The series highlights diverse protagonists in popular genre fare, kicking off with Pichetshote’s James Bond-inspired Chinese spy thriller The Manchurian, joined by superstar artists Terry and Rachel Dodson
Eisner and Harvey Award-winning The Good Asian and Infidel creator Pornsak Pichetshote is collaborating with an all-star creative team from across entertainment—including comics, literature, film and television—for The Horizon Experiment, a series of five one-shot comic books, all featuring original protagonists from marginalized backgrounds set in a popular genre and inspired by pop culture icons, where each character’s unique background allows the stories to go into new directions.
“I’m fascinated with taking popular genres, like horror and noir, and seeing what they’d look like from diverse perspectives—I explored this in my Image Comics books Infidel and The Good Asian. But, I’ve been limited to my own experiences. So, for The Horizon Experiment, I decided to use the same mentality but open it up to other people, inviting some of the most talented people I know to work on it,” said Pichetshote. “Each one-shot is the equivalent of a pilot for a new creator-owned series, with the potential of continuing should there be demand for more. Each team of creators have had different approaches—all of them have knocked me out, and I couldn’t be more proud that the end result is five very unique books, all connected by the same ambitious spirit.”
Co-edited by Pichetshote and acclaimed editor Will Dennis (Descender, Gideon Falls), the series kicks off with The Horizon Experiment: The Manchurian, written by Pichetshote and featuring illustrations by superstar artists Terry and Rachel Dodson (Adventureman, Harley Quinn), a thriller featuring a Chinese super spy inspired by James Bond. A first look at a selection of pages from the one-shot showcase the first scintillating sneak peek at the scandal and secrets within the story. The Horizon Experiment: The Manchurian #1 hits shelves on September 25 from Image Comics; the other four one-shots will be released one-by-one on a monthly basis. Starting with The Manchurian, the series will feature connecting variant covers by Eisner Award-winning artist Tula Lotay.
Along with The Manchurian, The Horizon Experiment series will also feature a one-shot by Pakistani-American writer Sabir Pirzada, known for writing on beloved franchises like Marvel Studios’ Moon Knight and Ms. Marvel, and who will be debuting his first Image Comics graphic novel Dandelion on June 19. Pirzada is teaming up with Eisner-winning horror artist Michael Walsh (Universal Monsters: Frankenstein, The Silver Coin) for the one-shot, The Horizon Experiment: The Sacred Damned, introducing the world to Inayah Jibril, Professor of Ethnography and the Occult. A love letter to classic horror from Dracula to John Constantine, the book follows a Muslim exorcist, in a new interpretation of horror tropes.
These two upcoming one-shots will be joined by Tananarive Due’s The Horizon Experiment: Moon Dogs, which follows a family of Black Lycanthropes of East African descent who find themselves caught in a burgeoning war when the truth starts to come out that werewolves aren’t just a myth. Co-author of the graphic novel The Keeper, and an acclaimed fiction writer who has won an NAACP Image Award, World Fantasy Award, a British Fantasy Award, and much more, Moon Dogs marks Due’s first solo full-length writing endeavor in comics. She’s joined by breakout artist Kelsey Ramsey (Dark Spaces: Good Deeds) on Moon Dogs in her first Image Comics series.
J. Holtham, an African-American playwright, TV writer, and producer on the Emmy-winning The Handmaid’s Tale, will be joining the creative team by debuting his first creator-owned comic The Horizon Experiment: Motherf#cking Monsters, joined by African-American cartoonist Michael Lee Harris, creator, writer, and artist of Black Hitler and Choco Leche. Motherf#cking Monsters is Evil Dead for blerds. A nerdy Black kid from Brooklyn and his friends stumble upon demon-worshipping frat assholes trying to take over the world in this love letter to Sam Raimi and Edgar Wright, set to a Wu-Tang soundtrack.
The final one-shot, The Horizon Experiment: Finders / Keepers, marks beloved creator Vita Ayala’s return to creator-owned work. Known for their work on iconic franchises such as X-Men, Wonder Woman, Star Wars, and more, their Image Comics one-shot will be a reverse Indiana Jones adventure that follows archeology grad student Ines Guarua, who steals artifacts from museums to return them to their native cultures. Vita is teaming up with fan-favorite comic artist and creator Skylar Patridge (Relics of Youth, Resonant) for this original action-adventure.
The Horizon Experiment: The Manchurian #1 will be available at comic book shops on Wednesday, September 25:
- Cover A by Terry and Rachel Dodson
- Cover B by Tula Lotay (connecting)
- Cover C by Tula Lotay (1:25 foil incentive, connecting)
The Horizon Experiment: The Manchurian #1 will also be available across many digital platforms, including Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, and Google Play.
ABOUT PORNSAK PICHETSHOTE
Pornsak Pichetshote was a Thai-American rising star editor at DC Comics’ Vertigo imprint editing such award-winning books as Sweet Tooth, Daytripper, and We3. He would go on to write for all the major companies and become the Eisner- and Harvey-winning writer of THE GOOD ASIAN which he is currently adapting for TV with MRC Studios and INFIDEL, which was optioned for a feature by Columbia Pictures. He’s also written for television on such shows as Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger and Two Sentence Horror Stories.
ABOUT VITA AYALA
Vita Ayala is a queer Afro-Puerto Rican writer out of New York City and one of the most in-demand writers in comics. An author of comic books and prose, they have worked on some of the most iconic franchises currently published, ranging from the X-Men to Wonder Woman to James Bond to Batman to Static Shock to Star Wars. FINDERS / KEEPERS marks their long-awaited return to original, creator-owned work.
ABOUT BECCA CAREY
Becca Carey is a cover artist, graphic designer, and letterer with a penchant for the handmade approach. She has worked at all the major publishers on such hit properties as Wonder Woman, Batgirl, Batman, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Radiant Black and more.
ABOUT WILL DENNIS
Acclaimed editor Will Dennis worked at Vertigo / DC Entertainment for more than fifteen years, specializing in genre fiction comics and graphic novels. His award-winning titles include 100 Bullets, Y: The Last Man, Joker and many more. He is currently a freelance editor for Image Comics, ComiXology, and DSTLRY.
ABOUT TERRY AND RACHEL DODSON
Superstar art team Terry and Rachel Dodson have drawn every significant character in the Marvel and DC libraries – their work on Spider-Man, Harley Quinn, and Wonder Woman standing out as some of their most iconic. In addition, Terry has worked in toy, statue, video game and animation design, art instruction, as well as had gallery exhibitions featuring his paintings. Most recently, his art was the basis for the DC Heroes United video game from Genvid Entertainment. Together, the Dodsons also co-created the Eisner-nominated series ADVENTUREMAN with fan-favorite writer Matt Fraction as well as The Art of Rachel and Terry Dodson from Flesk Publications out now.
ABOUT TANANARIVE DUE
The Octavia Butler of horror, Tananarive Due has been a leading voice in Black speculative fiction for more than 20 years. Her novel The Living Blood has won an American Book Award, while Due has also won an NAACP Image Award, a World Fantasy Award, a British Fantasy Award, as well as having her writing included in multiple best-of-the-year anthologies. Having written for TV, she is also an executive producer on the groundbreaking documentary Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror. Her latest novel The Reformatory has debuted to rave reviews, earning praise from such horror luminaries as Stephen King. With her husband/collaborator, Steven Barnes, she has co-authored the graphic novel The Keeper, MOON DOGS marking her first solo full-length writing in comics.
ABOUT MICHAEL LEE HARRIS
African-American cartoonist Michael Lee Harris is one of indy comics’ most singular voices. A jack of all trades, he is the creator, writer, and artist of Black Hitler and Choco Leche while also illustrating such eclectic and distinct titles as The Black Wraith, Berlin, and 1945: The True Untold Story in his unique style.
ABOUT J. HOLTHAM
J. Holtham is an African-American playwright, TV writer, and Co-Executive Producer on the Emmy-winning The Handsmaid Tale. No stranger to critically beloved shows with passionate fan bases, he’s also written on such TV series as Marvel’s Jessica Jones, Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger, Supergirl, and Pitch. He’s recently expanded to writing for Marvel, his work ranging from podcasts to Infinity Comics to the comics series Bishop and Night Thrasher. MOTHERFUCKING MONSTERS marks his first creator-owned comic.
ABOUT SKYLAR PATRIDGE
Freelance comic artist, illustrator, designer & occasional writer, Skylar Patridge is a fan-favorite artist. Her work has become hotly in demand by every major comics publisher, whether it be working on original material such as Relics of Youth and Resonant, both for Vault Comics or drawing some of the most beloved characters in pop culture, including Batman, Wonder Woman, Supergirl, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
ABOUT SABIR PIRZADA
Sabir Pirzada is a Pakistani-American TV writer who has written for some of pop culture’s most beloved franchises, including Marvel Studios’ Moon Knight and Ms. Marvel as well as LucasFilm’s Star Wars: The Bad Batch. In comics, he was hand-selected to write the Ms. Marvel comic book alongside MCU star Iman Vellani. His first Image graphic novel DANDELION releases in June.
ABOUT JEFF POWELL
Jeff Powell has worked on hundreds of comics in his over two decades in the industry. His work spans such varied fan-favorite titles as Deadly Class, The Punisher, Deadpool, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. He has designed books, logos, and trade dress for Marvel, Image, Archie, and more.
ABOUT KELSEY RAMSAY
Illustrator Kelsey Ramsay exploded on the comics scene with works featured in Joan Jett and The Black Hearts 40 x 40: I Love Rock n’ Roll and FAB Breakout Book 1: Mad World before becoming one of the most sought after artists in comics and illustrating Dark Spaces: Good Deeds, part of IDW’s Dark Spaces imprint curated by comics superstar Scott Snyder.
ABOUT JOSE VILLARRUBIA
Harvey Award winner José Villarrubia is one of the most respected colorists in comics. In his prolific twenty-five-year career, he has often collaborated with artists Jeff Lemire (Sweet Tooth), Paul Pope (Batman: Year 100), Jae Lee (Fantastic Four: 1234), and Richard Corben (Cage). As illustrator and photographer, he has worked with Alan Moore on Voice of the Fire and The Mirror of Love, and on the comics series Promethea.
ABOUT MICHAEL WALSH
Michael Walsh is an Eisner-winning and industry beloved cartoonist who has worked for Marvel, DC, Disney, Magic: The Gathering amongst many others. He is perhaps best known as the creator, writer, and artist of the Eisner-nominated horror series THE SILVER COIN and for his YA graphic novel The Oates & The Elphyne. His creator-owned book COMEBACK was optioned for a feature film by Skybound Entertainment.
ABOUT JASON WORDIE
Colorist Jason Wordie is credited on hundreds of comics in a career that’s spanned over a decade working with such respected young celebrated artists as Wes Craig and Geoff Shaw or on such beloved properties as Planet of the Apes or Harley Quinn.