DSTLRY, the next-generation publisher redefining creator-owned comic books and collectibles, today revealed the first interior art for SOMNA, launching this November from Eisner Award-winning creators Tula Lotay (Barnstormers) and Becky Cloonan (By Chance or Providence, Wonder Woman). The pair, which has been developing the supernatural series for over a decade, writes and illustrates the full-color series.
Spinning out of their 11-page story “What Blighted Flame Burns in Thee?” from DSTLRY’s debut release The Devil’s Cut (on-sale August 30th), Somna is an eerie exploration of puritanical oppression and forbidden passion presented in oversized, 48-page perfect bound issues, exquisitely written, drawn, and colored by Cloonan and Lotay.
Tula and I first bonded over our love of old Hammer and folk-horror films, with an added dose of boundary-pushing Ken Russell ’70s psychedelia,” co-creator Becky Cloonan explains. “We both embraced the theme of passion and freedom blossoming from a repressive culture out of that canvas. It’s a focal point that has maintained a biting relevance through the centuries. Somna is a dream project—literally and figuratively.”
“I love Becky’s writing, her tales, her art,” co-creator Tula Lotay says “I’ve never met someone whose interests are so like mine. I remember a walk we had in the woods one day and we found a coin and both quoted Goonies at the same time. It’s like we’re the same person. We’ve been romanticizing this story for years. I can’t believe we’re actually doing it.”