Connect with us
AfterShock First Look: AfterDark
AfterShock

Comic Books

AfterShock First Look: AfterDark

Tales from the Crypt meets The Twilight Zone—four tales of horror, lost souls and things that go bump in the night.

Tales from the Crypt meets The Twilight Zone—four tales of horror, lost souls and things that go bump in the night.

A prestige format “One-Shock” featuring top creative talent just in time for the most horrific month of the calendar year, AFTERDARK is a collection of tales you’ll want to read with the lights on! A disparate tale from a possible future; a chance encounter with a mythical Black-Eyed Kid, a children’s fable gone awry; and a gut-wrenching last meal at the local diner.

Listen to the latest episode of our weekly comics podcast!

These horrific, bone-chilling tales are conceived and written by Cullen Bunn (DARK ARK, EDEN, Harrow County), Jim Starlin (Thanos, Dreadstar, SHOCK), Joe Pruett (BLACK-EYED KIDS, Cable, X-Men Unlimited), Frank Tieri (Wolverine, Harley Quinn, PESTILENCE) and drawn by Cliff Richards (10 YEARS TO DEATH, Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Nikkol Jelenic, Szymon Kudranski (BLACK-EYED KIDS, Spawn) and Joe Eisma (Morning Glories, SHOCK).

AfterDark 

Writer: Cullen Bunn, Jim Starlin, Joe Pruett, Frank Tieri
Artist: Cliff Richards, Nikkol Jelenic, Szymon Kudranski, Joe Eisma
Colorist: Guy Major
Letterer: Various
Cover: Tony Harris
Incentive Cover: Szymon Kudranski
/ $6.99 / 48 pages / Color
Release Date:
10.13.2021

AfterShock First Look: AfterDark AfterShock First Look: AfterDark AfterShock First Look: AfterDark AfterShock First Look: AfterDark

For more on this, read a few words from the writers below.

CULLEN BUNN ON WHAT HIS STORY IS ABOUT:

Dust to Dust is a bittersweet sort of horror tale, a story of love and loss and undying commitment, both to the fleeting time we have left on this earth, and the time we’ll have in whatever’s next.”

CULLEN BUNN ON WHAT HE ENJOYS MOST ABOUT WORKING WITH AFTERSHOCK AS THE PUBLISHER CELEBRATES THE RELEASE OF THEIR 100TH TITLE IN JUST (6) YEARS:

“I like that AfterShock is always willing to take chances. They surprise me when it comes to the stories they want to publish, and that’s exciting to me as a creator. They’ll go ‘all in’ on some oddball concept, and their enthusiasm about it can be inspiring.” 

FRANK TIERI ON WHAT HIS STORY IS ABOUT:

“We did a story for the Shock anthology called Little Red Hood, which was essentially the little red riding hood story as if it was told by Quentin Tarantino or Martin Scorsese. In that story, Red was a drug courier, Grandma was a drug dealer, the Wolf was a rival drug lord, ‘Mother Goose’ was a mob boss called Don Orca… anyway, you get the idea. As it turned out, it was one of the more popular stories in that book so we thought hey, what the hell, why not do more? Why not play in that whacked out universe again? And so, we got the LRH band of Joe Eisma and Matt Herms back together for more tales that will ruin your childhood, bringing us to…’Along Came A Spider’, our little horror tale for the AfterDark anthology, yet another f#%&ed up twist on a classic fairy tale. In this one, we pick up with a certain Detective Muffet who’s on the trail of an elusive and deadly serial killer called The Spider. Needless to say, it’s very dark. It’s very creepy. It’s going to lead to some nightmares. And it might lead to even more than that, so stay tuned…”

FRANK TIERI ON WHAT HE ENJOYS MOST ABOUT WORKING WITH THE PUBLISHER:

“I like the freedom and the trust Aftershock has shown me. I have very good relationships with Mike Marts, Joe Pruett and the Kramers and I like having the ability to just call them up with whatever crazy idea I have and they’ll at least listen lol.  As a result, AfterShock has become one of my main homes for my creator owned projects and I’m happy to say there’s more coming, so as I said before, stay tuned, kids….”

JIM STARLIN ON WHAT HIS STORY IS ABOUT:

“It’s a tale of catastrophic generational dissatisfaction set in a dystopian future. Lots of laughs.”

JIM STARLIN ON WHAT HE WOULD LIKE EVERYONE TO KNOW ABOUT HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH AFTERSHOCK CO-FOUNDER, PUBLISHER AND CCO JOE PRUETT:

“I gave him a toothbrush when he was homeless and he’s repaid the kindness by harassing me into writing a couple stories for him. Let no good deed go unpunished.”

JOE PRUETT ON WHAT HIS STORY IS ABOUT:

“It will be a stand-alone one-off story returning to the world of the BLACK-EYED KIDS, one of AfterShock’s first series, written by myself and drawn by original series artist Szymon Kudranski. We will see some familiar faces in the new story, but you do not have to have been a reader of the series to enjoy it. It’s new reader friendly.”

JOE PRUETT ON HELPING LEAD AFTERSHOCK TO THEIR 100TH TITLE, AND WHAT HE HOPES TO ACHIEVE IN THE NEXT 100:

“It’s actually been pretty amazing how quickly we have reached 100 individual titles in such a short time. Seems like only yesterday we were sending REPLICA #1 off to press. I guess it’s true that time flies when you are having fun, I think now we have shown that we are here to stay and I truly believe that by the time the 200th title is released, we won’t be looked at as the “new kid on the block” any longer, but will be discussed with the other industry titans.”

JOE PRUETT ON WHAT CREATOR HE WOULD LIKE TO WORK WITH THAT HE HAS YET TO AT AFTERSHOCK:

“Me personally? Brian K. Vaughan, Jonathan Hickman, Jeff Lemire, Grant Morrison, Brian Bolland, Marjorie Liu , Barry Windsor-Smith, off the top of my head. There are many others though, for sure.”

Join the AIPT Patreon

Want to take our relationship to the next level? Become a patron today to gain access to exclusive perks, such as:

  • ❌ Remove all ads on the website
  • 💬 Join our Discord community, where we chat about the latest news and releases from everything we cover on AIPT
  • 📗 Access to our monthly book club
  • 📦 Get a physical trade paperback shipped to you every month
  • 💥 And more!
Sign up today
Comments

In Case You Missed It

I Heart Skull-Crusher! #1 I Heart Skull-Crusher! #1

‘I Heart Skull-Crusher!’ #1 review: Apocalyptic squad goals

Comic Books

Marvel reveals new X-Men era titles, art, and more, launching July 2024 Marvel reveals new X-Men era titles, art, and more, launching July 2024

Marvel reveals new X-Men era titles, art, and more, launching July 2024

Comic Books

New DC Black Label 'Zatanna: Bring Down the House' out June 25th New DC Black Label 'Zatanna: Bring Down the House' out June 25th

New DC Black Label ‘Zatanna: Bring Down the House’ out June 25th

Comic Books

DC Preview: Action Comics #1063 DC Preview: Action Comics #1063

DC Preview: Action Comics #1063

Comic Books

Connect
Newsletter Signup