To celebrate the cartoon band’s 20-year visual history, the Gorillaz have announced an expansive book called the Gorilla Almanac. The hardback will feature original art from over the years by Jamie Hewlett, as well as games, puzzles, and previously unreleased artwork.
Due out this October, the book will be published by Z2 Comics, and is described by a press release as a “full colour, one-of-a-kind, fun-packed, 120+ page, sideways homage to two glorious decades of Gorillaz.”
“Every fan of comics and animation has dreamed of seeing the Gorillaz make their comic book debut, with the Z2 team chief among them,” Z2 publisher Josh Frankel said. “The artwork, the music, and the mythos all add up to what is destined to be one of our most buzzed about releases in history, and when fans see just what we have planned, I know everyone will agree it was well worth the wait.”
“An almanac is an annual book that is a treasure house of useful information like weather forecasts, trivia and puzzles and games,” Z2 Comics’ Sridhar Reddy told Rolling Stone. “They used to sell almanacs at school book fairs, but I’m pretty sure the internet killed the concept of collecting information into a single published volume. It’s what I love about doing a Gorillaz almanac, in that it brings together so much of the ephemera of the band into a physical book that you can kick back with, take a fun deep dive and listen to great music while you’re doing it. It’s consistent with the band’s ethos of immersion.”
Over the past few months, Gorillaz have released the tracks ‘Aries’, ‘Momentary Bliss’ and ‘Désolé’ as part of the band’s ongoing Song Machine series. Earlier this month, they also performed ‘Aries’ on a remote edition of Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Twenty years in the making, we’re excited to team up with @Gorillaz for the first ever Gorillaz ALMANAC! Pre-order your copy now at https://t.co/2noKyYijnA 👀 pic.twitter.com/SHDHO4oS3L
— Z2 Comics (@Z2comics) May 26, 2020
