A week after it was announced that the first issue of DC’s alternate reality zombie comic book series DCeased was the most highly ordered comic book of May by comic stores, it has been revealed that a spinoff will be released even before the six-issue series has run its course.


As initially revealed by IGN, DCeased creator Tom Taylor will write DCeased: A Good Day to Die, an extra-length special issue to be released in September, featuring the characters Mister Miracle, Big Barda, Booster Gold, Blue Beetle and John Constantine. Darick Robertson and Laura Braga will illustrate the 48-page issue, with other artists to be announced at a later date.


“With the epic scope of this series, there was no way to fit all the characters and all the ideas I had into just six issues,” Taylor said. “We had a whole cast of characters whose tale was ending up on the comics cutting room floor. Writing is about killing your darlings, but these were darlings I wasn't even going to get the chance to kill ... until the idea of this special was raised by editor Ben Abernathy.”


The concept behind DCeased is that, through machinations by fan-favorite villain Darkseid — Mister Miracle’s adoptive father — a twist on the familiar zombie virus has been released; one that travels not only through blood, but also through technological means, leaving the heroes of the DC Universe at its mercy. The second issue of the main series, released last week, revealed that two of DC’s most iconic heroes have already fallen to the virus with more likely to come.


DCeased continues through October. DCeased: A Good Day to Die is set to be released Sept. 4.