Cullen Bunn and Leila Leiz have a new title coming out in July from Vault Comics, but based on the title, we’d recommend you read it at your own risk: The Last Book You’ll Ever Read.
Joining them are colorist Giada Marchisio, letterer Jim Campbell and designer Tim Daniel. It’s about a woman who writes a book that brings about the collapse of society as we know it.
“With this story, I’m exploring some concepts and themes that really trouble and frighten me,” Bunn said. “This is a story of fantasy and supernatural horror, but the themes and concepts haunt me like a ghost in the dark. The Last Book You’ll Ever Read is about the collapse of society, about the descent or de-evolution of mankind. The book referenced in the title is the Bible of this massive shift. In ourselves. In our friends and neighbors. In our culture. In the world around us. Reality itself is becoming more fierce and wild, and it is taking us with it. Is the ‘last book’ sort of a doctrine to what is coming? Is it somehow bringing about this cataclysmic reckoning? Not even the author of the book, Olivia Kade, seems to know. She knows only that the people around her want her dead because of the words she’s written. She hires a security consultant, Connor Wilson, to protect her. In order to protect him, she asks that he never reads her work. From that moment forward, the fates of Olivia and Connor are intertwined. And they are facing a horror of unbelievable proportions. This isn’t a story about the end times. It’s about a new beginning that is violent and terrifying.”
Here’s the official description from Vault: Olivia Kade wrote the book that ended the world. Now she needs someone who won’t read it.
Civilization is a lie. Hidden deep in our genes is the truth. And it is slowly clawing its way to the surface. Olivia Kade knows the truth, and she has become the prophet of the coming collapse. Her book, SATYR, is an international bestseller, and it is being blamed for acts of senseless violence and bloodshed all over the world. Olivia’s own life is in danger from those who have read her work. Determined to conduct a book tour, she hires security professional Connor Wilson to act as her bodyguard. She only has one requirement: he cannot read her work.
“When I read the first script for The Last Book You’ll Ever Read, I was immediately captivated,” Leiz said. “It got its hooks in me. This mixture of horror, suspense, and sensuality already inspires my art. Being an admirer of film noir and 50’s style, I wanted to bring a little touch of both to the book. Marlene Dietrich, Lauren Bacall, and Audrey Hepburn inspired me when designing Olivia, who’s a mysterious and cold, but fragile character. Every issue is full of action, and Cullen manages to keep me always in suspense. I always look forward to reading the new script, and I can’t wait to read the end of the book… just hoping that it isn’t really the last one.”
Check out the first issue’s variant cover by Jen Hickman below, as well as a few preview pages.
