A couple weeks ago, we highlighted The Valiant, which saw Jeff Lemire and Matt Kindt basically perfect the event book. Now, those two are back together – this time joined by artist David Rubin – for a new project that has launched on Kickstarter. For full details, check out the press release below, and the campaign that can be found here.
Bestselling Writers Jeff Lemire and Matt Kindt and Internationally Acclaimed Artist David Rubín Present COSMIC DETECTIVE on Kickstarter
An Original Sci-fi Mystery Graphic Novel (and Playing Cards)
(May 4, 2020) For over two years bestselling writers Jeff Lemire (BLACK HAMMER; DESCENDER), Matt Kindt (BANG!; MIND MGMT), and internationally acclaimed artist David Rubín (ETHER; BEOWULF) have worked in secret on an all new, original graphic novel. The book, titled COSMIC DETECTIVE, is an epic science fiction mystery that asks: when a God is murdered, who solves the crime?
In COSMIC DETECTIVE, a God is found dead. Foul play is suspected. But who investigates the murder of a god? Not just anyone, that’s for damn sure. Enter our Detective. He’s got a wife, a kid, and a seemingly normal day job as a private eye. But for years, he’s been working for a secret underground cabal of shadowy figures, an organization committed to an uneasy alliance with cosmic forces beyond our imagining.
“Matt and I have had a chance to collaborate in the past, but never to create our own world and our own mythology,” said Jeff Lemire. “We wanted to make something weird and mysterious, a world filled with big ideas that we knew David’s insane visual imagination would thrive in.”
In COSMIC DETECTIVE, the murder of the god threatens to unhinge the gods and tear apart the very fabric of our reality. Only our detective stands in the way of utter destruction. But will the mystery he uncovers be worse than the disaster he’s trying to avert? And will his mind crack under the revelations he’s about to uncover before he can do anything about it?
“COSMIC DETECTIVE is a crime story that channels Jack Kirby, David Lynch, and Raymond Chandler,” said Matt Kindt. “It’s a story grounded in noir that ultimately becomes absolutely cosmic-bonkers insane.”
Lemire and Kindt are longtime friends and occasional collaborators, and COSMIC DETECTIVE marks their first creator-owned collaboration. The story was written specifically for artist David Rubín and his widescreen, cinematic illustrations. Rubín previously collaborated with Lemire on SHERLOCK FRANKENSTEIN, from Lemire’s BLACK HAMMER Universe, and Rubín co-created and illustrated ETHER with Matt Kindt.
“We may live in different countries—with Matt in the USA, Jeff in Canada, and myself in Spain—but we have all met in person, and, more importantly, we all love to draw, to create, and tell stories,” said David Rubín. “The three of us have worked together before and we know each other well, both our strong points and our weaknesses. With COSMIC DETECTIVE, we’re doing all the things we love to do, and at the same time, forging a new path in our careers.”
“One of the reasons that we’re bringing COSMIC DETECTIVE to Kickstarter is that it allows us to create cool extras that we could not do with a traditional publisher,” said Kindt. “For the Kickstarter we’re making COSMIC DETECTIVE playing cards, featuring David Rubín’s eye popping character designs.”
COSMIC DETECTIVE will be presented in an oversized, deluze format hardcover (8 ¾ x 11/58”), offering readers an immersive experience, with full color art and multiple bombastic gatefold pages of art and story. This Kickstarter exclusive edition will include features that will not be available anywhere else after the Kickstarter is over – including exclusive art made specifically for this limited edition volume. The COSMIC DETECTIVE playing cards are also a Kickstarter exclusive.
The COSMIC DETECTIVE Kickstarter campaign is live now at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1266952446/cosmic-detective-a-graphic-novel-by-lemire-kindt-rubin?ref=nav_search&result=project&term=cosmic%20detect
For updates follow, Cosmic Detective on Twitter.
About The Creators:
Jeff Lemire is a New York Times bestselling and award winning author, and creator of the acclaimed graphic novels Sweet Tooth, Essex County, The Underwater Welder, Trillium, Plutona, Black Hammer, Descender, Royal City, and Gideon Falls. His upcoming projects include a host of series and original graphic novels, including the fantasy series Ascender with Dustin Nguyen.
Matt Kindt is the New York Times bestselling writer and artist of the comics and graphic novels Dept. H, Mind MGMT, Revolver, 3 Story, Super Spy, 2 Sisters, and Pistolwhip, as well as Justice League of America (DC), Spider-Man (Marvel), Unity, Ninjak, Rai, and Divinity (Valiant). He has been nominated for 4 Eisner and 6 Harvey Awards (and won once). His work has been published in French, Spanish, Italian, German and Korean. The author lives in St. Louis, MO, with his wife and Dept H. collaborator, the colorist and artist Sharlene Kindt.
David Rubín studied graphic design before entering the world of comics, animation, and illustration. He illustrated a collection of Robert E. Howard tales in Solomon Kane and immersed himself in a two-volume retelling of the myth of Hercules in The Hero. His latest published works include an adaptation of the epic poem Beowulf, two spinoffs of Paul Pope’s Battling Boy, and The Fiction with writer Curt Pires. Along with Marcos Prior, he produced the graphic novel Grand Hotel Abyss while also working on Ether.
