YouTube’s Cobra Kai is being turned into a comic book this autumn.
IDW Publishing will publish a new comic book series titled Cobra Kai: The Karate Kid Saga Continues, starting with a four-part story retelling of the events of the original 1984 film from the point of view of Johnny Lawrence, the villain of the piece — now Sensei Lawrence of his own dojo of misfits and outcasts.
“I saw The Karate Kid for the first time during a lock-in at the Y [and] the skeleton costumes captured my attention, while the Miyagi-isms pulled me into the story,” said Denton J Tipton who will be writing the comic. “And like everyone else at the time, I caught Karate Kid fever. Fast-forward 35 years, and being just a small part of the franchise has made me feel young and inspired all over again.”
YouTube’s Cobra Kai debuted last year, with both Ralph Macchio and William Zabka reprising their roles from the classic movie as adult versions of their characters who had, in their own way, grown up yet remained unable to fully resolve their earlier conflict.