The third volume of the Hobtown Mystery Stories series hits shelves this week, and The Beat has an exclusive sneak peek at The Secret of the Saucer.
The Hobtown Mystery Stories from Oni Press hails from childhood friends, writer Kris Bertin and artist Alexander Forbes, along with colorist Jason Fischer-Kouhl. The series chronicles Hobtown (population: 2,006), which has for centuries faced unusual problems. Now, a group of teenagers have come together to uncover its truths.
Here’s the full synopsis for Vol. 3: The Secret of the Saucer:
The lines between conspiracy and reality tangle during election season in Hobtown as a new-old member of the Teen Detective Club surfaces to challenge Dana’s leadership and redirect the group’s attention back to the discounted but pressing concern that “ALIENS!” are among us. On a grander scale, amid the town’s hotly contested mayoral race, the arrival of a flying saucer and a chaotic “Ape Lord” being pursued by the local Knitting Circle have the teen sleuths of Hobtown unsure if they’re coming or going, as literal backward thinking tears at the threads of their friendships and their grasp on their latest case…
Check out interior and cover art below.
“Imagine if A24 re-made Stranger Things and you begin to understand the ambition of the strange and surreal story that Kris Bertin and artist Alexander Forbes have undertaken,” said Oni Press editor-in-chief Sierra Hahn. “There’s a multi-generational mystery, a supernatural mini-man, and a ragtag group of teen detectives. I genuinely love this series. Hobtown Mystery Stories just might be the best kept secret in comics. These graphic novels are a personal obsession for me and soon they will be for you, too.”
“What’s delightful about Hobtown Mystery Stories is the way each volume reinforces and deepens the series’ larger mythology, while also working as a standalone reading experience that will burrow into your brain,” said Oni Press senior editor Bess Pallares.
“You have a missing person’s case in volume one, boarding school horror in volume two, and a flying saucer in volume three—the first all-new Hobtown book published by Oni Press. Kris and Alex have created an astonishingly rich world of quaint, small-town intrigue—exactly the books my young, library-card toting self hoped I could read as an adult. You can start the series with any volume you like, because I guarantee you’ll be back for the rest,” Pallares continued.
Hobtown Mystery Stories, Vol. 3: The Secret of the Saucer will be available digitally and at your local comic shop on November 25.
