From the bestselling and award-winning duo behind Reckless, The Fade Out, Kill Or Be Killed, and Criminal (coming in 2026 to Prime Video) comics noir grandmasters Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips comes Unfinished Tales. This plot-twisty original graphic novel is primed to be Brubaker and Phillips biggest hit yet and will on shelves this Winter from Image Comics, just in time for holiday shopping.
Stephen King’s Misery meets The Talented Mr Ripley in this paranoid thriller that is strangely perfect for fans of both JRR Tolkien and Megan Abbott (which is quite a feat for a noir thriller to pull off).
Unfinished Tales follows Finnegan Blake, one of the most successful authors in the world. His best-selling books have even been made into one of the biggest shows on TV. But Finn can’t enjoy all the fame and fortune, because he’s ten years past his deadline on the last book in his epic fantasy series, and has no hope of ever finishing it. Until an old friend shows up with the perfect solution to his writer’s block. But as their secret pact turns dark and these writers’ egos clash, Finn will see how far he’s willing to go to get this final book onto the bestseller list. Most writers would kill for Finn’s life… will he?
“This is one of my favorite books we’ve ever done. I’ve always been fascinated by why people write, or in this case, why they don’t, and so I took the idea of writers block and ran into the darkness with it,” said Brubaker. “Unfinished Tales is a deep dive into the world of writers and publishing, the pressure to succeed, and what that may cost you. It’s also a very fucked up thriller about egos and ambition, because it’s about writers.”
Unfinished Tales hardcover (ISBN: 9781534330122) will be available at local comic book shops on Wednesday, November 11 and independent bookstores, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, Indigo, and Waterstones on Tuesday, December 8.
Select praise for Brubaker & Phillips:
“Brubaker and Phillips don’t hit a wrong note.” —Shane Black, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Lethal Weapon
“Two of the best in the business, no contest.” —Kelly Sue DeConnick, Captain Marvel, Pretty Deadly
“Brubaker and Phillips are virtuosos in a dark alley.” —Brad Meltzer, The Book of Lies, Identity Crisis
“Brubaker and Phillips’s books have always been about eight years ahead of their time.” —Brian K. Vaughan, SAGA, Pride of Baghdad
“Brubaker & Phillips continue to make sweet music together, broadcast to you in the form of the best comics around.” —Robert Kirkman, Invincible, Void Rivals
“Ed and Sean are that rare longterm collaboration that never become complacent, each project is a new revelation, the love visibly increased, the enthusiasm for the craft only growing over time. You don’t have to consider the purchase, you make it on instinct at this point.” —Rick Remender, Escape, The Sacrificers
“Like Scorsese and De Niro, Brubaker and Phillips are the unmatched masters of a certain kind of storytelling—those fables of doomed and deluded men who are ready to die bloody, defending the tatters of their soiled American dreams. A new title from the sharpshooters behind Criminal and Fatale is reason enough to go on living.” —Joe Hill, Locke & Key, Horns, NOS4A2
“Brubaker and Phillips have achieved the sort of creative consistency that’d justify critics filing their INSTANT CLASSIC reviews before they even read whatever they put out next.” —Kieron Gillen, The Power Fantasy, Die
“I’m a pretty easy mark for any Brubaker-Philips creation…” —Jonathan Hickman, East of West