New sci-fi series The Man From Maybe looks absolutely bananas - and brilliant
It's the latest book from cult artist Shaky Kane
The Man From Maybe is the latest mind-bending comic from cult artist Shaky Kane - and it looks like an absolute blast of psychedelic thrills.
Announced at this year's San Diego Comic Con, the three-issue series is written by Weird Work's Jordan Thomas and published by Oni Press. The story follows a masked bandit as he investigates what appears to be a crashed alien spaceship in a future of rampant corporate greed. That is, of course, only part of the story which begins with the double-length 48-page first issue.
"The whole idea for the series was formed knowing I was writing for Shaky," said Thomas. "He gave me a couple of brain-expanding images he wanted to draw and from there I began building out a strange and wild world for these characters to tear apart. The whole team at Oni have been great in helping us create this bright blend of adventure, thrills and shocks. It's absolutely the most flat out fun comic I've ever been a part of and I'm very proud of what we've put on the page."
You can see a gallery of Kane's spectacular art for the new book below.
Kane added, "Saddle-up the Atomic Hoss, turn Grandma's TV up to full retina burn, and head out across the wasteland. There's no maybe about it, you'll YEE-HAW! for sure when you pick this one up. Some of the treats Jordan served up surprised even me, and I drew the dang thing!" Well quite.
Rather more restrained, Oni Press's president and publisher Hunter Gorinson described the new book as being like "Jack Kirby tackling an unauthorized adaptation of a long-lost science fiction novel written by Hunter S. Thompson on a dare." He added, "In this jaded and self-serious era, it's so rare to find comics that positively pulsate with the joy of what comics do best."
Oni Press's official description of the first issue reads:
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"In the dry and dead future that's coming soon, all life belongs to Oppenheimer-obsessed billionaire Harvard Denny and his corporate scavengers from Smile, Inc., who pillage the wastelands in search of atomic contraband.
But when a hyper-advanced vessel of possibly alien origin crashlands on the outer edge of Denny's empire of neon-lit ruins, will it bring promise or poison to a distorted world? As the race to acquire the ship's cargo begins, our fate will be decided by a masked bandit and the cold iron of his laser rifle. He knows no name, no home, no surrender—only the whispered hush of those in need who dare call him . . . THE MAN FROM MAYBE!"
The Man From Maybe #1 is published by Oni Press in October.
Another new series announced at SDCC is Gone by Jock. Find out more about the creator-owned book right here.
Will Salmon is the Comics Editor for GamesRadar/Newsarama. He has been writing about comics, film, TV, and music for more than 15 years, which is quite a long time if you stop and think about it. At Future he has previously launched scary movie magazine Horrorville, relaunched Comic Heroes, and has written for every issue of SFX magazine for over a decade. He sometimes feels very old, like Guy Pearce in Prometheus. His music writing has appeared in The Quietus, MOJO, Electronic Sound, Clash, and loads of other places and he runs the micro-label Modern Aviation, which puts out experimental music on cassette tape.