Darcy Van Poelgeest and Ian Bertram are reuniting for The Karman Blade, a four-issue dark fantasy miniseries from Image Comics launching in September
The series is about a man on the outskirts of a dying desert world who is chosen by a blade forged from the stars to slay a despotic deity named Kalu, who hoards the world’s water in his kingdom. Before the boy can begin his quest, he must first confront his own demons and answer the blade’s call.
“The Karman Blade is a feral work,” Bertram said. “It’s something Darcy and I made in a swamp of beautiful and festering creativity. Now it emerges, tall, and rough and wide eyed. Glistening and set to purpose. It’s a work of passion and obsession and I can’t wait to finally set it free and share it with everyone!”
Van Poelgeest and Bertram are the creative team behind the Eisner Award-winning Little Bird and its follow-up Precious Metal, and Van Poelgeest was just announced as the new writer of the Doom Patrol.
“Yes, The Karman Blade is a dark fantasy with an all-powerful sword, and a giant wolf, and dueling deities, and all those beautiful things. But what makes it so special is that it’s been made with a kind of experimentation that comes from pushing and pulling at the medium we love. We are committed to the idea of making something that requires collaboration from the readers as much as from ourselves, and that’s what we’ve done,” Van Poelgeest said. “The Karman Blade is for everyone who loves the questions as much as the answers; the weirdos, and the poets—for those brave enough to embark on a quest of their own!”
Here’s a look inside:
The main cover, shown above, is by Bertram with colors by Matt Hollingsworth. Bertram also drew the variant cover:
The Karman Blade #1 arrives Sept. 9.