Co-writers Kelly Sue DeConnick and Sam Humphries will team with artist Natacha Bustos and letterer Joshua Reed on Skate Ali, a new five-issue series coming from Dark Horse Comics in June.
Set in a neon-drenched near-future Los Angeles where skateboarding has been banned, the story follows Ali, a student who by night defies the law on the city’s streets.
“Kelly Sue and I first came up with Skate Ali over 10 years ago,” said Humphries. “She’s been living in our heads ever since, demanding to come out, skating the inside of our skulls like they were empty swimming pools. It’s noisy and we needed the relief, but there’s also something about her heart, smartass vibes and banged up ankles that has made her impossible to ignore. Getting Natacha to join us as artist and co-creator was the perfect fit to make Ali finally come alive. We can’t wait for everyone to meet the best and worst skater in the history of Los Angeles.”
When Ali stumbles into the world of underground skateboarding and crosses paths with a crew of outcasts called the LA Skull Clan and their masked leader, Skull Queen 9, she’s forced to choose between playing it safe and throwing herself into a full-blown revolution.
“Working on this project has been fun from the very beginning,” Bustos said. “I was immediately captivated by the scripts and the spokon spirit at the heart of the story, with its peculiar and incredibly smartly written characters. Of course, Ali is the soul of everything, and Sam and Kelly’s description of her made me fall in love with the character at first sight. Designing her was a joy, just like bringing to life all the characters who orbit around her. I hope readers enjoy a comic that’s fun, clever, and full of heart.”
The first issue features variant covers by Joe Quinones, Sweeney Boo, Emma Rios and Jamie McKelvie in addition to Bustos’s main cover.
The first issue arrives in stores June 10.