Motorcycle witches ride hard. Vault Comics, the independent publisher behind Giga and Vagrant Queen, has announced a new road-trip thriller series from the creative team behind the 2017 southern gothic series Long Lost under Scout Comics: Witchblood written by Matthew Erman and illustrated by Lisa Sterle. Set to arrive this March, the stories follow a turquoise-tressed mistress of spell and her crow companion as they journey across the American southwest trying to keep one step ahead of a gang of bikers who also happen to be vampires. A quirky supernatural tale of a coven of modern-day witches battling monstrous blood-sucking parasites seems to be in order.
Erman and Sterle previously teamed up on Long Lost, a mystery yarn that spanned twelve issues following the adventures of feuding sisters Piper and Frances as they uncover a series of terrifying mysteries in a similar vein to Stranger Things. While the duo from the town of Hazel Patch battled against a bloodthirsty cult and their own disinclination from each other, this newest story seems to be more of a western take that involves elements of overt fantasy and horror set in a larger, more magical world.
According to the creative team, this ride's going to be one of those introspective-and-sprawling one minute followed by tight western/magical action the next. “I think if you’ve ever wanted your Cowboy Bebop cut with the energy of Wild at Heart, this is the story you’ve been waiting for and I hope you enjoy it as much as we love creating it,” Erman said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. “It’s been nearly four years since we made our comic debut with Long Lost and it feels like we get to share everything we’ve learned creating stories for comic shelves.” Sterle, whose recent spellbinding work includes a modern tarot deck also commented that she was taken with the world weaved up by Erman, calling it “rich and thrilling and full of life and character”.
Early solicitations show the protagonist to be a youthful thousand-year-old witch named Yonna, a motorcyclist with a magical crow for a companion, on the lam from a nasty-looking bevy of vampiric bikers. While certainly quirky and a dash pixie-like, Sterle’s trademark gravitas grants a hint of desperation to the fantastical fare. Magic and motorcycles might mix quite mellifluently under the proper pen, and Sterle’s clearly in her element. As far as what’s driving her, Yonna’s quest across America seems to have something to do with exactly what the vampires are looking for: the eponymous witchblood that courses through her veins and the veins of all those in her coven.
Can Yonna use her considerable magical abilities to put the kibosh on this gang of parasitic ruffians, while keeping them from finding her coven companions? Find out in Witchblood, on sale March 31 from Vault Comics and wherever comics are sold.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter