For fans of comic books, any newly born comic book publishing company should be a cause for celebration. After all, someone, somewhere, is spending their time and money on the art form we all love so much.
In this day and age of DIY gusto and the inherent internet-dismissal of historic gatekeepers, new comic book companies pop up fairly regularly. We’re lucky that way, all of us living in a golden global age of what used to be a small marketplace for local indie voices only.
Still, once in a while, new comic book publishing companies arise from longstanding stalwarts of the industry: businessmen and businesswomen, writers, artists, editors and visionaries.
Last year saw the birth of one of those kinds of companies in DSTLRY.
DSTLRY is the brainchild of the co-founder and CEO of ComiXology and ex-Amazon Global Director of Digital Comics, David Steinberger, alongside ComiXology’s head of content, Chip Mosher. It’s a publishing entity that houses not just comic books, but limited-edition physical and digital collectibles as well, scratching old-school and modern comic book aficionados and pop culture enthusiasts exactly where they itch. Interestingly, they’ve been able to lure a number of high-profile comic book creators with the promise of both upfront payments and a percentage of company equity. Some of those names include: Scott Snyder, Brian Azzarello, James Tynion IV, Becky Cloonan, Tula Lotay, Joelle Jones, Ram V and many others.
Big names, fan-favourite names, award-winners, one and all!
Care of a couple of those names, Wednesday, May 22 sees the release of the eagerly-anticipated horror series, White Boat.
Written and illustrated by the award-winning and fan favourite team of Scott Snyder (Batman, Wytches, American Vampire, Night of the Ghoul, We Have Demons) and Francesco Francavilla (Night of the Ghoul, The Black Beetle, Detective Comics, After-Life With Archie), White Boat is a deep dive into ancient horror and modern-day conspiratorial supposition.
The White Boat mega yachts are the ones that we see in hig-end, billionaire-carousing ports at Cannes or Miami, or the ones lazily floating atop azure waters in the Caribbean or Adriatic. Who owns them? At what private islands do they vacation? What goes on below deck?
Sun-kissed frolicking with beautiful men and women, no doubt! The huge vessels house passengers who have no cares in the world. They are places where every dream and desire is fulfilled. At least, that’s what the pics on Instagram would have us all believe.
As it turns out, the truer answers are buried under abject horror.
White Boat pulls back the black curtain and introduces readers to human abduction, remote islands and millennia-old secret cults dedicated to something altogether strange and arcane called “The Human Project”. The comic book has been billed by writer, Snyder, as a cross between The Island of Dr. Moreau and the cosmic horror madness of H.P Lovecraft’s Cthulhu mythos.
Old, hidden and even forgotten mysteries lie in the deepest depths of the ocean. Some of them have been found…and brought to terrifying light.
Ride the black and fathomless waves to your local comic book shop and pick up the first issue of the sure-to-be horror hit, White Boat today!
