The Immonens return with sci-fi slice of life graphic novel Grass of Parnassus
Don't call it a comeback, Stuart & Kathryn Immonen never left - and are here with Grass of Parnassus
Kathryn and Stuart Immonen's webcomic series Grass of Parnassus is being collected in a special hardcover edition from AdHouse Books this fall.
Grass of Parnassus is a slice-of-life kind of story, but set aboard a drifting spaceship. Originally serialized on Instagram, the Immonens have reformatted it - and added some extras - for the Grass of Parnassus hardcover.
"Join a huge cast including angry space techs, anxious energy workers, obsequious ramen robots, suspicious arcade owners, snack-driven vat-grown bears, and correspondence school druids in this backstage adventure aboard a malfunctioning flying space rock," reads AdHouse Books' description of Grass of Parnassus.
In some ways, Grass of Parnassus is similar to the personal stories from their previous series Never As Bad As You Think, but taking place in a more fanciful - if you consider dilapidated sci-fi 'fanciful', as I do - locale. Stuart Immonen's cartooning here has shades of his comedy work from Nextwave, and seemingly a deep appreciation for the work of French cartoonist Yves Chaland.
Here is a trailer the Immonens created for Grass of Parnassus:
For those early-adopters who read Grass of Parnassus when it was originally serialized online, this new hardcover collection will include over 50 pages of supplementary material - akin to Stuart Immonen's beloved Centifolia artbook series.
Here's an 11-page preview of the 224-page Grass of Parnassus hardcover:
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Grass of Parnassus preview
While best known for their work at Marvel and DC, Grass of Parnassus is the latest creator-owned work from the Immonens after breaking into comics together in the late '80s with their anthology series, Playground. More recent creator-owned works include 50 Reasons to Stop Sketching at Conventions, Snipe, Never As Bad As You Think, Moving Pictures, and Russian Olive to Red King.
This should help to dispel the false narrative that Stuart Immonen retired in 2018 after finishing up a 16-year run at Marvel. Since then Immonen has created Grass of Parnassus with Kathryn, and worked with Joe Hill on the DC horror series Plunge. Immonen is currently working on a new The Magic Order series with writer Mark Millar, after their previous team-up for Empress.
The Grass of Parnassus hardcover goes on sale on September 29 in comic shops, and October 12 in bookstores.
Many of Immonen's greatest works are available digitally. Check out our recommended best digital comics readers for Android and iOS devices.
Chris Arrant covered comic book news for Newsarama from 2003 to 2022 (and as editor/senior editor from 2015 to 2022) and has also written for USA Today, Life, Entertainment Weekly, Publisher's Weekly, Marvel Entertainment, TOKYOPOP, AdHouse Books, Cartoon Brew, Bleeding Cool, Comic Shop News, and CBR. He is the author of the book Modern: Masters Cliff Chiang, co-authored Art of Spider-Man Classic, and contributed to Dark Horse/Bedside Press' anthology Pros and (Comic) Cons. He has acted as a judge for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, the Harvey Awards, and the Stan Lee Awards. Chris is a member of the American Library Association's Graphic Novel & Comics Round Table. (He/him)