Everybody wants to be famous, right? Whether it’s as big as becoming a successful actor or as (relatively) small as having a tweet go viral, we all want our fifteen minutes. But social media fame isn’t always all it’s cracked up to be. In Everyone is Tulip, the new graphic novel coming next year from Dark Horse Comics, writer Dave Baker, artist Nicole Goux, and colorist Ellie Hall explore what happens when one woman’s realization of her dream turns into a living nightmare.
Here’s how Dark Horse Comics describes Everyone is Tulip:
Aspiring actress Becca has a dream of Hollywood fame and fortune, which seem to come true when she’s hired for an experimental internet art project that goes viral. However, when her online persona becomes bigger than she could have imagined complications arise.
As her daily life grows ever more warped, thanks to a sudden army of faithful fans and hecklers, Becca begins to question if the struggle is worth the rewards. From her romantic endeavors to her self-understanding, every facet of Becca’s life begins to shift and evolve. From the outside it looks like Becca is living the dream, but Is this weight of her breakthrough really going to be her undoing?
Everyone is Tulip reunites Baker & Goux, the creative team behind F*ck Off Squad. Goux is also the artist on this year’s critically-acclaimed Shadow of the Batgirl young adult graphic novel for DC Comics. In a statement accompanying the announcement, the writer and artist discussed the inspiration behind their new collaboration, and how the idea of compromising and sacrificing as an artist plays into the events of the book:
“This project is a deeply personal work for me. It’s mined from experience, both personal and observed. Everyone Is Tulip is a narrative centered around compromise. It seems to be the singular constant in the existence of most artists. How to mitigate it, how to embrace it, and how to live with it.”—Dave Baker
“We are living in a world of rapidly shifting technology and ideas. Everyone Is Tulip is about navigating technology and social media as an artist and a human, and how that informs what you make. Dave and I started this book at a point when we were being asked to make compromises in our work with the offer of potential success and had to make serious decisions about what direction we wanted our careers to go. There is so much gray area surrounding the idea of pure art versus successful art, and every artist has to choose what they can live with. Everyone Is Tulip asks what you are willing to sacrifice to get what you want, what compromises are you willing to make, who are you willing to screw to make it happen, and also, what is the nature of art and theft in our ever-changing society.” – Nicole Goux
The book sounds fascinating based on their comments, and perhaps a bit David Lynchian from how Dark Horse describes it. Check out Goux and Hall’s cover for the graphic novel below. With a cover price of $19.99, Everyone is Tulip is scheduled to arrive in comic shops on June 16th, 2021, with a bookstore release a few weeks later on June 29th, 2021.
