AfterShock Preview: Out of Body #1

‘Out of Body’ is a new horror mystery from Peter Milligan and Inaki Miranda.

AIPT

March 2, 2021

When Dan Collins wakes to finds his life hanging by a thread, he must use his astral projection to discover who tried to kill him. Who is the beautiful mystic who tries to help him? Why does August Fryne want Dan’s soul – and what does it have to do with a demon who seems to be Dorian Gray? A weird, occult detective thriller about life, death – and whatever lies in between.

From award-winning comic book writer Peter Milligan (X-Force, X-Statix) and artistic sensation Inaki Miranda (WE LIVE, Harley Quinn) comes an awesome new dimension in horror and mystery!

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Out of Body #1

Writer: Peter Milligan
Artist: Inaki Miranda
Colorist: Eva De La Cruz
Letterer: Sal Cipriano
Cover: Inaki Miranda
Incentive Cover: Charlie Adlard
/ $4.99 / 32 pages / Color
On Sale 6.02.2021

For more on Out of Body, get Milligan’s take below!

PETER MILLIGAN ON WHAT THE BOOK IS ABOUT AND WHY HE IS EXCITED FOR IT TO COME OUT:

“A man wakes to find he’s been attacked and left for dead and is now in a kind of permanent vegetative state, kept alive only by machines. He can’t move or communicate–but somehow he has to find out who wanted him dead before they turn his life support off. A metaphor for our present restricted locked-down times? A weird thriller about the nature of who we are and how people perceive us? Yes, all this and more.

There are a lot of reasons why I’m particularly excited about this book coming out. I’ve always wanted to write a story about Astral Projection, since long ago when I spent some time attempting to astrally project myself (a complex rite that involved meditation, salt, and water). It must be said that the hero of Out Of Body has more success with leaving his corporeal body behind than I ever did!

it’s also always exciting to have a new collaboration with a new artist see the light of day. A story like Out of Body demands a lot from an artist. This is a highly-wrought and highly-emotional kind of story. A very human story. But it also has moments of psychedelic delirium, moments of sheer weirdness. I’m happy to report that the artist on Out of Body – Inaki Miranda –successfully and beautifully manages both.”

PETER MILLIGAN ON SOME OF THE INSPIRATIONS BEHIND CREATING THE BOOK:

“I guess one of the biggest inspirations were those early experiments with Astral Projection. And all the literature I read about the world between this world and the next, that liminal space where maybe some kind of ultimate truth might be found.

This story is in some ways like a classic murder mystery. Except that there hasn’t quite been a murder and it’s the victim himself who’s doing the detecting. I read all those early classic detective novels, Chandler, Hammett etc. The ones I liked always focused on the psychology; more why done it than who done it. I’ve tried to inject some of that classic detective quality into Out of Body, albeit with a big near death-sized twist.”

PETER MILLIGAN ON (3) REASONS WHY COMIC READERS SHOULD PICK UP THIS BOOK:

“As far as I’m concerned this book has the three things the discerning reader should most want in a story.

WEIRDNESS.

Expect some weirdness – but never weirdness for weirdness’ sake. This is the weirdness that bleeds out when the thin epidermis of everyday reality is punctured.

2. WHAT DO PEOPLE REALLY THINK OF ME?

Everyone always wonders, what does that friend or acquaintance or lover REALLY think of me. Does my own view of myself tally with how the world sees me? This story explores that theme—often with shocking and chastening results.

3. OCCULT MYSTERY

The word Occult comes from the Latin occultus, meaning that which is secret or hidden. Which is a kind of a definition of a mystery. So besides the regular murder mystery thing going on this book explores that more profound mystery; who the hell am I?

And who isn’t interested in that?”