Dark Horse Comics has announced special hardcover editions of Yasuhiro Nightow’s Trigun manga.
According to Anime News Network, the two-book collection will include the storylines of both Trigun and Trigun Maximum and feature over 1,100 pages of content across the volumes. Trigun Deluxe Edition will hit bookstore shelves in December, and Trigun Maximum Deluxe Edition will launch in April 2024. Prices have not been confirmed at the time of writing.
Trigun’s Publishing History
Nightow originally published his beloved series in Tokuma Shoten’s Monthly Shōnen Captain from April 1995 to January 1997, with the sequel appearing in Shōnen Gahosha’s Young King OURs from October 1997 until March 2007. The story follows a notorious gunman named Vash the Stampede; rumored to be a ruthless killer, Vash, in actuality, is a pacifistic goofball. In 1998, studio Madhouse (One-Punch Man) adapted Nightow’s story into a 26-episode series and a tie-in movie, Trigun: Badlands Rumble. The show became a cornerstone of 1990s anime culture alongside other classics like Cowboy Bebop and Dragon Ball Z.
The Trigun franchise saw a resurgence in popularity this year with the premiere of Trigun Stampede as part of the winter 2023 anime season. Produced by studio Orange, the reboot’s English dub saw voice-acting veteran Johnny Yong Bosch reprise his iconic role as Vash with Sarah Roach (Fire Force) and Austin Tindle (That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime) joining the team as Meryl Strife and Millions Knives, respectively. The series received the green light for a second season.
Trigun Stampede has garnered an immense fan following, with many members of the anime community passionately debating its metrics compared to Madhouse’s original show. The reboot’s characters, in particular, have become popular inspirations for fan-made content; for example, costume-making master Insignifaca showed off their Nicholas D. Wolfwood cosplay. Along with accurately recreating the undertaker’s signature outfit of a black suit with a gray undershirt and dark sunglasses, the cosplay spotlights the character’s giant cross-shaped gun known as Punisher.
How a Trigun Fan Brought About a Resurgence
Moreover, a Trigun Stampede fan account under the unique username “bigolas dickolas wolfwood” leveraged its own influence and the franchise’s renewed interest to transform an obscure science fiction novel into a bestseller. After “bigolas dickolas wolfwood” posted about Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone’s 2019 novella This Is How You Lose the Time War, the book’s sales skyrocketed, ranking #21 in Books on Amazon.
Both Trigun Stampede and the first anime adaptation are available to stream on Crunchyroll.
Source: Anime News Network