Rob and Peter Blackie, the creators of the TV series Frontier, are teaming up with artist Daniel Maine for a new science fiction comic titled Clans of Belari.
Set in the Belari system, “an isolated, feudal dystopia located in the farthest reaches of the galaxy,” the comic will feature a girl named Te’a, and her adoptive father “Gummy,” as they unite the system’s clans against an alien threat.
“For a long time, we have been interested in a sci-fi story that imagines what life could be like for a human establishment on a distant planet facing similar struggles as we face on the Earth today,” Rob Blackie said. “As soon as we travelled across the galaxy, so to speak, it opens up the fantastical and what we sometimes call ‘space magic’ of the genre. That is just exciting and fertile territory for exploring character and story.”
Here’s the solicitation copy for the first issue:
PRIMARY LAWS OF THE BELARI SYSTEM:
1.) No person or Clan may exit the system.
2.) No person or Clan may do the Designated Work of another Clan.
3.) Clans may not merge.
4.) Any person that breaks a Primary Law shall be made Outcast.
On the far side of the galaxy, an isolated branch of humanity is trapped in a feudal dystopia. Oder is maintained by a system of oppression, until an orphaned girl and her incorrigible adoptive father sow the seeds of a revolution and unite the clans against a fearsome alien threat.
From Rob Blackie and Peter Blackie (creators and writers of Netflix’s historical action-adventure series, Frontier) and artist Daniel Maine comes this vast and enthralling sci-fi adventure.
“In a comic you can represent the internal space of characters as you might in a novel, but the story telling is primarily still a visual medium. The other great thing about storytelling in comics is the vast amount of story that can exist between panels – this really maximizes the engagement of the reader so that by design the process becomes collaborative,” Peter Blackie said. “I am excited for it to come out so that people will have the chance to see the brilliant work that Daniel Maine has done in realizing the world and characters of the story with his beautiful drawings.”
The first issue arrives in stores July 7. Check out a few preview pages from it below: