Avatar Press has announced plans to expand a line which has come to include the best writers in comics with the addition of Steven Grant’s Mortal Souls, a three issue mini-series written by Grant with art by Phil (Heavy Metal, Frank Frazetta Illustrated) Xavier. A bloody, bitter mix of crime and horror, the project will debut in March 2002 from Avatar Press.

At a time when crime comics are ascendant with a handful of rising star creators, Steven Grant remains one of the few masters of the genre and to many, the preeminent crime writer in the field. “Lots of people can write stories that tug at your heart or make you smile,” says writer Warren Ellis. “Only Steven Grant can write stories that punch you in the face and steal your keys. He remains the best crime writer in comics.”

“Grant’s efforts in both mainstream and indy comics have been a major contribution to the evolution of the comics scene for over a decade,” notes Avatar Press editor in chief William Christensen. “His work on the original Punisher mini-series was a key part of the mid-80’s mainstream comics renaissance. Quality indy series such as his extensive Whisper run were vital to the indy companies’ rise to prominence. Steven has consistently been an innovator throughout his career, and I’m very pleased that he is interested in continuing his long run of groundbreaking projects with a creator-owned saga at Avatar.”

“You can't do what you want for corporate comics, which are now focusing on "safe" projects,” explains Grant. “They're not interested in creator-owned projects. They want to be polite, to not rock the boat, to maintain control. Only companies like Avatar Press now give writers free reign to do truly interesting or innovative work, especially work like Mortal Souls, with ideas and themes that really haven't been tackled before in comics, that mixes genres and hopefully breaks new ground. I don't get notes from Avatar saying things like, "make it more like Hellblazer" or "make the hero nicer so we won't scare off movie studios." The work is pure, it's clean, it's what I want it to be.”

Series artist Phil Xavier is an up and coming star who began to garner notice for his detailed, intricate work on the indy series Legendlore, and has recently come to wider attention due to work in Heavy Metal, Frank Frazetta Illustrated, and Avatar’s own Threshold. “It’s great to be working with Steven grant doing what he does best... crime comics. And this one has a fascinating horror twist.”

A project grounded in both crime and horror, Mortal Souls reaches beyond both of those nightmare genres. Pursuing an unpredictable killer, police detective Eric Sharpe watches his life turn into a waking nightmare as the killer, in her last living act, gives him "the sight". He discovers the existence of "Qelipoth", which literally means the husks of the dead. They're dangerous creatures, once men but now without souls, consumed by their own emptiness and hunger and hating the living for the mere condition of being completely alive. The Qelipoth not only exist, they control the world. Now the only one who can tell who they are, Sharpe becomes their #1 enemy and target, and possibly the last hope of humanity on Earth.

Avatar Press has carved a niche for itself as a publisher that pushes the boundaries between mainstream and independent with titles such as Strange Killings and Dark Blue from Warren Ellis, Alan Moore's Glory, Garth Ennis and John McCrea’s Bigger Dicks, company owned characters such as Pandora and The Ravening, and long-running anthology title Threshold. Now entering its fifth year, Avatar has published nearly 300 comic books since 1997.

Steven Grant’s Mortal Souls begins in March 2002 with art plus regular and wraparound covers by Phil Xavier. The saga will be a three issue mini series for mature readers. For more information, email info@avatarpress.net or see our web site at www.avatarpress.com
[ posted Friday, January 04, 2002 3:18:41 AM  |  permanent link to this item ]