Mirka Andolfo’s award-winning and much beloved Sweet Paprika series is getting another spinoff miniseries — Sweet Paprika: Open For Business, which will feature characters from Sweet Paprika: Black, White & Pink.
Steve Orlando, writer of seemingly everything these days, will team with Italian artist Emilio Pilliu on the five-issue series, which kicks off this fall.
“As a writer keen on getting folks excited about my work and that of my collaborators, I’ve been known to engage in hyperbole. But even so, without hesitation, I’ve never had a blast working on a book like I have with Sweet Paprika: Open for Business—it’s my favorite book to write, every month,” said Orlando. “And not just that—I’ve never synched with a collaborator like I do with Emilio. He’s subletted my brain and is elevating every single panel beyond my wildest dreams! Open for Business is raw, it’s real, it’s provocative, but most of all—it’s fun! It’s my first office comedy, and I’ve never loved working with a cast as much as this one! I can’t wait for you to meet them!”
Here’s how Image Comics describes the series:
Sweet Paprika: Open For Business follows Aubrey Jean, a young employee at Infernum Press, as he tries to impress his hero and boss, Miss Paprika, and figure out his relationship with Persica, a friend with benefits who might want to be more. But just as Aubrey and Persica settle into an open relationship that’s comfortable for them both, their relationship is thrown into turmoil by Kren. And on top of all that, Aubrey finally gets a chance to prove his worth to Miss Paprika by becoming the handler for Infernum Press’s most challenging client—the dreaded, eccentric, and unstable author known as Durian.
“I hope I do not sound pretentious, but Sweet Paprika: Open For Business is like it was tailor-made for me,” Pilliu said. “The excesses, the romantic parts, the serious ones, the comic scenes, and the spicy ones…it’s all perfect, and it’s all that I love to draw. I don’t think it happens often in an artist’s life to work on something and feel totally comfortable!”
Here’s a look inside:
The artist line-up for the first issue’s variant covers includes Andolfo, Robbi Rodriguez, Godtail, Pilliu and Lou Lou la Duchesse de Rière:
Look for the first issue of five to arrive in stores Nov. 6.