The long awaited new Vertigo graphic novel Dark Rain by Mat Johnson (Incognegro) illustrated by Simon Gane has been announced for an August 24 release in bookstores and from Amazon and August 18th in Comic Book stores. Cover by Nessim Higson
Dark Rain is a graphic novel thriller set in the days after Hurricane Katrina. Two small-time ex-cons with big dreams get the idea that this would be the perfect time to rob a bank. Catch is, the bank is in New Orleans, and they’re on parole in Houston. Now, as every sane person tries to get out of The Big Easy, Emmit and Dabny will do whatever it takes to get in.
As they journey through a tide of human suffering, Dabny wants to help, and Emmit sees only the money. But a rogue commander of the ruthless security force “Dark Rain” has his sights set on taking down the same bank. If Emmit and Dabny don’t outrace him, their last hope for a second chance could be washed away in the floodwaters – along with their lives.
“Mat Johnson’s unflinching, macabre sense of humor is perfectly in tune with New Orleans, and Simon Gane’s eye for character and detail brings the region — in all its glory and degradation — to vivid life. Together, Johnson and Gane dredge up nightmarish memories of the dark days following Hurricane Katrina.”
— Josh Neufeld, writer/artist of the New York Times Bestseller A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge
See a preview of some finished pages at Spinetingler Magazine.
There is a must-read new interview with Simon up now on Reglar Wiglar, which contains this classic quote: “Guernica almost looks pro-war on an iPhone.” Make of that what you will.
There is an excerpt from the book included in many Vertigo comics currently on the stands.
