AfterShock First Look: Beyond the Breach #1

‘Beyond the Breach’ follows the fall out of a cataclysmic event, called THE BREACH, that knocks the population of earth unconscious.

David Brooke

April 6, 2021

Life sucks for Vanessa. Her mother just died and her boyfriend is cheating on her (with her own sister!). To clear her mind, Vanessa is taking the California road-trip that she’s been dreaming about for years. Her postcard-perfect drive through old growth forests quickly turns when THE BREACH hits. A bizarre anomaly in the sky plunges California into a nightmare-world populated with strange, extra-dimensional creatures. Now Vanessa, along with Dougie, an orphaned child, and Kai, a strange, fuzzball of a beast, must fight to survive if they ever hope to make it back home. If there’s even a home to return to.

Written by Ed Brisson ( Uncanny X-Men, Ghost Rider, Old Man Logan) and illustrated by Damian Couceiro (Old Man Logan, Iron Fist, X-Force), BEYOND THE BREACH is a fantastical sci-fi road trip adventure about perseverance and finding family in unexpected places.

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Beyond the Breach #1

Writer: Ed Brisson
Artist: Damian Couceiro
Colorist: Patricio Delpeche
Letterer: Hassan Otsmane Elhaou
Cover: Damian Couceiro w/ Patricio Delpeche
Incentive Cover: Declan Shalvey
$4.99 / 32 pages / Color
On-Sale: 07.14.21

Check out our recent interview with Ed Brisson here.

For more on this series, read the official press release below.

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

“The book follows the fall out of a cataclysmic event, called THE BREACH, that knocks the population of earth unconscious. When they wake, they find that all electronic devices have been rendered useless and huge swathes of the planet overwritten with alien landscapes and creatures — creatures both friendly and deadly. Our protagonist, Vanessa, had hoped to embark on a weeklong road-trip along the California Coast. Her mom has just passed away and she just discovered that her boyfriend is cheating on her with her own sister. Things suck and this trip was supposed to be about her leaving her troubles behind and seeing redwoods and old-growth forests, but instead, she finds herself plunged into a nightmare world of human-eating aliens. Vanessa, along with a small group of survivors — a small child and a dimensionally-displaced fuzzball — set out to find out what the hell happened and if there’s any way for them to undo it. As the series unfolds, we’ll meet more dimensionally displaced survivors as they embark on a journey to find answers. Every day brings a new threat and new answers. This is a story about finding family in the strangest of places and the most trying of circumstances. I’m excited to be working with Damian on a creator-owned project again. We’ve done a few things together at Marvel over the last few years, but it’s been about 4 or 5 years since he and have the opportunity to build our own world together. Thrilled to have Patricio Delpeche on board to grace us with his otherworldly colors and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou, who I’ve been working with a lot lately.”

ED BRISSON ON SOME OF HIS INSPIRATIONS BEHIND CREATING THE BOOK:

“The premise was one that just lodged itself in my brain one day and wouldn’t let go. Not sure that there was any specific inspiration. It was just one of those things that presented itself when I was supposed to be working on other things (as usual). Damian and I have worked on several projects over the years, generally grounded, crime-style stuff, but something I wanted to get back to was the fun time we had worldbuilding on our past series CLUSTER (Boom). Damian has an incredible ability to build up alien worlds and landscapes and I think we both wanted a project where we could showcase that. So, is it a cheat to say that some of the inspiration came from having worked with Damian? I don’t care, I’m sticking with that answer. Beyond that, I wanted to lean into a lot of the fantastical movies I used to watch on VHS as a kid. So, there’s a little Time Bandits a little Beast Master a little Neverending Story. Readers might not recognize it in the comics, but it’s there in BEYOND THE BREACH’s DNA for sure. We wanted to create a book where we could explore other worlds and alien cultures without having to leave Earth.”

ED BRISSON ON (3) REASONS WHY COMIC READERS SHOULD PICK UP THIS BOOK:

“1) Tons of fun world-building featuring your favorite comic book characters — you just haven’t met them yet.

2) If you’re a fan of 80s fantasy flicks, but with a modern twist, then we’ve got just the thing you need.

3) We’re telling a story that the whole crew is very excited about and we just want to share that excitement with you.”

DAMIAN COUCEIRO ON HIS APPROACH TO THE ART:

“When Ed and I started working on this project my first step was designing creatures and characters until we were both happy with them. I think that process helped me set the art approach that best suited the story. Everything else went smooth after that. Also, I have worked with Ed on many books for a long time so working with him is always a pleasure and everything flows easily. The final piece was the color and Patricio’s work fitted perfectly.”

DAMIAN COUCEIRO ON WHAT THE FIRST COMIC BOOK HE EVER READ WAS, AND WHAT HIS MOST FAVORITE COMIC BOOK IS?

“When I was a kid my dad had a bunch of comic magazines called Fierro that where published in Argentina in the 80’s. It was an anthology magazine that published lots of Argentinian and European artists. I found Moebius comics there that blew my mind but also Hugo Pratt’s Corto Maltes, and amazing artists like Alberto Breccia, Enrique Breccia, Horacio Altuna, Juan Gimenez and many more. So I grew up reading these comics and I even returned to them from time to time. It’s very hard to choose a favorite comic book, but I think the ones I enjoyed reading the most are the Corto Maltese comics, specifically Corto Maltese in Siberia. I have read them many time and I’m always caught up by the adventure and its lovely characters, as well as the extraordinary artwork.”

DAMIAN COUCEIRO ON HIS FAVORITE PANEL/PAGE IN THE FIRST ISSUE (SPOILER FREE):

“I think page 06 is my favorite page of the first issue. I enjoyed working on it a lot. And I think it has a good balance of gross, humor and terror.”