DSTLRY has made a big splash on the comic book publishing scene, not just because of its novel approach to digital comics, but because its creative talent pool includes some of the biggest names in the industry. That trend continues with the latest two additions to DSTLRY’s catalog, what the company has dubbed “The Next Batch.”
IGN can exclusively reveal artwork and details for these two new books, The Missionary and Life. Scroll down to see previews and learn which superstar creators are bringing them to life.
The Missionary
Creative Team: Ryan Stegman & Jason Howard
Not content with relaunching Marvel’s flagship X-Men series, Ryan Stegman returns to the writer’s chair in a collaboration with Trees artist Jason Howard. This horror series follows a man named Bryce Hunter whose religious faith is shattered by his wife’s infidelity. That drives him to form a pact with a demon named Uvydus. Bryce wants Uvydus to teach him to be evil, while Uvydus hopes to learn how to become something more than his demonic heritage permits. Together, the two will fend off the forces of good and evil and confront a conflict involving the fate of existence.
“Jason and I are having a hell of a time grappling with eternal questions of ethics and spirituality, but we’re also making The Missionary as exciting as possible,” Stegman said in a statement. “Jason is doing the work of his career and I can’t wait for you to see these tortured souls on their missions of damnation.”
“The Missionary has been an absolute blast to bring to life,” Howard said. “Ryan has made a blockbuster that transcends heaven and hell with a very human heart, and I’ve had an amazing time putting it on the page.”
Life
Creative Team: Brian Azzarello, Stephanie Phillips, Danijel Žeželj & Lee Loughridge
This sci-fi series is co-written by Brian Azzarello (100 Bullets) and Stephanie Phillips (Harley Quinn), with art by Danijel Žeželj (Nostalgia). Life is set in a future where the worst prisoners are granted immortality in order to live out their long sentences. Centuries later, the prisoners have been forgotten and come into conflict with a group of marauding pirates. The series is structured as a flipbook with two parallel stories that dovetail together.
“Life is about justice—and that being given more life isn’t necessarily a gift. It explores incarceration and culture through the extreme filter of crime fiction. It’s confrontational, though Danijel makes it incredibly seductive to look at,” Phillips & Azzarello. “The flipbook design allows us to develop two narrative perspectives that will clash and segue through a prison break and a heist. Pick your poison.”
Žeželj added, “World building on Life has been immensely rewarding, allowing me to approach this brutal ecosystem from two very different angles. DSTLRY’s oversized format allows so much more freedom to accomplish that feat.”
Both The Missionary and Life will debut in print and digital forms in late summer 2024.
Elsewhere in the world of comics, DC announced a sequel to Batman: The Long Halloween, and we got an exclusive look at Image Comics’ new series The Power Fantasy.
Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.
