The legendary writer and “Octavia Butler of Horror” Tananarive Due (The reformatory, The Guardian), which won an American Book Award, an NAACP Award, a Shirley Jackson Award and Los Angeles Times Book Prize has teamed up with rising star Kelsey Ramsay, among many other awards (Dark Spaces: Good Deeds) – one of the most sought-after comic artists – for the thriller, which centers on a lycanthrope The Horizon Experiment: Moon Dogs. It’s Due’s first full-fledged solo comics writing project and Ramsay’s first Image Comics series. The horror one-shot features stunning colors by José Villarrubia and sharp letters by Jeff Powell. It hits shelves in November. Moondogs is the third comic in The Horizon Experiment Series of one-shots, all centered around original protagonists from marginalized backgrounds and set in a popular genre, led by Eisner and Harvey Award winner The good Asian And Incredulous Creator Pornsak Pichetshote.
Co-editors: Pichetshote and award-winning editor Will Dennis (Somna, Gideon Falls), The Horizon Experiment: Moon Dogs follows a black family of lycanthropes of East African descent who call themselves Moon Dogs. Older sister Nala, her parents and her boyfriend try to protect their teenage brother Kai when he is caught in a burgeoning war between a savage pack of werewolves and the Miami police. After a brutal attack, the people of Miami learn that werewolves are no mere myth, and Nala’s family – a minority within a minority – finds itself in a very dangerous situation.
The Horizon Experiment: Moon Dogs explores themes such as privilege, power and oppression and highlights heightened conflicts over identity and community in society, told through the lens of a werewolf story. Like the other titles in The Horizon ExperimentThis one-shot serves as a pilot for a series of its own, which belongs to the author and can be continued if necessary. In addition to an original cover by Ramsay and Villarrubia, the issue also contains variant covers by Eisner Award winner Tula Lotay, part of a series of variant covers for all five Horizon Experiment Single shots.
“As a writer known for his novels and short stories – and who has also written screenplays – getting involved in comics was the best of both worlds for me: It gave me the immediacy and freedom to tell stories my way, and the benefit of being able to work with talented collaborators to bring the images on the page to life,” Due said.Moondogs is a tribute to my roots in Miami, where I grew up and worked as a newspaper reporter. Anyone who has ever been to Miami knows that the diverse population is the perfect home for undercover werewolves – so OF COURSE.”
To be continued: “With great guidance from my editors Pornsak and Will, I wanted to tell a story about what it feels like to be doubly marginalized – and also how we can learn to wield power without being corrupted by it. The great thing about comics, like Hollywood, is that the script is just the starting point of the story. So seeing the exciting illustrations by Kelsey Ramsay and the amazing art team is like watching a movie in record time. I’m so excited to share it with you!
“It wasn’t difficult to decide whether I wanted to be part of The Horizon Experiment. An innovative and inspiring group of creators doing something original and exciting, you say? For me it was a quick yes. Tananarive’s vibrant and characterful Moondogs The script also confirmed that decision – it made me feel like I was right there in Miami, among the rival werewolf clans,” said Ramsay. “It was so much fun and a great pleasure to work on. I’m so glad that this fresh take on lycanthrope horror was created by Tananarive and supported by the influential editors Pornsak and Will. It came together with the incredible collaborators José on colors and Jeff on letters. It’s an honor to be part of this project.”
“I’m jealous of readers discovering Tananarive and Kelsey’s work for the first time. Tananarive’s latest novel was praised by none other than Stephen King, and now she’s bringing her uniquely intimate mythology-building skills and lyrical prose to comics,” said Pichetshote. “Meanwhile, Kelsey has shot up so high on every comics editor’s radar in a very short space of time that you’ll soon be seeing her in a steady stream of high-profile projects. So it’s been a real joy to watch these two combine their incredible talents to create something absolutely unique. I can’t wait for readers to discover the world of Moondogs.”
- Cover A by Kelsey Ramsay and José Villarrubia – Moon Code 0924IM284
- Cover B by Tula Lotay (Connection) – Moon Code 0924IM285
- Cover C by Tula Lotay (1:25 slide incentive, connecting) – Moon Code 0924IM286
The Horizon Experiment: Moon Dogs #1 will be available in comic book stores starting Wednesday, November 20th. The Horizon Experiment: Moon Dogs #1 will also be available on many digital platforms including Amazon Kindle, Apple Books and Google Play
Tananarive Due and Kelsey Ramsay change the werewolf genre in “HORIZON EXPERIMENT: MOON DOGS”
