EXCLUSIVE PREVIEW: Fresh starts in SoCal in the first new BEYOND SUNSET quarterly anthology

There’s no two ways around it: the Golden State looms large in our collective imagination – doubly so as one heads in a southerly direction. If it seems like everyone in SoCal has a story to tell, well, there’s no better medium than comics, and the new digital-first Beyond Sunset: Strange Tales of Southern California quarterly anthology is the ideal venue in which to tell them!

California Dreamin’

The first Beyond Sunset anthology is available for digital purchase right now through Gumroad, but you can get an exclusive preview of some of the stories today right here at The Beat.

Journalist Drew Mackie is the Editor in Chief for the quarterly, and Josh Trujillo (Hulkling & Wiccan) and Glen Laken serve as editors.

Contributors for the first Beyond Sunset quarterly include Jack Foster, Danny Djeljosevic, Brett Marcus Cook, Kris Ruiz, Elizabeth Brei, @Snackugaki, Raymond Estrada, Hadley Meares, Lane Lloyd, Meghan Lands, Caleb Goellner, and Mister Loki on comics, and Patrick Horvath, Jordan Eric Mitchell, Ben Mitchell, Sarah Wickham, and Vincent Kings on pinups. You can read their biographies (and locate them online) at this link.

In addition, the 122-page inaugural volume of the quarterly also features several essays that explore local history, and an interview with Sina Grace (Ghosted in LA) conducted by Mackie.

You can read the official press release about Beyond Sunset below this exclusive preview of three of the comics and one of the pinups included in the “New Beginnings” volume.

“Last Angeles” by Jack Foster

“Oxygen Between” by Elizabeth Brei, @snackugaki, and Danny Djeljosevic

“From the Bay to LA” by Caleb Goellner

“Flight of the Star Whales” by Vincent King

It Never Rains in Southern California

Bear in mind that “New Beginnings” is just the theme of the first Beyond Sunset anthology, with the upcoming second and third volumes focusing on the subjects of “Weekend” and “Eat Local,” respectively.

What do you think of this new SoCal-themed quarterly anthology? Will you be picking up the subsequent volumes? What creators are you hoping to see say their piece on SoCal in the future?

The Beat wants to hear from you! Let us know what you’re thinking in the comment section.

Welcome to the new digital-first quarterly collective, BEYOND SUNSET!

Where comics and journalism collide, you will find stories nestled in the “Fresh Starts” of Southern California.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

NOV. 5, 2021, (SEATTLE, WA) — Announcing the Beyond Sunset anthology, a new digital-first quarterly graphic journal collecting fantastical stories about Life in Los Angeles, featuring a collective of Southern California artists and writers!  

In the debut 122-page issue, themed “Fresh Starts” edited by journalist Drew Mackie as well as writers Josh Trujillo and Glen Lakin, Beyond Sunset features 18 original pieces ranging from fantastical to autobiographical to historical—each commissioned from new and emerging talent; showcasing work from creators including Jack Foster, Patrick Horvath, Elizabeth Brei, Meghan Lands, Danny Djeljosevic, and more! 

The graphic anthology is an amalgamation of genres from sci-fi, horror, noir, pulp, fantasy—all representing a variety of viewpoints—runs alongside written pieces from traditional California-native journalists, including an interview with Los Angeles-based writer and artist Sina Grace and a piece on Echo Park’s Angelus Temple by L.A. history writer Hadley Meares.

​​“We like to think of Los Angeles as a city with boundless creative potential,” said Editor in Chief Drew Mackie. “The pandemic made many forms of collaboration harder, if not impossible, but we wanted to assemble a comic book that bridged those gaps and allowed people to share something about where they lived, lockdown or no lockdown. The theme for ‘Fresh Starts,’ is because we wanted our creators to dream up something better than what we left behind, pre-pandemic. And we wanted people reading Beyond Sunset to dare to think about a better future and a new direction.”