UNDONE BY BLOOD or THE OTHER SIDE OF EDEN #1 / $4.99 / 32 Pages / Color / 3/03/2021
Writers: Lonnie Nadler & Zac Thompson
Artist: Sami Kivelä
Colorist: Jason Wordie
Letterer: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
Cover: Sami Kivelä w/ Jason Wordie
Incentive Cover: Charlie Adlard
The early 1930’s: The height of the Great Depression and beginning of the Dust Bowl. Silvano Luna Del Rio works as a postman in Buttar, Texas. Reeling from a tragic past, with only a gun and a Western novel to his name, Silvano sets out to take back from the country that took so much from him by robbing the first skyscraper West of the Mississippi. But acts of retribution are never as simple as they seem, as his target is home to an eccentric fraternal brotherhood hiding their own dark secrets.
By Silvano’s side is an old west novel featuring famed gunslinger Solomon Eaton. As both stories unfold simultaneously, in true UNDONE BY BLOOD fashion, the mythic Western informs choices in reality, for better or worse.
From the minds of Lonnie Nadler and Zac Thompson (The Dregs, X-Men, HER INFERNAL
DESCENT) and artist Sami Kivelä (Abbot, Tommy Gun Wizards) comes the next story in the
critically acclaimed neo-western series that depicts the hard truths of seeking vengeance in the real world.
Each issue of UNDONE BY BLOOD OR THE OTHER SIDE OF EDEN has 24 pages of story and art and cardboard stock covers!
ZAC THOMPSON AND LONNIE NADLER ON WHAT SORT OF RESEARCH WAS DONE AND HOW THE NEW ARC FITS INTO THE UNDONE BY BLOOD UNIVERSE:
ZT: “It really started with a deep dive into post great depression America and looking at the effects of Herbert Hoover’s presidency. The early 1930’s were a lot like today in many ways. So we wanted to ensure there was a general sense that you were walking through a recovering world. A country in transition. Where everyone was essentially out for themselves. Then, I revisited one of my favorite noir novel’s Dashiell Hammett’s Red Harvest – which was published in 1929 and features a really gritty take on what it was like to live during that era. Hammett himself was a private eye during that time and he had a really incredible understanding of Great Depression America that can be felt on every page of this new arc.”
LN: “Research is a vital part of the process, especially so when we are dealing with such a notable period in American history like the Great Depression, and furthermore, tackling this through the lens of a character who hails from a different cultural background than our own. Undone by Blood has always been about the way fiction and myth influences the real world, and a big part of our job is ensuring that the non-fictional elements are as authentic and accurate as possible. So, for this arc, we researched everything from architectural developments in the West, to Mexican/American conflicts, to the entire history of the United States Postal Service. While we try not to be didactic, all of this research gets tossed in our narrative blender and can be found in the story and either directly influences the plot or becomes part of the background tapestry in the hopes of creating a rich, darkly comic, and fully realized world. By bringing readers back to the past, we believe it helps to process the uncannily similar issues that plague our present.”
SAMI KIVELA ON HIS STYLE OF ARTWORK USED TO REFLECT THE TIME PERIOD AND THE LOOK OF CLASSIC WESTERNS:
“Research plays a very important role in my work too, and although I don’t draw realistically, I try to keep things quite real and recognizable. Maybe that’s what – in addition to my liking for thick and rough ink lines – gives my art an old-fashioned vibe. And of course, Jason’s awesome colors are a big part of the book. His watercolor style really helps to evoke the classic western feel.
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