Vaughn to Jonathan Ross' Turf

Various web sites have picke up on the information that Turf, the prohibition-era mash-up of gangsters, vampires and aliens written by TV presenter Jonathan Ross and drawn by Tommy Lee Edwards for Image Comics may be headed to the big screen.

IVC2.com and Scoop both follow up on UK news stories, initially from papers such as The Guardian earlier this month, that the mini series could be movie-bound, directed by Kick-Ass and Stardust director Matthew Vaughn.

"Both Kick-Ass and Stardust were co-scripted by Vaughn and Ross’s wife, Jane Goldman," notes Scoop, "so there’s a connection there that only the government could miss."

The first issue - which has already sold out and gone to a second printing - opens in New York, 1929. The height of prohibition. The cops turn a blind eye while the mobs run the city, dealing in guns, girls and illegal liquor. But the arrival of the mysterious Dragonmir Family from Eastern Europe with more of a taste for blood than booze coincides with a series of brutal attacks on the gangsters themselves.

As the gangs fall before the fangs, only handful of mobsters survive. But an unlikely alliance formed between tough guy Eddie Falco and a character from a long way from New York City - a long way from Earth in fact - offers the humans a glimmer of hope...

"What Turf is about – in my head, anyway – is connection," Ross has revealed. "It's about a life not being worth living unless you have people around you and connect. It's about not following your basest instincts, not following urges or ambition. It's about saying family's important, other people are important.

"One of the characters, Susie, is initially an ambitious young journalist who wants to make a name for herself. And then she comes to realise all of her ambitions mean nothing, because actually, you know, deep down all the things we achieve or acquire via work are ultimately unimportant."

• Buy Turf from Forbidden Planet (.com)

• Read a Guardian interview with Jonathan Ross about Turf and non-comic matters, like him leaving the BBC