Vault Comics is gearing up to release another top-notch fantasy/horror series tomorrow August 17. Heart Eyes from writer Dennis Hopeless and artist Víctor Ibáñez features colors by Addison Duke, letters from Simon Bowland, and a cover by Hopeless. Tim Daniel rounds out the creative team on designs.
Read the official synopsis from the publisher below:
“Sanity-eating monsters ended humanity. The unlucky few who survived now hide in the cracks of a broken world. And yet somehow, beneath the graveyard that used to be San Antonio, Rico met Lupe, the girl of his dreams. But how did she get here? And why is she smiling? No one survives out in the street. No one smiles where the monsters lurk.”
Hopeless said in a statement:
”When Victor and I were working on Jean Grey together, I was always blown away by his character acting. He’d make the quiet moments delightfully human and lived-in. The people always felt real, even when the rest of the pages in the book were mutants and monsters and giant celestial firebirds. It made me want to build a world with Victor… To fill with his fantastic characters. Heart Eyes is me getting to do that.
Victor posted this drawing online of a smiling woman surrounded by horrifying monsters. I immediately wanted to know more. Who was this woman? How did she survive Victor’s Lovecraftian insanity monsters? Why the hell was she smiling? Those questions became the seed of the story and the driving mystery of the series. Can we ever really know what’s going on behind someone else’s eyes? And if not, how can we trust anyone?
I started scripting during lockdown when the world was angry and afraid. When mental health was suffering and basic human interaction suddenly ceased. So we leaned into that isolation and terror. Our monsters personify fear, anxiety, and paranoia. Our traumatized survivors live in terror, hiding in the cracks of what was. And then there’s Lupe.”
Heart Eyes #1 will hit comic shops on Wednesday, August 17. Ahead of the release, we have an exclusive and extended preview of some pages below!