Returns With an All-New Original Graphic Novel in JUSTICE WARRIORS: VOTE HARDER
(April 22, 2024) JUSTICE WARRIORS, the scathing satire of capitalism and police in a future of severe inequality from Matt Bors — the founder of The Nib and a political cartoonist who has twice been named a Pulitzer Prize finalist — and Ben Clarkson — an acclaimed filmmaker and illustrator whose art has been featured on Adult Swim and Vice Noisey — is returning to shelves as a brand-new graphic novel entitled JUSTICE WARRIORS: VOTE HARDER.
“JUSTICE WARRIORS: VOTE HARDER takes the feel of paranoid political thrillers of the 70s and updates it for the online age of conspiracy, partisanship, and the desire to break out of the confines of the ballot box to do something far more radical,” said Matt Bors. “Unlikable candidates. An unfair media. And a system designed to prevent real change. It’s the most important election of everyone’s life—and possibly their last.”
The first JUSTICE WARRIORS series followed police officers Swamp Cop and Schitt as they patrolled the crime-free metropolis of Bubble City and its surrounding mutant-packed Uninhabited Zone. Now in VOTE HARDER, Bubble City’s first ever election for mayor pulls Officer Swamp into a violent mission that will put him on a collision course with his beloved partner Schitt. Co-written by Clarkson and Bors with art by Clarkson and backup illustrations by Bors, JUSTICE WARRIORS: VOTE HARDER features colors by Felipe Sobreiro and lettering by Bors.
“JUSTICE WARRIORS: VOTE HARDER is an epic thrillride about the infiltration of civil society by law enforcement, the corrupt bickering of unaccountable elites, and unchecked military expansion which is, of course, unrelated to the regular healthy function of our corporate oligopoly — er, democracy,” said Ben Clarkson. “It’s bigger, badder and more justicier than the original with a thrilling dose of orbital space lasers, giraffe assassins and obscure parliamentary procedure.”
In crime-free utopia Bubble City’s first-ever election for mayor, feckless celebrity incumbent The Prince faces a challenge from within the Bubble’s elite: his half-cousin Stuffina Vippix IX, who promises austerity and competency. Finally a choice for the people! But out in the Uninhabited Zone, which is packed with millions of mutants, the radical and armed Flauf Tanko mounts a third-party run to inspire the masses who are fed up with the entire system. Rallying to protect the votes from the people, mutant cops Swamp and Schitt are called in on special duty. Schitt must act as bodyguard to the Prince, while his poll numbers drop and assassination attempts ramp up. Meanwhile, Swamp is sent on a clandestine mission inside the mutant opposition—to infiltrate, report, and maybe fall in love with a passionate activist triggering an identity crisis. Can the two partners survive being pitted against each other in a horserace?
“JUSTICE WARRIORS: VOTE HARDER is funny, it makes sharp points, and its artwork is so densely detailed I can only call it ‘amphetaminesque,’” said AHOY Comics Editor-in-Chief Tom Peyer. “It’s bound to cross your mind while you’re voting and it might even take some of the sting away.”
The irreverent, dark comedy JUSTICE WARRIORS was initially published by AHOY Comics as a trade paperback in 2023 and has received widespread attention from CHAPO TRAP HOUSE, IGN, POD DAMN AMERICA, CURRENT AFFAIRS, COMIC BOOK COUPLES COUNSELING, LEDGER, SUPER NICE CLUB, GRAPHIC POLICY, QANONANON, and STRUGGLE SESSION. The title went back to press for second and third printings in the wake of its popularity.
JUSTICE WARRIORS is published by AHOY Comics, the Syracuse-based independent publisher perhaps best known for SECOND COMING, a controversial satire by Mark Russell, Richard Pace and Leonard Kirk in which Jesus Christ resumes his holy mission. The company is the brainchild of journalist and satirist Hart Seely (publisher), an award-winning reporter whose humor and satire has appeared in The New York Times and on National Public Radio, comics writer Tom Peyer (editor-in-chief), and cartoonist Frank Cammuso (chief creative officer). AHOY Comics launched five years ago with four acclaimed comic book magazine titles featuring full length comic book stories, poetry, prose fiction, and cartoons.
JUSTICE WARRIORS will be on sale in bookstores and comic shops everywhere on September 11, 2024.
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