Over the past several months we’ve seen DSTLRY roll out miniseries after miniseries from their founding creators, all spinning out of their first anthology, The Devil’s Cut. But with their announcements for August, we’re starting to see them branch out from that list, starting with The Missionary by Ryan Stegman and Jason Howard, and now Time Waits by co-writers Chip Zdarsky and David Brothers, artists Marcus To and Matt Wilson, and letterer Ariana Maher.
TBH I was surprised that Zdarsky was not on the list of DSTLRY’s founding creators, back when they rolled out the new company. Zdarsky worked with founders Chip Mosher and David Steinberger during their time at Comixology, even garnering an Eisner Award for Afterlift, his comic with artist Jason Loo. But this week’s announcement shares that he has a four-book deal with them at DSTLRY.
“I’m really excited to work with the DSTLRY crew again, who helped usher in Afterlift and The All-Nighter over at Comixology,” Zdarsky said in his newsletter. “So excited in fact that this is just the first of FOUR PROJECTS that I’m doing with them! I’ve got an incredible lineup of creators working with me on everything and can’t wait for all of it to be out in the world.”
Time Waits is a science fiction story about a time-traveling mercenary who just wants out:
TIME WAITS revolves around Blue, a time-traveling soldier of fortune who abandons his war and finds asylum in a small rural town nestled in his timeline’s distant past—our present. After Blue falls in love with the local sheriff, Grace, the couple builds a life of gardening and domestic tranquility. But just as Blue and Grace debate expanding their family through adoption, Blue’s former corporate lords from the future locate the deserter and send soldiers to ruthlessly reclaim their property and the secret he’s been hiding.
“Exploring sci-fi violence in a small town with Chip and Marcus has been a great time, right up our alley,” Brothers said. “A time-traveling vendetta is a great way to complicate things for a couple who are starting to slow down—not to mention the fun of getting to dig into the best parts of both settings.”
Here’s a look at two of the covers for the first issue, the first by Sean Phillips:
… and the second by To:
“Drawing this book has been an absolute blast. I have been able to flex my character acting muscles as well as try something different with my storytelling in DSTLRY’s oversized format,” To said. “I loved drawing these characters interacting with each other in both calm and violent ways, and Chip and David have created a winding, surprising story that’s hard to put down.”
Look for the first issue to arrive in stores on Sept. 11.