Die Volume 1: Fantasy Heartbreaker

by Kieron Gillen, Stephanie Hans (Artist)

Overview

Tor.com's Best Comics of 2018

THE WICKED + THE DIVINE writer KIERON GILLEN teams up with artist supernova STEPHANIE HANS (WicDiv, Journey Into Mystery) for her first ongoing comic. DIE is a pitch-black fantasy where a group of forty-something adults have to deal with the returning, unearthly horror they only just survived as teenage role-players. If Kieron's in a rush, he describes it as ""Goth Jumanji"", but that's only the tip of this obsidian iceberg.

Collects issues #1-5 of DIE

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781534312708
Publisher:	Image Comics
Publication date:	06/11/2019
Series:	Die (Comics) Series , #1
Pages:	184
Sales rank:	254,739
Product dimensions:	6.60(w) x 10.10(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	16 - 18 Years

About the Author

Kieron Gillen first came to attention as a comic writer with his 2006's Phonogram, with Jamie McKelvie. They continued to work together across the next fifteen year, culminating with smash hit The Wicked + the Divine. Since then he's had the pleasure of creating stories with other artists such as Stephanie Hans (DIE, We Called Them Giants) and Caspar Wijngaard (the current sensation, The Power Fantasy). He has worked on Marvel Comics biggest books, such as Immortal X-men, Young Avengers, Thor, Iron Man, Star Wars, Eternals and Darth Vader, (where he co-created Doctor Aphra). In a previous life he was an award-winning pop-culture critic. In his current life, he tries to sleep more. He lives in Bath, UK.

Stephanie Hans is a seasoned illustrator. She works mostly for the books mainstream market with clients as big as Marvel, DC Comics, Image Comics, Dark Horse, Valiant, Dynamite, Vertigo, and Boom Studios.

Editorial Reviews

"A wonderful, beautiful, heart-wrenching comic." —Jamie McKelvie, Young Avengers, The Wicked + The Divine

“It’s everything I love about comics.” —Gerry Duggan, Deadpool, Analog

“Has the potential to follow in the footsteps of Saga, Invincible, and The Walking Dead to become an instant classic for Image.” —The Comeback

“A fantastic slice of suburban Gothic that promises to be as intricate and heartbreaking as any game. A certain critical success.” —Dan Watters, Lucifer, Limbo, Deep Roots

“Something ABSURDLY special. Really an incredible book.” —Mags Visaggio, Eternity Girl, Kim & Kim, Sex Death Revolution

“Do you wish that IT had fewer clowns luring in sewers with balloons and more RPG sessions that cause kids to disappear for several years? ThenDie by Kieron Gillen and Stephanie Hans is the comic for you! Also, I got to test-play the RPG the book is built around and it’s SO FUN.” —Jody Houser, Stranger Things, Faith, Doctor Who

From the Publisher

08/01/2019

In 1991, six teenagers vanish while playing a tabletop role-playing game. Two years later, five of them reappear. They refuse to say where they've been or what happened to their absent member or talk about their experience at all until nearly three decades later when they are unexpectedly whisked back to the fantasy world where they spent their missing years. They'll have to work together to overcome a variety of challenges if they want to get home again, which doesn't seem all that difficult given that they've done it before…until they discover that dragons are easier to face down than the horrific consequences of the actions they took to escape earlier. Gillen (The Wicked and Divine: Deluxe Edition; Year Three) subverts high fantasy adventure tropes with an infusion of creepy horror, resulting in an exploration of arrested adolescence and the effects of childhood trauma made truly haunting by Hans's (Asgardians of the Galaxy. Vol. 1: The Infinity Armada) realistic illustrations and gloomy color palette, assisted by letterer Cowles (Young Avengers). VERDICT Fans of any of the genres represented in this volume, which collects Issues 1–5 of the continuing series, will find much to enjoy.

Library Journal