Fantagraphics has announced plans to publish BTTM FDRS by writer Ezra Claytan Daniels (Upgrade Soul) and artist Ben Passmore (Daygloayhole) next summer.
Here’s how Fantagraphics describes the book: “Once a thriving working-class neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side, The ‘Bottomyards’ is now the definition of urban blight. When an aspiring fashion designer, Darla, and her image-obsessed BFF, Cynthia, descend upon the neighborhood in search of cheap rent, they discover something far more seductive… and deadly.”
“Writing BTTM FDRS was a very therapeutic way to work through my feelings about issues like cultural appropriation, gentrification and representation. By reinterpreting these ideas through a candy-coated lens of body horror and snarky dialogue, they became, for me at least, a little less intimidating,” Claytan Daniels said.
“BTTM FDRS combines my love for David Cronenberg-style monsters and anti-gentrification,” Passmore added.
“I’ve been a fan of both Ezra’s and Ben’s work for awhile and am thrilled to have the opportunity to work with them both on BTTM FDRS,” said Fantagraphics’ Associate Publisher Eric Reynolds. “It’s a great book by two great creators who I feel are just entering their storytelling prime.”
“It’s pretty much every underground cartoonist’s dream to have a book published by Fantagraphics,” Claytan Daniels added. “There’s no better place for a book like BTTM FDRS.”