This November, María Llovet returns for a disturbing, five-issue horror story from BOOM! Studios. Heartbeat follows Eva, a high school outcast, who discovers a horrible secret: the most popular boy in school, Donatien, has an insatiable bloodlust. He will kill to satisfy his craving, and Eva finds herself equally horrified and intrigued.
When she gets pulled into Donatien’s macabre world, Eva finds the escape she’s been seeking — but can she sacrifice her moral code in exchange for meaning? Will she or Donatien ever find redemption?
“The idea for Heartbeat came from seeing the Japanese movie Kokuhaku (Confessions),” Llovet said in a statement. “In this movie, they mentioned a pair of girls that were fans of a psycho-killer, and the concept made me think, ‘what if my main character was to see the person she liked doing something terrible, what would happen? Which values would be put above others?’”
She added, “Heartbeat was also a point of inflection in my career. After I finished it, I reconsidered absolutely everything about my art, so I’m very excited that Heartbeat is going to be published by BOOM! Studios and will be able to reach so many new readers!”
Llovet is a multidisciplinary artist from Barcelona whose work frequently centers on themes of sex and death. In addition to illustrating Brian Azzarello‘s Faithless series, also from BOOM! Studios, she has published several graphic novels including There’s Nothing There and Loud. Heartbeat was originally published in Spanish in 2015.
“This series lives in the space between dark secrets and longing desires, and is absolutely addictive with each page turn, as we wonder just how deep Eva will be pulled in,” said editor Amanda LaFranco in a statement. “Maria has entranced readers with her stunning and sensuous illustrations in Faithless, and she continues to impress in Heartbeat, with the characters, designs, and a twisted original story of her own.”
Heartless #1 hits shelves November 20, 2019. Check out the promotional art below.
