BOOM! Studios has announced a new queer, erotic body horror series from writer Marguerite Bennett, artist Helena Masellis, colorist Nisha Singh, and letterer Jodie Troutman, entitled Gastronomique. Today, The Beat has all the details.
Set during the French Revolution, Gastronomique follows a former royal spy, Lady Charlotte, whose place on execution row is taken by her sister in exchange for Charlotte hunting down and killing the cannibal who murdered her sister’s child. Along the way, Charlotte reunites with her former lover, Zelie, complicating her mission tenfold.
Here’s the full synopsis:
Lady Charlotte, known in whispered circles as the Python, has built her reputation as a royal spy who never misses her prey and is now sentenced for execution. When her sister’s child falls victim to a cannibal hunting the streets of Paris, Charlotte’s sister agrees to take her place to be executed in exchange for Charlotte finding and murdering the killer, Tarrare.
The cannibal Tarrare consumes without restraint, leaving behind a trail of fear that feels uncomfortably familiar. Instead of facing the blade meant for her, Charlotte is set on a collision course with a predator who mirrors her own desperate need to hunt.
As Charlotte moves through the underbelly of a city unraveling, she reunites with Zelie, her former lover whose presence reawakens both tenderness and tension. Their shared sexual past complicates an already dangerous mission, blurring the lines between erotic desire and destruction.
As the hunt becomes something more intimate and unsettling, Charlotte is forced to confront the possibility that her fascination with Tarrare is not rooted in fear alone.
Set against a period defined by upheaval and transformation, this queer, erotic horror comic series draws a deliberate parallel between political violence, sexual impulses, and personal awakening. What society fears most about hunger comes to life when it exists in a woman. What happens when that hunger refuses to be contained?
Check out interior art from Gastronomique #1 below, as well as main cover art by Masellis and an incentive variant by Reiko Murakami.
“Gastronomique acknowledges the horror of desire and the corporeal form, and the pleasure of seeing those desires sated,” said Maya Bollinger, Assistant Editor at BOOM! Studios. “Marguerite Bennett’s incisive and primal storytelling combined with Helena Masellis’ knack for breathtakingly grotesque art make this a feast fit for anyone with taste. Now more than ever, it is so, so important to be perverted.”
“This is a story about appetite in all its forms, the kind we celebrate and the kind we’re taught to fear,” said Josh Hayes, Vice President, Imprint Sales Director, BOOM! / BOOM! Box / Inklore. “Marguerite Bennett and Helena Masellis have created something that feels both provocative and deeply human. Horror and desire are inseparable, and every page dares the reader to look closer.”
Gastronomique #1 will be available digitally and at your local comic shop on August 12. Pre-orders are available now.
