Second Sight Publishing is teaming up with Dark Horse Comics for the release of the horror comics anthology, Shook!: A Black Horror Anthology, a collection of over 200 pages of horror comic book stories from acclaimed Black comic book creators, like David Walker, John Jennings, Rodney Barnes, Kevin Grevioux, Alverne Ball, Brandon Easton, Marcus H. Roberts, and Bradley Golden. The project is hot off of a successful Kickstarter campaign last year that took in over $50,000 in pledges.
Besides having a number of Eisner Award and Hugo Award winners and nominees, Second Sight boasts that this collection has more Glyph Award winners than any other comic book anthology ever (the Glyph Awards were created by comic book journalist, Rich Watson, to celebrate “the best in comics made by, for, and about people of color from the preceding calendar year. While it is not exclusive to Black creators, it does strive to honor those who have made the greatest contributions to the comics medium in terms of both critical and commercial impact.” The awards have been given out since 2006 at the East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention).
What is the full list of creators for the project?
Bradley Golden and Flavio Cortes are the creative team on “TASTY! ITCHY!,” a tale of a Louisiana post-nuclear holocaust, where giant radioactive cockroaches and other creatures torment the residents who are slowly dying from radiation poisoning…
John Jennings and Charlie Goubile are the creative team on “The Breaks,” about a breakdancer who is dying from AIDS, and begins to experience visions of terrifying things as she is stuck between life and death.
Kevin Grevioux and Roberto Castro are the creative team on “Ezra The Hunter,” about a man with the ability to mimic the abilities of various monsters, and thus helps protect humanity from these monsters.
Marcus H. Roberts and Jamal Williams are the creative team on “Hell to Pay,” based on the radio play, A Story You Won’t Believe, by Professor James E. Tokley Sr. A man has the ability to go back in time to stop a horrific moment in Civil Rights history, but what price will he pay to succeed?
Rodney Barnes and David Brame are the creative team on “The Last March,” about a group of Klansmen who are trying to lynch a community leader in a graveyard when suddenly all the dead former slaves and victims from past lynchings (and similar crimes) rise from their graves for revenge…
Evan Parke and Glenn D. Brown are the creative team on “The Removers,” about the first assignment of a member of a superhero-hunting team, whose job is to take down a vampire who has disguised itself as a healer.
Alverne Ball and Shawn Alleyne are the creative team on “The Hill,” an adaptation of the classic Saki short story, “Music on the Hill,” where an 18th century couple in the woods runs afoul of the Greek god, Pan.
David Walker and Brandon Easton’s stories are yet to have been revealed.
What does Second Sight have to say about the project?
Marcus H. Roberts, who was the editor of the collection, and is the COO of Second Sight Publishing, discussed the project in a press release when Second Sight and Dark Horse’s partnership was announced, “The project is the collaboration between John Jennings, Bradley Golden, and myself who all hail from the south; John and Bradley are from Mississippi, and I am originally from Georgia. Our brand of horror has been called Southern Gothic horror and has been in the making for two years. “
In another interview, Roberts also noted, “So John and I had this idea cooking now with Bradley and I was like, “Bradley, we need to put together like the ultimate lineup of writers in an anthology. Like, let’s put together the Dream Team.” So we asked everybody and everybody was like, “yeah yeah yeah, let’s do this” We got everybody and went back to John, and I was like, “John, look, man, look at this lineup!” And John was like, “This is what I was envisioning. Let’s call it Shook!” But yeah, it was just a matter of, we all had the same idea.”
Shook! A Black Horror Anthology will be available in comic book stores on January 31, 2024. (book stores will have it a day earlier).
Source: Dark Horse Comics and Second Sight Publishing