Writer Matthew Erman and artist Liana Kangas are teaming up for a tale of sci-fi love and heartbreak. The creators’ new graphic novel, Mariko Between Worlds, will be published by Mad Cave Studios this fall, and is colored by Rebecca Nalty and lettered by Micah Myers. The book follows a couple in the midst of a break-up as they travel between worlds on their last night together.
Here’s how Mad Cave describes Mariko Between Worlds:
Mariko and Rem are breaking up but they have one last night together in the Mall of Portals, an inter-dimensional consumerist heaven full of unending vice, before Rem takes his new job doing data entry on the Moon of Plenty. With a couple hours to spare, no personal repercussions and entire dimensions at their fingertips — what’s the worst that could happen?
In a statement announcing the series, Erman described the series further:
“Mariko Between Worlds is an unhinged joyride through Liana and I’s most bizarre sci-fi daydream. The story, about two doomed lovers, Mariko (injured bird vibes) and space alien Rem (basically blue Keanu), is about one final wild night together in the extra-dimensional consumerist Mall of Portals before they are forced to cut off ties due to the government’s rejection Mariko’s K1000-Visa application, crushing her dream of moving with Rem to his home dimension—”
The series is the first collaboration between Erman, the writer of books like Witchblood (with Lisa Sterle) and Good Luck (with Stefano Simeone), and Kangas, artist of books including Trve Kvlt (with Scott Bryan Wilson) and Know Your Station (with Sarah Gailey). Kangas described their enthusiasm at teaming with Erman, as well as with Nalty and Myers:
“Before we started working on Mariko Between Worlds, Matthew Erman and Lisa Sterle (who designed some of the incredibly wild and fun characters in the book and co-wrote as well!) were already some of my favorite people on earth (and in every galaxy from this end to infinite) — and so from the first moment I heard the premise, I knew that this was going to be something special. I think it’s always a pleasure when good people turn out to also be good collaborators, so it was really a pleasure to bring this story to life with them—
I think that we (including being joined by our incredible colorist who made this book as psychedelic as it is, Rebecca Nalty, and our extremely talented letterer, Micah Meyers) all brought our very best to this project because of how much fun we had with it. This book also allowed me to really see how far I can stretch my skill, and to experiment with a lot of stylistic play that typically I don’t really get to do. I think it is even more special because of that—
I hope this story resonates with anyone that is searching for that missing part of them or feels like they just want to find themselves.”
Erman added of his collaborators:
“I loved every minute collaborating with Liana, who is not only an incredible talent but one of my closest comic friends. Getting to write scripts for Liana, with the sole intention of making her laugh or scream or guffaw or question whether that could technically be drawn was a huge highlight of my comic career and I can’t wait for you to experience this absolutely bonkers comic. It shouldn’t exist, but it does and we made it. There’s a duck man, and a psychic fridge, and a club where people snort social media. There’s a communist skeleton named Greg and an entity composed of sound that runs a record store. That’s literally not even a drop in the bucket. I made Liana draw some INSANE things—
I’m so proud of this book and getting to collaborate with the people I cherish and love in this industry and getting to write comics for Mad Cave is the cherry on top. If you’ve ever watched 90 Day Fiancé and felt it needed more angst and space aliens and portals to capitalist nightmare dimensions… then I guess this is literally the comic for you.”
Look for the 128-page Mariko Between Worlds to arrive in stores in September 2023.
