Jack and Zero get redesigned for Nightmare Before Christmas sequel comic

Now that the holiday season is in full swing, it's the perfect time to dig out a copy of Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas, one of the few films to perfectly capture the spirit of both Halloween and Christmas. Soon enough, however, fans of the animated cult classic will have a new outlet for these holiday feels. Next year will finally bring a sequel to The Nightmare Before Christmas — in comic book form, that is! Tokyopop will publish the franchise's first-ever comic series, The Nightmare Before Christmas: Zero's Journey. The story will follow Jack Skellington's loyal ghost dog Zero as he gets lost in Christmas Town, and Jack pauses Halloween festivities to mount a search.

As revealed by TOKYOPOP on Facebook, here is your first look at the forthcoming Nightmare Before Christmas: Zero's Journey comic book series. The publisher announced earlier this month exclusively on their Disney manga panel at New York Comic Con that the series will be published beginning in May 2018.

The series will be illustrated by Kei Ishiyama, with covers by Kiyoshi Arai, and written by Tokyopop founder Stu Levy under his "DJ Milky" pen name (with story approvals from Burton). The series will run for 20 issues, and like a traditional manga, will read right-to-left.

"As a massive Nightmare Before Christmas and Tim Burton fan, I couldn't be more excited about this project!" Levy tells EW. "Arai-san and Ishiyama-san nailed the character design for Zero, and we are really gearing up for some true magic here – I hope the fans are as thrilled as we are!"

Check out an exclusive preview of Ishiyama and Arai's character designs for Jack and Zero below.