Next month, on February 9th, 2022, World Class by Jay Sandlin, Patrick Muholland, Rebecca Nalty, and Justin Birch will be arriving at your local comic shop, but today, The Beat has your exclusive first look at this upcoming YA graphic novel from Maverick, an imprint of Mad Cave Studios!
World Class
Here’s the description of the graphic novel from Maverick:
“Life’s a pitch for teen football star, Adrian “Colombian Cannon” Molina. With his powerful shot, Adrian looks like a shoe-in for the European junior league. When a Regents United elite prep school scout offers him a full scholarship, the news seems too good to be true. Adrian’s celebration is short-lived thanks to his meeting with the team’s star, Titan Evans. Titan is everything Adrian is not; rich, powerful, and connected. Despite that, Titan sees the Colombian Cannon as a threat to his domination on the pitch. Hallway brawls and constant bullying from Titan and his cronies consume Adrian’s new life along with crippling anxiety thanks to the fear of losing his spot on the team.”
We're getting so close to the official release of our newest graphic novel, World Class, by @JaySandlin_ and @Pat_M_Art!
We've got your first look at the action–check out our official trailer below! pic.twitter.com/L28EHPLOnj— Maverick™ (@Maverick_OGN) January 7, 2022
And the press release also included quotes from both the writer and the artist.
“Over the course of 200+ script pages, I loved hanging out and getting to know Adrian Molina,” said Sandlin. “Like a teenage Ted Lasso, our star, known as the Colombian Cannon, is catapulted from small town life into the high-stakes competition of European football. What happens when you’re the small fish in a huge, often-terrifying, new pond? If he can overcome his anxieties, Adrian could take home the most prestigious cup in the world and earn a spot on the team of his dreams…if he can survive high school first.”
“Working on World Class was a great experience for me. I evolved as an artist, as I had never worked on such a big project,” said Mulholland. “In a way, I empathize with Adrian, who found himself out of his comfort zone. I wanted the reader to feel like they were on the pitch with him. To have all those moments of action and tension, and I think we managed to do that all the way to the end. I’m grateful to have had a great team to work along side to bring World Class to life.”
The newest graphic novel from Maverick follows the release of other recent titles from the imprint, including Needle & Thread and Nightmare in Savannah (both of which have sold out, but which will each be getting a second printing in spring of 2022).
Arriving in February
The preview pages for World Class are included below this article.
Will you be heading out to your LCS on February 9th (or a local bookstore on February 22nd, 2022) in order to pick up a copy of World Class? We want to hear from you! Give us a shout-out, either right here in the comment section or over on social media @comicsbeat and let us know what you think about the arrival of this swiftly approaching graphic novel.
