Fan Favorite ‘Sleepless’ & ‘Wonder Woman’ Artist Joins the Epic New Original Series Starting in 2023

BOOM! Studios announced that the highly acclaimed comics illustrator Leila del Duca (Sleepless, Wonder Woman) will be the series artist for the second five-issue arc of ONCE UPON A TIME AT THE END OF THE WORLD, an epic post-apocalyptic series from Eisner and Harvey Award winner and New York Times bestselling writer Jason Aaron (Thor, The Avengers, Southern Bastard), about a love story at the end of the world that’s brutal and nostalgic, whimsical and grounded… and ultimately, timeless. BOOK TWO of this epic series, entitled THE RISE AND FALL OF GOLGONOOZA, will be available in stores in 2023. 

Maceo and Mezzy have never met anyone like each other, and they’ll need all the help they can get to survive a planet ravaged by environmental catastrophe. This epic 15-issue trilogy spans a lifetime as the dark mysteries of a ruined world and their own stark differences tear at the threads holding Maceo and Mezzy together… Will they, and the earth beneath their feet, ultimately be torn apart? 

Leila del Duca is a comic book artist and writer living in Portland, Oregon. She co-created ShutterAfar, and Sleepless at Image Comics. She’s also drawn titles such as Wonder Woman: Tempest Tossed for DC Comics, The House of Lost Horizons for Dark Horse, and illustrated for Marvel, BOOM! Studios, Oni Press, IDW, and National Geographic. You can find Leila on Instagram at @leiladelduck.

“I’m incredibly excited to be jumping into ONCE UPON A TIME AT THE END OF THE WORLD for the second arc. When Sierra and Jason first introduced me to this project, I was immediately drawn in (ahem, pardon the pun) to Alexandre Tefenkgi’s character designs and Jason’s premise. And then when I read the script, I was hooked like Dustin Hoffman in the movie ‘Hook,’” said del Duca. “Jason and Alexandre have created two emotionally driven, engaging main characters with a supporting cast of baddies that I can’t wait to learn more about. And start drawing eventually. Is it time for Book 2 yet!?”

ONCE UPON A TIME AT THE END OF THE WORLD #1 features main cover art by highly acclaimed illustrator Mike Del Mundo (Thor), and variant cover art by Tefenkgi with colors by Lee Loughridge, Junggeun Yoon (Something is Killing the Children), Jenny Frison (Wonder Woman), and more.

“Falling in love in the wasteland was the easy part. Now Maceo and Mezzy set out to create a new society from the ruins of the old. A community built upon the sacred belief that love is love, in all its many forms,” said Aaron. “The supremely-talented Leila is bringing to life not just the story of our two lovers all grown up but also a beautiful new vision of an end-times paradise that’s fighting to keep the darkness at bay.”

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ONCE UPON A TIME AT THE END OF THE WORLD is the newest release from BOOM! Studios’ eponymous imprint, home to critically acclaimed original series, including BRZRKR by Keanu Reeves, Matt Kindt, and Ron Garney; Something is Killing the Children by James Tynion IV and Werther Dell’Edera; Once & Future by Kieron Gillen and Dan Mora; We Only Find Them When They’re Dead by Al Ewing and Simone Di Meo; Seven Secrets by Tom Taylor and Daniele Di Nicuolo; The Many Deaths of Laila Starr by Ram V and Filipe Andrade; Basilisk by Cullen Bunn and Jonas Scharf; Grim by Stephanie Phillips and Flaviano; and the upcoming series Briar by Christopher Cantwell and Germán García, Stuff of Nightmares by R.L. Stine and A,L. Kaplan, The Approach by Jeremy Haun, Jason A. Hurley, and Jesus Hervas; Damn Them All by Simon Spurrier and Charlie Adlard, Behold, Behemoth by Si Spurrier and Charlie Adlard, and Specs by David Booher and Chris Shehan. The imprint also publishes popular licensed properties, including Dune: House Atreides from Brian Herbert, Kevin J. Anderson, and Dev Pramanik; Mighty Morphin and Power Rangers from Ryan Parrott, Mat Groom, Moises Hidalgo, and Marco Renna; and Magic from Jed McKay and Ig Guara.

Print copies–each issue overflowing with 30 story pages–of ONCE UPON A TIME AT THE END OF THE WORLD #1 will be available for sale in November 2022 exclusively at local comic book shops (use comicshoplocator.com to find the nearest one) or at the BOOM! Studios webstore. Digital copies can be purchased from content providers, including comiXology, iBooks, Google Play, and Kindle.  

For continuing news on ONCE UPON A TIME AT THE END OF THE WORLD and more from BOOM! Studios, stay tuned to boom-studios.com and follow @boomstudios on Twitter.