Bestselling Writer Johnnie Christmas and Hugo-Award Finalist Dante Luiz Present Crema, A Charming Original Graphic Novel About Coffee, Ghosts, and Romance. Available via ComiXology Originals on July 21, 2020.
“Esme always feared sleep. As a child she feared monsters lurked there. Waiting to swallow her up in the dark where no one would find her. She’d be lost. Invisible. So she made a plan to drink sleep away. Night after night… with cup after cup… of coffee. Lots and lots of coffee.”
So begins Crema, a delectable original graphic novel by #1 New York Times bestselling writer Johnnie Christmas and Prism-Award nominee Dante Luiz, featuring lettering by Ryan Ferrier. Arriving July 21st from comiXology Originals, Crema is the story of a haunted romance that explores the world of coffee and is told in three potent chapters — The Last Roast, The Grind, and Brew — all of which simmer with magical realism and passion.
Esme loves coffee. She works as a barista at a Brooklyn coffee shop and knows everything there is to know about the stuff. But when she drinks too much, she can actually see . . . and talk to . . . ghosts. In fact, Gerry the ghost has been her friend since she was a young child.
Esme often feels invisible, until she meets Yara, heiress to the coffee shop and its coffee bean provider Cherry Mountain Farm. Their world is turned upside down when Esme discovers a mysterious letter written in old Portuguese and encounters the strange ghost of an Old-World nobleman, in the basement of the coffee shop. In the midst of a sexy whirlwind romance, the discovery leads Esme and Yara to the deteriorating (and said to be haunted) coffee plantation in Brazil bringing dark and sinister tidings of unrequited love. Will Yara sell her family’s coffee plantation? Will Esme find peace—and an escape from the ghosts that visit her?
“I wrote most of it in coffee shops around Vancouver, pounding copious amounts of caffeine and listening to hours of cafe talk,” says writer Johnnie Christmas, who is perhaps best known for illustrating Margaret Atwood’s graphic novel debut Angel Catbird. “Dante’s art is beautiful. We were going for magical realism and fabulism in the modern context, utilizing color shifts in places to further heighten romance and ghostly terror.”
Crema is sure to appeal to fans of Neil Gaiman, Laura Esquivel, and Anthony Bourdain. Like the sip of a world class cup of coffee and the first kiss of a new romance, this charming graphic novel will transport you.
Part of the comiXology Originals line of exclusive content, Crema will be available upon release on July 21, 2020 at no additional cost, for members of Amazon Prime, Kindle Unlimited, and comiXology Unlimited, and for purchase on Kindle and comiXology. Prime Reading offers all Amazon Prime members a rotating selection of over a thousand top Kindle books, magazines, short works, comic books, children’s books, and more – all at no additional cost. Kindle Unlimited offers over 1 million titles, thousands of audiobooks, and select current issues of popular magazines for just $9.99 a month with a 30-day free trial at amazon.com/kindleunlimited. ComiXology Unlimited now offers over 25,000 comics, graphic novels and manga for just $5.99 a month with a 60-day free trial at comixology.com/unlimited.
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For more updates on comiXology Originals, check out http://comixologyoriginals.com.About the Creators:
Johnnie Christmas is a #1 New York Times Best Selling graphic novelist. Writer of the Image Comics sci-fi series TARTARUS and is perhaps best known for co-creating the series ANGEL CATBIRD with celebrated writer Margaret Atwood, as well as adapting William Gibson’s lost screen-play for ALIEN 3 into a critically acclaimed graphic novel of the same name. His credits also include creating FIREBUG — for which he was nominated for the Joe Shuster Outstanding Cartoonist in 2019 — and co-creating the pre-apocalyptic thriller SHELTERED. A graduate of the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY, earning a BFA in Communication Design/Illustration, Johnnie makes Vancouver, BC his home.
Dante Luiz is a comic artist, editor and illustrator from Brazil. He’s a two-time PRISM awards nominee, and part of the 2020 Hugo-finalist team for the speculative fiction magazine STRANGE HORIZONS. He publishes adult romance comics at Filthy Figments, and has participated of several anthologies, such as SHOUT OUT, GOTHIC TALES OF HAUNTED LOVE and WAYWARD KINDRED, among others. Right now, he’s quarantined in Porto Alegre with his wife.
Ryan Ferrier is a Canadian comic book writer and letterer, having worked in both roles with every major North American comics publisher. His most recent work includes I CAN SELL YOU A BODY and DEATH ORB, and he has built acclaim with the original titles such as D4VE, CRIMINY, KENNEL BLOCK BLUES, and several of your favorite licensed properties, including TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES and G.I. JOE.
Atla Hrafney is an Icelandic comics writer and editor who’s worked on Eisner, Broken Frontier, and Xeric award nominated projects. As a day job she works at Hiveworks Comics as part of their editorial staff, and by night she… actually does her day job, because time zones are awful. On occasion she finds time to work on neat projects like this one, and even writes her own forthcoming graphic novels.
Brian Isaacs - Executive Editor / Publisher