TBD
One of the best comics of the last decade was UPGRADE SOUL, by Ezra Claytan Daniels, a multi-leveled story about aging, mad science, race and family that might just be one of the best SF graphic novels ever. Since it came out in 2018, Daniels collaborated with Ben Passmore on BTTM FDRS, and took some time to work on the Doom Patrol TV show, but he’s been mostly absent from the shelves.
That changes next February with the release of MAMA CAME CALLIN’, a swamp noir set in Florida about deadly family secrets. Written by Daniels with art by newcomer Camilla Sucre, we have the first look at the final cover AND an exclusive four page excerpt. The storyline:
Kirah was born from an improbable interracial relationship that, in central Florida’s infamous Asurupa County, defied all the odds. But her idyllic childhood was shattered by an urban legend come to life. The “Gatorman” was a nightmare on the lips of kids and grown-ups alike all the way back to Jim Crow: a monster with the body of a man, the head of an alligator—and a taste for Black children. That’s who crawled into Kirah’s window when Kirah was just five years old. According to the police, it was Kirah’s own father who put on that gator mask and tried to kill her.
Twenty years later, Kirah works hard to build a life unburdened by the traumatic events of her childhood. Just when it seems like she’s managed to find her stride, her dad, fresh out of prison, crashes back into her world with a chilling message: “He’s coming for you.”
“I’m a huge fan of post-Silver Age crime comics like Greg Rucka and Steve Lieber’s Whiteout, Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips’ books, that whole run of Vertigo Crime books, and especially Don Glut and Alfredo Alcala’s graphic adaptation of Donald Goines’ Daddy Cool from 1984,” Daniels tells The Beat. “Mama Came Callin’ started off as my own take on a fun pulp thriller, but honestly it became probably the hardest thing I’ve ever written, just because it wound up going deep into really personal and sensitive themes. But they say that’s where it gets interesting, right?
“Thankfully the hard parts were mitigated by the excitement of working with new artist Camilla Sucre,” he continues. “Her art is just so fresh and has so much style and personality; every time I got a new batch of pages it felt like Christmas morning and I was six years old again. Drawing a graphic novel is an insane amount of work, and you can’t help but grow and change as an artist over the course of one, and no time is that more true than on your first full-length book. Watching Camilla experience that journey totally rekindled that desperate thrill of comics that I felt drawing my first book in my early 20s, and motivated me to get back in the saddle again.”
Sucre told us, “As a long-time reader and fan of graphic novels and comics, working on Mama Came Callin’ has been an absolute privilege and a dream come true. I love mysteries and thrillers, so I couldn’t have asked for a better graphic novel for my debut! The story is rich, exciting and unique, and the just the type of book I’d pick up and read. I was especially lucky to have the opportunity to work with Ezra who, from the beginning saw potential in me, and gave me the opportunity to do this project justice. I can’t wait for the rest of the world to read Mama Came Callin’.”
Ariana Sinclair at William Morrow was the editor, and Adam Goldworm at Aperture Entertainment is handling tv/film rights. Chad Luibl at Janklow & Nesbit Associates sold World rights at auction (originally to Vedika Khanna while she was at William Morrow). The book will publish on 2/3/2026.
And here’s a look inside!
TBD
