JOE HILL’S RAIN to Launch Ryall and Wood's Syzygy Publishing Imprint via Image Comics
JOE HILL’S RAIN to Launch Chris Ryall and Ashley Wood’s Syzygy Publishing Imprint via Image Comics in January 2022
A graphic adaptation of Joe Hill’s RAIN will serve as the debut offering from Syzygy Publishing, Chris Ryall and Ashley Wood’s new publishing venture. This new line of comics, graphic novels, and art books from the Zombies vs Robots co-creators will launch its first offering, a five-issue comic-book interpretation of Joe Hill’s “Rain,” in January 2022.
Telling the story as a five-issue miniseries is an award-winning creative team consisting of writer David M. Booher (Canto, Killer Queens), artist Zoe Thorogood (The Impending Blindness of Billie Scott), colorist Chris O’Halloran (A Righteous Thirst for Vengeance), and letterer Shawn Lee (Madman Artist’s Select).
Rain first appeared in author Joe Hill’s acclaimed novella collection Strange Weather, and tells the story of a seemingly normal August day in Boulder, Colorado -- the skies are clear and Honeysuckle Speck couldn’t be happier. She’s finally moving in with her girlfriend, Yolanda. But their world is literally torn apart when dark clouds roll in and release a downpour of nails—splinters of bright crystal that shred the skin of anyone not safely under cover.
"Honeysuckle Speck walked into my life back in 2016, trailing thunderclouds and one hell of a story, a story like nothing I had ever really worked on before,” said Joe Hill. “It was a western; a mystery; an end-of-the-world-tale; a road-story; and, especially, a love story. It was so scary and sad and eccentric and absurd it was almost like it belonged to its own genre -- call it grimquirk. I'm thrilled (and a little amazed) by the loveliness and emotional clarity of Zoe and David's adaptation. They've captured everything I was hoping to get on the page when I wrote the story and something more besides, something unique and all-their-own, full of heartbreak and beauty. It's so unlike anything out there, it really had to be an Image book, which has always been a home for original and wonderful creator-owned comics. I'm grateful to them for making it possible, and to Zoe, David, Shawn, Chris, and Ryall and Wood for bringing their very best to the book."
Rain makes vivid this escalating apocalyptic event, as the deluge of nails spreads across the country and around the world, threatening everything young lovers Honeysuckle and Yolanda hold dear.
“You couldn’t ask for a better inaugural creative team and story with which to kick off Syzygy,” said Chris Ryall. “David, Zoe, and Chris all bring such immense skill and storytelling acumen to this project, and what they’ve done with Joe Hill’s gripping story is somehow both gorgeous and terrible to behold.
David Booher said, “Rain /has been an incredible experience in so many ways. I’ve been a huge fan of Joe’s work since Locke and Key. When I read Rain in Strange Weather, I fell in love with these characters and this world. And as I watched Zoe expertly balance the emotion and the horror, I knew we had something special. On top of that, I get to be a part of Chris and Ashley’s launch of Syzygy Publishing with Image Comics. I can’t thank Chris and Ashley and Joe enough for bringing me aboard to realize this haunting story. Let it pour!”
“The easiest way I can sum up Rain is by admitting it’s the first comic to make me cry from pure horror while drawing it,” said Zoe Thorogood. “It’s a beautifully heartbreaking and personal story, coated in gory violence and social commentary. Also,” she added, “I never want to draw a crystal nail ever again.”
“Syzygy is defined as ‘the configuration of celestial bodies in a gravitational system,’” continued Ryall, “and the added benefit and utter thrill to me is that Image Comics is Rain’s gravitational center. We have long admired how Image has expanded and enhanced this industry, and it’s as exciting to see that ‘i’ on our cover as it is the names of the creators involved.”
Ashley Wood added, “I'm very energized to make comics with Chris and Syzygy, and to work with the many other amazing talents we have lined up makes it an even sweeter deal! Also, it's nice to be back at Image; it’s been a while since Hellspawn with Toddy!”
Rain’s debut issue features three regular covers, by Zoe Thorogood, Elizabeth Beals, and a blank sketch cover; and three retailer incentive covers by Ashley Wood, Renae DeLiz and Ray Dillon, and Thorogood.
Finally, as an added bonus, the debut issue of Rain will feature an all-new 7-page bonus story, Unnamed, from Ryall and Wood, featuring a immortal hunters in pursuit of a fanged creature in swingin’ ‘60s London.
Rain #1 (of 5), a 36-page, $3.99 comic, will fall on January 5, 2022.
Diamond Codes are:
JOE HILL RAIN #1 (OF 5) CVR A THOROGOOD NOV210023
JOE HILL RAIN #1 (OF 5) CVR B BEALS NOV210024
JOE HILL RAIN #1 (OF 5) CVR C BLANK CVR NOV210025
JOE HILL RAIN #1 (OF 5) CVR D 25 COPY INCV WOOD NOV210026
JOE HILL RAIN #1 (OF 5) CVR E 50 COPY INCV DELIZ NOV210027
JOE HILL RAIN #1 (OF 5) CVR F 100 COPY INCV THOROGOOD SKETCH NOV210028
