AHOY Comics has announced The Forgotten Divine, a dramatic sci-fi graphic novel by writer Mark Russell (Second Coming), artist Russ Braun (The Boys), colorist Paul Little, and letterer Rob Steen. The book, which tells the story of a struggling veteran joining a UFO cult, will mark the publisher’s first Kickstarter project.
His sleep haunted by images of a faraway planet, unhoused veteran Rodney Coleman drifts into establishing a UFO cult with others plagued by dreams of the same world. The group’s shared effort to understand, heartfelt at first, descends over time into unreality, conspiracy, paranoia, violence, and conceivably… revelation.
Russell states, “The Forgotten Divine is about why people join cults, assign meaning to mysteries, and find comfort in their own persecution. I feel like we can all either relate to these characters or see someone we know in them. We’re all looking for our Forgotten Divine.” He elaborates on Bluesky, saying, “[It’s] one of the best & most personal stories I’ve ever written. Because it’s a weird length (not one page too few or too many) we are bringing it to you like this. If you have enjoyed my work in the past, please check it out.”
Braun adds, “[It] is a challenging story, both to read and to draw. The subtleties involved in the storytelling required a lot of thought; the slow evolution, ramp up, and ultimate impact is a testament to Mark’s writing. Visually, we got to put some stuff out there that hasn’t been seen before, and that’s always a blast for me. We took some risks, but I think AHOY, Mark, and I are known for that, and it definitely paid off.”
Tom Peyer, AHOY’s editor-in-chief, states, “We’ve always promised our readers they could Expect More from our line of comic book magazines featuring comics, prose fiction, poems, cartoons -and Kickstarter lets us deliver more. It gives us the absolute freedom to make a book that’s as jam-packed and utterly excessive as our wildest dreams will allow. Plus, by supporting the Kickstarter, you’re playing an active role in making the book a reality and increasing its visibility, helping us guarantee it’ll hit comic shops and bookstores. Man – you’re kind of a hero, aren’t you?”
The book doesn’t have an ETA yet, but you can sign up to be notified of when the crowdfunder launches on the official page.
