And yet more Steampunk Novel News.
The Continentals” – murder, mystery, and steampunk .
Transfuzion Publishing has signed to bring the webcomic series, The Continentals, to print in the form of graphic novels. The series, which is currently running on WebcomicsNation, will be collected in a series of trade paperbacks as each storyline finishes its run.
Crisscrossing the literary genres of murder/mystery, action/adventure, historical drama, horror, science fiction, and steampunk, “The Continentals” by writer/creator Darryl Hughes and artist Monique MacNaughton, — both nominated for the “Rising Star” category for the Glyph Comic Awards—is a modern re-imagining of the classic 19th century Sherlock Holmes “who done it” murder mystery created for the 21st century comic fan.
The story begins in 1889. Barely a year after the mysterious Jack the Ripper’s murderous rampage and equally mysterious disappearance, the city of Mansfordshire, England is shaken by a series of brutal “mangling” murders that plunge the city into an abyss of fear.
Investigating the case, Continental Operatives Jeffrey Tiffen Smythe and his partner the gender bending adventuress, Lady Fiona Fiziwigg, uncover the threads that bind the murderer, his victims, the highest echelons of society, it’s lowest dregs, and even the police officers investigating the case in a tangled web of mystery, adventure, intrigue, and murder.
Transfuzion Publisher Gary Reed said, “when Darryl sent me the pages of The Continentals, I was very interested. I knew that I wanted to see more so to obviously, I thought that it was something other people would like to see more of. We started talking and I’m excited about bringing out the hard copies of the story.”
“The exact date of the first trade paperback to be released will be announced as soon as a firm schedule can be structured,” Reed stated. “We’ll let the first story arc complete its run online and the next story will continue online while the first trade comes out.”
The Continentals is currently running on webcomicsnation.com and is also featured on other sites including Transfuzion’s home page. Writer/creator Darryl Hughes says response so far to the online strip has been fantastic. “The main attraction of The Continentals is that its a really well told, well drawn, murder, mystery, adventure that draws you deeper and deeper into the story with each turn of the page as you follow characters that are both interesting and engaging unravel a tangled web of intrigue as you both try to figure out who done it and why. That’s what a good murder/mystery should do. And that’s what The Continentals is. It’s a damned good murder/mystery, with amazingly detailed black and white artwork by Monique (MacNaughton) that will just take your breath away, if I do say so myself. And I do!”