October 13, 2023—New York, NY—Prolific writer Mark Sable (Miskatonic, The Dark, Graveyard of Empires) and artist Jeremy Haun (40 Seconds, Red Mother) are teaming up for BOXED, a psychologically thrilling science fiction graphic novel about AI gone awry. BOXED debuts on November 21, 2023 from Amazon’s Comixology Originals exclusive digital content line. The story features colors by Nick Filardi and letters by Thomas Mauer.
“Much of BOXED is inspired by my work with military and intelligence agencies as a futurist for the Atlantic Council,” said Sable. “Artificial Intelligence software is shaking up our times, from Chat GPT to Midjourney to Open AI, these entities are becoming more immersed in our everyday reality not only replacing what humans can do, but blurring the line between human and machine intelligence and the capabilities are not to be underestimated.”
BOXED is set in a near future, when more and more AI have begun to grow smarter and more dangerous at an alarmingly rapid rate.
In BOXED, former FBI counterintelligence agent Frank Savage is a RAID (Rapid Response, Artificial Intelligence Division) Special Agent who is called in when an AI is suspected of having evolved or deviated from its programming. If he determines there’s any threat, he shuts down and “boxes” the AI – storing it in a vast, electromagnetically shielded underground cavern where it can’t be reactivated or tampered with externally.
When Hippocrates, the C.D.C.’s (Center for Disease Control) AI in charge of pandemic response, goes rogue and starts a lockdown over a non-existent pandemic, agent Savage is tasked with stopping it. He is forced to team with Pandora, a counter-intelligence AI he boxed years ago…but not before she seduced him.
BOXED is a grounded, sci-fi techno-thriller that is based on very real fears about AI that is very of our time.
“Jeremy has drawn covers for my books Godkillers, Miskatonic and Where Starships Go to Die,” continues Sable, “but this is the first time we’ve worked together on interiors since Two-Face: Year One over a decade ago. Jeremy’s work on BOXED is incredibly detailed and really stands out.”
About the Creators:
Mark Sable is a writer for print, stage and screen best known for his creator-owned comic books. Mark Sable is a professional writer and writing professor. He earned a B.A. in English from Duke University, and MFA in Dramatic Writing from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and a J.D. from USC Law School. He has been teaching for SVA’s MFA in Visual Narrative program, which he helped found, since the Fall of 2013.
Mark is best known for his comics work. He’s written such characters as Spider-Man for Marvel Comics and Batman for DC. His passion however is his creator-owned work, including Graveyard Of Empires, Grounded, Fearless And Hazed for Image Comics and Unthinkable for Boom! Studios.
His most recent work includes Miskatonic, Godkillers, Fear Of A Red Planet and Where Starships Go To Die from Aftershock Comics, and The Dark and Dracula: Son Of The Dragon from Comixology Originals and Dark Horse.
The feature film rights to Unthinkable and Hazed were optioned by Mandalay Entertainment and Barry Josephson. Fox and producer Howard Gordon (24, Homeland) bought the TV rights to Unthinkable in 2013. Mark was hired to create the original animated pilot Polarity for Cartoon Network and adapt Graveyard of Empires for the screen as well.
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Mark also consults as a futurist. Projects and clients have included The Atlantic Council’s Art of Future Warfare, The United States Air Force Blue Horizons program, Marine Corps University, the National Intelligence Council’s 2035 Global Trends report, the Royal Australian Navy, The Center for International Maritime Security, The Institute for Human Machine Cognition, The Sci-Arc School of Architectural Thinking and Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab among others.
Jeremy Haun is the writer of 40 Seconds from Comixology Originals as well as Red Mother from BOOM! Studios. He is the artist on Final Witness from Valiant. Jeremy is also the artist and creator on The Realm and The Beauty, from Image Comics. Other projects include Batwoman, Constantine, and Wolf Moon. Jeremy has worked for nearly every publisher in the industry as well as doing self-publishing via Kickstarter. Jeremy resides in a crumbling mansion in Joplin, Missouri with his wife and two superheroes-in-training.
About Comixology Originals:
Amazon’s Comixology Originals exclusive digital content line is available at no additional cost for members of Amazon Prime, Kindle Unlimited, and Comixology Unlimited, and for purchase at amazon.com/comixology. Prime Reading offers all Amazon Prime members a rotating selection of more than 3,000 digital books, magazines, comics, and more – all at no additional cost to their Prime membership. Kindle Unlimited gives customers access to more than 3 million digital titles, including thousands of audio books and comics, plus current magazines for just $9.99 a month with a free trial period at amazon.com/kindleunlimited. Comixology Unlimited offers over 45,000 comics, graphic novels and manga for just $5.99 a month with a free trial at amazon.com/comixologyunlimited.
