2025 has already delivered some actually nice comics, and Oni Press would possibly simply have one other launch value including to your studying pile. Hey, Mary! is a heartfelt coming-of-age graphic novel a couple of troubled teen attempting to reconcile his Catholic religion together with his burgeoning sexuality and turning to a few of historical past’s biggest spiritual figures for assist.
IGN can completely debut a brand new preview of Hey, Mary! Check it out within the slideshow gallery beneath:
Hey, Mary! is written by Andrew Wheeler (Cat Fight, Another Castle) and illustrated by Rye Hickman (The Harrowing, Bad Dream). Here’s Oni’s official description of the brand new ebook:
Mark is an effective Catholic boy. He goes to church, he says his prayers, and he spends an excessive amount of time worrying about hell. When Mark realizes he has a crush on one other boy in his faculty, he struggles to reconcile his emotions together with his religion as the burden of centuries of disgrace and judgment—and his worry of his dad and mom’ response—presses on his shoulders. Mark seeks recommendation from his priest, in addition to an area drag performer, but additionally receives sudden enter from key figures in Catholic historical past and lore, together with Joan of Arc, Michelangelo, St. Sebastian, and Savonarola. Ultimately, solely Mark can reply the query: Is it doable for him to be each Catholic and homosexual?
“Hey, Mary! is a narrative concerning the tensions between queerness and Catholicism explored by means of the teenager angst of 1 boy, Mark,” Wheeler tells IGN. “If you’re queer and Catholic, you would possibly already know that these tensions reverberate by means of centuries of artwork and expression, so channeling that by means of the experiences of 1 teenager hopefully makes it much more accessible! This excerpt sees Mark getting a really secular artwork historical past lesson from his artsy pal (and crush) Luka — and a fantastical intervention from a bona fide queer Catholic icon. It’s enjoyable and academic and opinionated!”
“Shoutout to Hank Jones, our wonderful colorist, for the colours on these turtles on the primary web page of this preview!” Hickman says. “There’s artwork historical past nods scattered round Hey, Mary! like some sort of superb sequential easter egg hunt. Not simply saying that as a result of I’m a nerd about it, however as a result of spiritual iconography by means of the ages is among the Catholic Church’s areas of largest influence. Whether it’s The Pietà or an uncredited wooden carving of Jesus on the cross, Catholic imagery is evocative, figural, and emotionally intense– and typically, sexually charged in a means that may be onerous to reconcile.”
Wheeler provides, “Putting the Catholic artwork references into the work was nice enjoyable and I actually love Rye’s execution! The references are there if you realize what to search for, however when you do not, they simply enrich the visible storytelling.”
Hey, Mary! is accessible now in bookstores and comedian outlets. You can order the book on Amazon.
In different comedian ebook information, Mike Mignola is returning to the Hellboy universe this summer time, and we chatted with the inventive crew behind Spider-Man & Wolverine.
Jesse is a mild-mannered workers author for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your mental thicket by following @jschedeen on BlueSky.
