The Pacific Northwest is known for a number of things, among them the beautiful natural scenery and a preponderance of comic book publishers. One such publisher, Dark Horse Comics, is helping bring nature to readers, and hopefully vice versa. Dark Horse will team with educational organization Trackers Earth for a new graphic novel, Trackers Presents: Captain Nick & the Explorer Society, due out next year. The book is co-written by Grey AllisonMichelle McCann, and Trackers Earth co-founder Tony Deis, with Thomas Pitilli on pencils, Lukas Kenter inking, Liezl Buenaventura coloring, and Troy Peteri lettering.

Not final art

Here’s how Dark Horse describes Trackers Presents: Captain Nick & the Explorer Society:

In Trackers Presents: Captain Nick & the Explorer Society, Captain Nick and the kids race to find the mysterious Compass of Mems before their nemesis, the Contessa, gets her hands on it. Can they safeguard this ancient relic and foil her plans to conquer the world? Captain Nick adventures are packed with lost worlds, ancient treasures, time travel, dinosaurs, and butt-kicking girl assassins!

The announcement from Dark Horse also offers more information on the Portland-based Trackers Earth organization, which was founded in 2004 and has camps located in Washington, Oregon, California, and Colorado:

Trackers Earth is an award-winning outdoor education organization with a mission to inspire kids and families to explore, connect, and care for the natural world. Through their programs and stories, Trackers Earth teaches kids old-school outdoor skills such as wilderness survival, nature awareness, and tracking. These experiences help kids develop resilience, confidence, and independence in all walks of life. Many of their camps teach these skills through fantastic live-action role-playing that takes kids out into the wilderness, including the official B.P.R.D. (aka Hellboy) Camp, which met with widespread acclaim.

The newly-announced book won’t be Trackers Earth’s first foray into the world of comics. The organization currently has a handful of self-published comics available to read on their website. The new collaboration with Dark Horse will be their first full-length graphic novel.

With a cover price of $14.99, Trackers Presents: Captain Nick & the Explorer Society is due out in bookstores on Tuesday, April 6th, 2023, and in comic shops the following Wednesday, April 7th.