AfterShock Comics’ new gothic horror tale God of Tremors will blend brutality and enlightenment. Written by Peter Milligan with art by Piotr Kowalski, the special one-shot will be in stores and on digital platforms August 8.
AfterShock, in its few short years of existence, has managed to bring aboard a number of top-flight creators, both fresh faces and industry veterans, and have put out some truly compelling books, such as I Breathed a Body and Miskatonic. Peter Milligan recently joined the AfterShock roster. He made a name for himself in the early 1990s as part of comics’ “British Invasion,” and was one of the founders of DC’s Vertigo imprint thanks to his work on books like Shade the Changing Man. He would later create X-Force/X-Statix with artist Mike Allred. Milligan has also worked on numerous titles for a variety of publishers, including runs on X-Men and Hellblazer. God of Tremors will be his second project for the publisher; his first book, Out of Body, is debuting next month.
A press release from AfterShock lays out the one-shot’s plot as well as Milligan’s influences and creative processes. Described as a “singular tale of nightmarish terror and creeping enlightenment,” the story is set in the 19th century. Aubrey, a young boy who has epilepsy, is sent to his family’s secluded country estate after his first seizure; his father, a high-ranking minister, seeks to purge what he feels is evil out of his son. Meanwhile, Aubrey has started wandering the woods around the house and has found a pagan effigy of the devil. But whatever is in the woods may be the only true friend Aubrey has and will start to change Aubrey and his family. AfterShock released some preview art for the book along with the announcement:
With its secluded locales and pagan statues, the story is clearly steeped in the gothic horror genre, but in the press release, Milligan cites another, more personal influence. Milligan has epilepsy, and after a particularly nasty seizure put him in the hospital, the story, which had been “brewing in [his] head for a little while,” finally came to light. It is a story of a young man trying to make sense of his world after his first seizure, and Aubrey will run up against archaic attitudes towards epilepsy. Milligan also had praise for artist Kowalski, whose work he called “unnerving” and perfectly captured the world Milligan envisioned.
Peter Milligan and Pitor Kowalski will team up to bring God of Tremors to print and digital this August, from AfterShock Comics. It is a story infused with gothic terror combined with horrors both personal and supernatural.
Source: AfterShock Comics