Meet The Brutal “Joy Police” in HAPPY HOUR, Watch Science and Religion Duke It Out in POE’S SNIFTER, and Lament The Limits of Human Evolution in PENULTIMAN
(July 20) AHOY Comics—the Syracuse-based independent publisher that pledged for readers to “expect more” from its line of comic book magazines and graphic novels—announced its fifth wave of new titles to be published this fall and winter. The jam-packed line-up builds on AHOY’s tendency to tackle serious topics with their signature off-kilter humor. Readers will recoil from the brutal “Joy Police” in the brand new dystopian work HAPPY HOUR from Peter Milligan and Michael Montenat; return to the world of SECOND COMING as Jesus and his roomie Sunstar deal with science denial and mass extinction; and pity PENULTIMAN, the highly anticipated superhero title by Tom Peyer and Alan Robinson that questions what exactly humanity is evolving towards. Rounding out the list is a second season of smash hit THE WRONG EARTH, where sunny Dragonflyman and his dark reflection Dragonfly finally meet face to face, and a fresh season of boozy literary parodies under an all-new name—EDGAR ALLAN POE’S SNIFTER OF BLOOD—which will now feature a different cover artist each month, starting with the legendary Jill Thompson.
“Police brutality! Science denial! The unshakeable feeling that we’ve slipped into a parallel world where up is down, right is wrong, and Dragonflyman is Dragonfly! These are the big, heady topics preoccupying people across the globe right now—so, of course, we felt it our duty to try to make a buck off them,” said editor-in-chief Tom Peyer. “If billionaires can get richer while civilization collapses, so can we!”
“All we wanted was to be funny, but we keep accidentally speaking to the deeper issues plaguing society,” added AHOY Comics Publisher Hart Seely. “Should we be less funny? Or should society be less full of plagues? You decide.”
AHOY’s Wave 5 solicits are as follows:
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PENULTIMAN #1
Ship date: 7 October 2020
Author(s): Tom Peyer
Artist(s): Alan Robinson
Cover Artist(s): Alan Robinson, Jamal Igle
Back from the future—again! Penultiman, The Next-To-Last-Stage In Human Evolution, is the greatest, best-looking, and most admired super-hero in the world! So how can he stop hating himself? His android understudy, Antepenultiman, thinks he knows the answer! Created by Tom Peyer (THE WRONG EARTH) and Alan Robinson (PLANET OF THE NERDS). Featuring a variant cover by Jamal Igle (THE WRONG EARTH, Black). Resolicited from the Plague Times – all previous orders have been cancelled.
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EDGAR ALLAN POE’S SNIFTER OF BLOOD #1
Ship Date: 21 October 2020
Authors: Paul Cornell, Dean Motter
Artists: Russ Braun, Dean Motter
Cover Artist: Jill Thompson
The SNIFTER OF TERROR returns with an all-star snark-fest under a bloody new title! Paul Cornell (Doctor Who) and Russell Braun (The Boys) reimagine Poe’s “Black Cat”––as a dog! In “Atlas Shrugged” (no relation), Mr. X creator Dean Motter settles science vs. religion once and for all! Plus: prose, pix, and a cover by Scary Godmother’s Jill Thompson!
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HAPPY HOUR #1
Ship date: 4 November 2020
Author: Peter Milligan
Artist: Michael Montenat
Cover Artist: Michael Montenat
In future America, being happy isn’t just a right—it’s the law. While the Joy Police brutally enforce the cheery code, two young people go on the run, searching for a haven of melancholy where they can safely bask in the blues.
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SECOND COMING: ONLY BEGOTTEN SON #1
Ship date: 16 December 2020
Author: Mark Russell
Artists: Richard Pace, Leonard Kirk
Cover artist: Richard Pace
The savior and the superhero return for a new round of shared adventures––but first we turn back time to witness the interplanetary origin of Sunstar! Warning: portrays science denial, mass extinction, and real estate sales!
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THE WRONG EARTH: NIGHT & DAY #1
Ship date: 6 January 2021
Author(s): Tom Peyer
Artist(s): Jamal Igle, Juan Castro
Cover Artist(s): Jamal Igle
The stars of THE WRONG EARTH and DRAGONFLY & DRAGONFLYMAN return! Racing to prevent identical catastrophes that threaten the separate earths they inhabit, gritty Dragonfly and his campy doppelganger Dragonflyman follow the clues to a third earth, where they at last come face-to-face!
“At AHOY, we’ve either been lucky or smart lately, but both BILLIONAIRE ISLAND and ASH & THORN hit at just the right time,” said Stuart Moore, Ops. “HAPPY HOUR and PENULTIMAN are just as well suited to this moment in time. Who can’t relate to being locked up in a place where you have to pretend to be happy all the time? Or feeling like you’re a secret fraud, even when you have super-evolved mental powers?” As a reminder, PENULTIMAN #0, the very first installment in the PENULTIMAN saga from STEEL CAGE, is still available for free from Comixology.
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