All families have their crazy backstories, but few could fuel a crime comic. Writer Dennis Hopeless will tell a story based on his own life in She’s Running on Fumes, coming next month from Comixology Originals. He’s joined by artists Tyler Jenkins and Hilary Jenkins, letterer Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou and editor Heather Antos.
“When I was 3 years old, my mother started a chop shop with a half-wit junkyarder named Corn Dog,” Hopeless said. “Dad was the criminal. Mom had never broken a law in her life, but with him brain-damaged, $50,000 of cocaine gone missing and hospital bills piling up, grand theft auto was our only hope.”
Here’s how Comixology Originals describes the series:
She’s Running on Fumes is set during the summer of 1984 in the town of Deepwater, Missouri. When a small-time criminal by the name of Jody gets his Monte Carlo t-boned by a Ford Bronco, the trajectory of his family’s life is forever changed. As hospital bills start piling up, and his young wife and mother of two learns he was involved in drug trafficking, she too must resort to illegal activity, doing everything she can to survive.
“She’s Running on Fumes is based on the true story of how my mom lied, cheated and stole her way through dad’s tire fire and the freedom she found out the other side,” Hopeless said. “The story is based on family stories and my father’s near-fatal accident from when I was a toddler. As I grew older, details were added that made it clear my father was a criminal and many of the events of my childhood were driven by his criminal dealings. The seeds of the idea came from asking my mother about these old stories as an adult and getting the real dirt.”
Take a look at the first few pages of the first issue:
Look for the first issue to arrive on Amazon on Feb. 6.