Spider-Punk and Miles Morales writer Cody Ziglar steps away from the Spider-verse and returns to his small-town roots with artist Ryan Lee (Rick and Morty) for Goobers, a new title launching at Vault Comics this fall.
The title will be colored by Kurt Michael Russell, lettered by Andworld and designed by Adam Cahoon, and it pulls from such inspirations as Night of the Creeps, Garbage Pail Kids, Get Out and Ghoulies, among others.
“I grew up watching ’80s and ’90s b-horror films,” said Ziglar. “I also grew up in a small country town. Goobers is a love letter to both! I love being able to smash some of my favorite genres, movies, and comics together with my love of North Carolina. I also loved being able to voice the frustration of growing up in a small town and being self-conscious about what they thought of me and how I lived my life. Back in 2021 during peak COVID, I moved back home for six months to spend time with my parents and that’s where Goobers was truly born.”
Ziglar said that return to his home town inspired the story — along with some of his favorite horror films, of course.
“I kept wondering what made certain towns feel the same, even if there are small changes, and landed on the obvious answer: alien worms must invade and body-snatch folks,” Ziglar said. “Goobers, in many ways, in just my comedic look on processing those emotions while also paying homage to some of my favorite films like Shaun of the Dead, Night of the Creeps, Get Out and Revenge of the Living Dead.”
Here’s how Vault describes the series:
A body-snatching splatter-fest of horror and humor, GOOBERS is equal parts Night of the Creeps, Shaun of the Dead, and Attack the Block. The story centers around Clayton Lowe as he heads back to his small Southern hometown. His new friends from grad school are about to meet his old friends from high school and discover that something may have finally changed in the town where nothing ever changes: Pine Cove is ground zero for an infestation of body-snatching alien-bugs. And now, it’s time to bury the past.
“Upon my first pass of Cody’s script for Goobers, I recognized our kindred creative sensibilities and knew this would be riot to work on,” Lee said. “This script was hilarious and heartfelt, but hardcore when it gets in the guts of the terror and action. Goobers squirmed its spiked larval body into that monster infatuation I’ve treasured since childhood. I was blessed to grow up in a golden era of mischievous little freaks: Gremlins, Ghoulies. Critters, Munchies. Trolls, Madballs. Garbage Pail Kids. Comics. Cracked Monster Parties. The monster books of Mercer Mayer. These were my muses. There’s a magic in those freaks that buried their claws into my brain and jolted my imagination to draw and create my own beastlies. Enter Goobers: the continuation of an obsession.”
Here’s a look inside the first issue:
And here’s a second cover for the first issue by Lee, which calls back to one of the “mischievous little freaks” he mentioned:
Look for the first issue to arrive in September.