AfterShock Comics continues to push boundaries by presenting it’s very first anthology collection featuring a slew of today’s top writers and artists. Presented in the European Album format (same as the recent Animosity: the Rise hardcover for LCSD), this handsome hardcover features the creative talents of Bill Willingham, Marguerite Bennett, Mike Carey, Jim Starlin, Michael Zulli, Charles Vess, Michael Gaydos, Andy Clarke, Andrew Robinson, Sarah Delaine, Phil Hester, Paul Jenkins, Neil Gaiman, Dalibor Talajic, Travis Moore, Brian Azzarello, Francesco Francavilla, Cullen Bunn, Marc Guggenheim, Frank Tieri, Brian Stelfreeze, and more! Cover art by John Cassaday!
From the multiple Eisner and Harvey Award nominated editor of the classic Negative Burn anthology series.
CULLEN BUNN: “My story, Blooderflies, is a horror/dark fantasy yarn that tells a complete story in just 8 pages, but it should keep readers thinking about the setting and “what happens next” for some time to come. To me, that’s part of what makes AfterShock’s catalog so thrilling. These stories, short or long, really fire the imagination. I couldn’t be happier to be included alongside these amazing creators.”
MARC GUGGENHEIM: “METROCLASH is an idea that’s been burning a hole in my notebook for years: What if cities could fight like people? It’s the kind of huge, visually-driven idea that could only be done in comics. My story centers on a clash between New York City and Chicago and I couldn’t be more excited about getting this crazy, bombastic concept out into the world.”
MIKE CAREY: “My story in the anthology is an autobiographical piece about growing up in Liverpool in the middle of the last century, a time that in some ways feels as distant as the late Jurassic. I’m trying to make sense of the disconnect between the world I knew as a kid and the world I live in now. It’s also a story about the way memories work, and the way we constantly try to build a coherent narrative out of the incoherent facts of our lives. I’ve slipped biographical details into stories before but I’ve never written a fully autobiographical story. I’m excited to see how it comes out, not least because Szymon Kudranski is doing the art and I can’t wait to see how my life looks in his gorgeous black and white palette.”
FRANK TIERI: “My story is called, Little Red Hood, and you can think of it as basically Little Red Riding Hood as if it was a Quentin Tarantino movie. The familiar fairy tale is instead set up as a big drug deal gone horribly wrong. So in our case, Red is a drug courier delivering a package to the biggest drug dealer in town– that of course being Grandma– and then rival drug dealer “the Wolf” arrives and everything hits the fan. It’s over the top, ultra-violent and very much not the beloved Brothers Grimm yarn we all grew up with. So yeah, this ain’t a beddy bye story you’ll be reading to your kids anytime soon. Or at least, it sure as hell shouldn’t be.”
MARGUERITE BENNETT: “AfterShock has given me the most creative freedom I’ve had in my entire career–I’m always delighted to submit these twisted pitches and hear back that this is the one place those strangest stories can find a home. For my own part, my story is a family revenge drama set in a border town in the 1970s–a ghastly little tale about the gifts that give, and the gifts that take. I’m thrilled to be a part of such a splendid anthology.”
PHIL HESTER: “I feel privileged to work with one of my all-time comics heroes in Jim Starlin. Our short story BERSERKER is a prime example of Jim’s unique ability to marry very personal narratives with cosmic action and timeless imponderables. I hope I can do it justice.”
SHOCK HC / $34.99 / 160 pages / Color / on sale 03.20.18
