(September 10, 2024) AHOY Comics, the Syracuse-based independent publisher known for its acclaimed creators, witty satires, and commitment to risk-taking storytelling, is proud to announce a bold new series, ARCHAIC. This modern-day action-adventure follows the newest residents of a sentient island populated by the gods and monsters of dead civilizations: a harried single mom and her three kids. From writer Melissa F. Olson (Project: Cryptid, Dead Spots), artist Sally Cantirino (I Walk With Monsters), and colorist Gab Contreras (Witchblood), the fast-paced mystery explores what happens to legends once the world no longer has use for them. ARCHAIC #1 will feature a main cover by Cantirino, as well as variant covers from Liana Kangas and Emma Vieceli, and lands in stores on December 4, 2024.
“This is my first full-length comic book, but, weirdly, it’s also the most personal story I’ve ever written,” said writer Melissa F. Olson, who is best known for a long-running series of urban fantasy novels. “When the world came to a standstill during COVID lockdown, a lot of people had to re-think their place in the world, myself included. What does it really mean for me to be employed, to parent, to have purpose? What do I do with the instinct to protect my children from really big things I can’t control? Those are tough questions, and the more I considered them, the more I wanted to write about a character who was doing the same thing in a truly fantastical place. I’m so grateful I was able to connect with Sally, the best monster artist in the business, and honored that AHOY wanted to tell this story with us.”
After Tess Halliday’s crooked ex-husband steals from some bad people, Tess is off-grid in snowy Chicago with her teenage stepson Teo and ten-year-old twins Audrey and Liam. Then life-changing news arrives on the doorstep: The biological father she never met has left Tess a tiny coastal island off North Carolina called Demonde, which includes a mansion and trust — and a guarantee that Tess and her family will have complete safety. Tess is grateful for a temporary escape to sunnier shores — but the island has her own plans for the Hallidays, and they don’t include sunbathing. After the mysterious death of Tess’s father Phillip, the sentient, controlling Demonde needs a human trustee to deal with the resident frustrated gods and squabbling legends. Now that she’s here, Tess is bound by blood to stay forever…at least according to the island’s two-faced (literally) butler and the local goddess of the dead. Caught between a sentient rock and a criminal hard place, Tess and the kids race to find Phillip’s killer and understand their place on an island of retired magic .
“Melissa has woven an excellent story with ARCHAIC — it resonated with me from the first time that I read the pitch,” said artist Sally Cantirino. “Starting a new phase in life is scary, and so is confronting the metaphorical monsters of your past or your ancestors. Tess, Teo, Aubrey, and Liam all embrace that adventure with an admirable combination of strength and curiosity. I couldn’t wait to explore the world and delve into the mysteries of the island right alongside Tess and her family. It was such a fun and rewarding experience to collaborate with Melissa as an artist to design the island and its inhabitants, and Gab’s colors bring it all to life.”
“I love the whole concept of this book,” said AHOY Senior Editor Sarah Litt. “Where do the Old Gods go to retire? Melissa executes everything flawlessly. And Sally’s art, along with Gab’s colors, really brings everything to life. This team has been absolutely phenomenal to work with. I consider myself very lucky when everything clicks like this.”
ARCHAIC will be published by AHOY Comics, the 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.
ARCHAIC #1 will be on sale in comic shops everywhere on December 4, 2024.
About the Creators
Melissa F. Olson is the author of more than a dozen books in the Old World universe, the PI mystery The Big Keep, and numerous short stories and novellas, including the Nightshades trilogy for Tor.com. Her journalism and academic work has been published in The International Journal of Comic Art, the compilation Images of the Modern Vampire, Litreactor.com, and Tor.com, among other places. Melissa has been a writing teacher, English professor, and TEDx presenter, but she now divides her time between writing and conventions, where she speaks about issues related to genre, feminism, writing, and parenting. Read more about her work and life at MelissaFOlson.com.
Sally Cantirino is a comic artist and illustrator currently based in New Jersey. Her recent comics work includes I Walk With Monsters, Human Remains, and Door to Door, Night by Night for Vault Comics, and The Final Girls for Comixology. She has also worked for comics publishers such as Z2, IDW, and Boom. Her illustration work can be found in the TTRPG world through publishers like Exalted Funeral, World Champ Game Co, and 321 Action.
Gab Contreras is a comic book colorist, illustrator, and graphic designer from Lima, Peru. As a colorist, she has worked on books and anthologies for various publishers, most notably The Final Girls (ComiXology Originals), All We Ever Wanted: Stories of a Better World, Dead Beats (A Wave Blue World), and 2000 AD Summer Special 2018 (2000 AD). Gab is currently working on Dirtbag Rapture (ONI Press), Witchblood (Vault Comics), TRVE KVLT, and a couple of upcoming projects soon to be announced.
About AHOY Comics
AHOY Comics debuted in the fall of 2018 with the bold promise for readers to expect more from its line of comic book magazines, featuring comic book stories, poetry, prose fiction, and cartoons. The independent, Syracuse-based company is the brainchild of publisher Hart Seely, an award-winning reporter whose humor and satire has appeared in The New York Times and on National Public Radio. AHOY’s editor-in-chief Tom Peyer is committed to publishing comics with a (dark) sense of humor with titles like the religious satires SECOND COMING and HIGH HEAVEN, the superhero parodies THE WRONG EARTH and HASHTAG: DANGER, the sci-fi spoof CAPTAIN GINGER, the time travel tales PLANET OF THE NERDS and BRONZE AGE BOOGIE, and the humor/horror anthology series EDGAR ALLAN POE’S SNIFTER OF BLOOD.
