Dark Horse Comics has announced Shifting Earth, a new graphic novel from the publisher’s Berger Books imprint. The book, which follows a botanist transported to an alien world, comes from the creative team of writer Cecil Castellucci, artist Flavia Biondi, colorist Fabiana Mascolo, and letterer Steve Wands.
Here’s how Dark Horse describes Shifting Earth:
In a not-so-distant future, a freak particle storm has landed botanist Dr. Maeve Lindholm on an idyllic yet strange parallel Earth, with no way back home. Here, two moons rule society, and nature outshines science. Yet, all isn’t what it seems as this Eden-like existence is on the brink of unthinkable change. Astronomer Zuzi battles this fractious society every day—just like Maeve did on her own climate-ravaged planet. Both women are fighters, and both face a choice: forge new paths, or save the worlds they’ve always known? Maeve will have to decide, and fast– because she’s fighting for more than just herself.
Shifting Earth is the latest Dark Horse Comics work for Cecil Castellucci, who has written licensed tales for the publisher in the worlds of Critical Role and Disney, contributed to the Black Hammer Visions anthology series, and penned the acclaimed original graphic novel Soupy Leaves Home with artist Jose Pimienta. The new graphic novel is also a return to both Dark Horse and the Berger Books imprint for Flavia Biondi, who previously illustrated Ruby Falls with writer Ann Nocenti.
Shifting Earth is the latest Berger Books graphic novel to deal explicitly with climate science and the effects of climate change, following in the footsteps of books like James Romberger‘s Post York and Devin Grayson & Yana Adamovic‘s Rewild. In a statement accompanying the book’s announcement, Castellucci described what inspired her to create the world of the graphic novel:
“I spent a lot of time during the pandemic scrapping seeds from my kitchen, worrying about climate change, and listening to a lot of science lectures. But I didn’t want Shifting Earth to be doom and gloom, because I think that there are ways for us to imagine hopeful futures. We have to fight for our world, right here. This is my attempt to balance both the nature of the human heart and the reality of our times with a hope for a true exchange of ideas.”
Berger Books founder and curator Karen Berger also expressed her enthusiasm at bringing Shifting Earth to readers:
“Cecil has crafted an imaginative and important story that flips our current world on its axis and transports us to a place both of Earthly wonder and incredible weirdness,“ said Karen Berger. “Flavia’s art is truly breathtaking, as is Fabiana’s glorious color— the perfect art team for this rich and powerful graphic novel.”
Look for the softcover 112-page Shifting Earth graphic novel to arrive in comic shops on Wednesday, June 8th, and in bookstores on Tuesday, June 21st.
