Count of Monte Cristo gets a sci-fi upgrade thanks to Ibrahim Moustafa

Alexandre Dumas' 19th century classic The Count of Monte Cristo is great, but it's always been missing something: science fiction.

Science fiction and a robot.

Writer/artist Ibrahim Moustafa is finally making that happen in a 2021 adaptation/reimagination of the European classic in the upcoming original graphic novel Count.

Count follows Redxan Samud - a man who is framed for treason and put behind bars. The story doesn't end there (thankfully), but only just begins as he escapes and remakes himself as a high-classic individual - a 'Man of Status' in this sci-fi world - in order to re-enter society and track down those who wronged him and claim his revenge.

While much has changed, Moustafa has kept Dumas' key story - as well as the swashbuckling nature of it, but transposed to a new time that makes the themes of the story even more evident almost 200 years later.

Here is a preview of the OGN, from Humanoids Inc.:

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Count preview

Count is the first in a novel three-OGN deal Moustafa signed with Humanoids in 2020.

"Ibrahim Moustafa's Count is phenomenal," Humanoids publisher Mark Waid said last year. "Ibrahim has taken a classic text and brought a modern sensibility to it, with widescreen storytelling and clever reinvention. This book is a signpost for the kind of graphic novels that we'll be publishing in the months and years to come."

Count will be available March 16 in bookstores, then on March 17 in comic book shops and on digital platforms.

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Chris Arrant covered comic book news for Newsarama from 2003 to 2022 (and as editor/senior editor from 2015 to 2022) and has also written for USA Today, Life, Entertainment Weekly, Publisher's Weekly, Marvel Entertainment, TOKYOPOP, AdHouse Books, Cartoon Brew, Bleeding Cool, Comic Shop News, and CBR. He is the author of the book Modern: Masters Cliff Chiang, co-authored Art of Spider-Man Classic, and contributed to Dark Horse/Bedside Press' anthology Pros and (Comic) Cons. He has acted as a judge for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, the Harvey Awards, and the Stan Lee Awards. Chris is a member of the American Library Association's Graphic Novel & Comics Round Table. (He/him)