Michelle Lodge and I have been collaborating at this point for over 10 years. Our first collaboration together was titled The Black Wall, which is still a largely unread comic that I promise will see the light of day in print at some point. We just have to wait for the right moment, as it is a 300 page story. That is a very expensive print run, and I think we will know when it is time.
Home Free, a loose sequel to The Black Wall, was our second collaboration together. Weird choice, releasing a sequel to a book that nobody has read as your fledgling effort on Kickstarter. We know. But they are written to not matter which order you read them in. We could really release The Black Wallas a prequel if we wanted to.
Coming early next year will be our next chapter in dramatic crime fiction titled Mercy Kill. This will be a wholly original story, unconnected to our previous work, where Michelle and I co-wrote the script. By the time this series is done, we will have collaborated on almost 600 pages of comics, which is wild because we have never even met in person. That shows the kind of trust you can build through collaboration (especially when you both fulfill your end).
We have always called our stories noir, but they have really always been pointing in that direction, rather than being full-on pulp storytelling. That isn’t true with Mercy Kill. I believe this will be our most complete noir comic, and it will be our first collaboration in color.
Mercy Kill tells the tale of Lindy Mosconi, a woman married to a corrupt & abusive man who is above the law because he is the law. She must find a way out to not only save her life, but her daughter’s. This is one woman’s walk on the line of justice, balancing on the edge between what is right, and the razor-thin margin to violence. Every issue is another button pushed and another choice taken away.
5 issues, 32 pages each, our next step into the world of crime comics. As more information comes, you’ll be sure to know first. If Home Free was your thing, there is no doubt you’ll love what we bring with Mercy Kill!
Just to show you how long this one has been in Michelle (the story started with her), here is a concept image she shared with me all the way back in 2014 when we started talking about this!
As we get closer to the release, I’ll share more information about this comic as it has been a long time coming.
Thank you for reading. We’ll talk soon!
– John Kratky
