysteries, and expand the core mythology of Darkest Dungeon.
The Creative Team
The series will be written by John Lees, known for horror work including The Nasty from Vault Comics and Hotell from AWA.
Art will be handled by Maan House, whose credits include Dark Souls from Titan Comics and The Cemeterians from Vault Comics.
That pairing feels right for the material. Darkest Dungeon needs a creative team that understands dread, damage, and atmosphere. It is not just fantasy adventure. It is fantasy adventure after the torch starts dying.
Vault’s project will be led by Chief Creative Officer and co-founder Adrian Wassel, alongside VP of Special Projects and Crowdfunding Der-shing Helmer. Helmer also worked on Vault’s record-breaking Dungeon Crawler Carl: Crocodile campaign.
Chris Bourassa Calls It a Dream Project
Red Hook Studios co-founder Chris Bourassa said Darkest Dungeon was born from a love of comics and that seeing the world come to the page has long been a dream.
Bourassa explained that the graphic novel will be a meaningful canonical addition to the ongoing lore, offering longtime fans new insight while also introducing new readers to the characters, tone, and world that helped make the games successful.
That detail matters. This is not being positioned as a loose tie-in or simple adaptation. Vault and Red Hook are treating the graphic novels as part of the larger Darkest Dungeon mythology.
A BackerKit Launch Campaign Is Coming
Vault’s Darkest Dungeon graphic novels will debut through a launch campaign on BackerKit, with pre-launch sign-ups now live. More campaign details will be revealed closer to launch.
Der-shing Helmer described the campaign as one that will channel the spirit of the games, with hidden rewards, choices, dangers, and options for both newer graphic novel readers and seasoned collectors.
For fans who enjoy premium editions, limited releases, and campaign-exclusive collectibles, this could be one to watch closely. Additional reporting from Polygon’s Darkest Dungeon graphic novel coverage also points to the project’s crossover appeal between comics readers and RPG fans.
Why Darkest Dungeon Works as a Comic
The move to graphic novels makes a lot of sense.
Darkest Dungeon already has strong comic book DNA. Its characters are visually iconic. Its world is built around atmosphere, dread, class identity, doomed expeditions, and narrative fragments. Its heroes are not clean fantasy champions. They are flawed, desperate, damaged people pushing forward because turning back may be just as bad as pressing on.
That kind of storytelling can thrive on the page.
A graphic novel gives readers time to sit with the shadows. It can lean into facial expressions, silent panels, grotesque creatures, torchlight, ruins, and the slow erosion of confidence. In a game, you feel the pressure through mechanics. In a comic, that pressure can become mood, pacing, and visual horror.
A New Entry for Longtime Fans and New Readers
The best part of this announcement is that Vault’s Darkest Dungeon books are being framed for both longtime fans and newcomers.
Existing fans can expect new lore and important mythology details. New readers can enter the world through a self-contained graphic novel format without needing to master the games first.
That gives the project a strong entry point. Readers who love horror comics, dark fantasy, tabletop-style adventuring, roguelike games, or grim character-driven storytelling should have plenty to dig into.
Fans can keep up with the publisher directly through Vault Comics as more launch details are revealed.
Final Thoughts
The Darkest Dungeon graphic novels could be one of Vault Comics’ most exciting licensed projects yet.
With John Lees writing, Maan House on art, Chris Bourassa guiding the project from Red Hook Studios, and Vault building the release through BackerKit, this looks like more than a simple game-to-comic adaptation. It feels like an opportunity to expand one of indie gaming’s most distinctive horror-fantasy worlds in a format that already helped inspire it.
The torch is lit. The road ahead looks dangerous. That is exactly how Darkest Dungeon should feel.
Join the Discussion
Are you backing the Darkest Dungeon graphic novels when Vault launches the campaign?
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