Down below the abandoned skyscrapers and crumbling colonial architecture, beneath the buzzing lights and ragged billboards, is a fading, floundering city propped up by vice, extortion, and fear. This is BLACKSTONE—a dark, mirror image of Boston or Philadelphia. A city whose history dates back to the earliest days of our nation.

 A once-mighty industrial titan—now teetering on the edge of oblivion. A city that used to mean something.

Blackstone public defender Jaime Nuñez –  former baseball hero, now a divorced dad to a precocious teen – is always trying to do his best.  But the criminal justice system is not without limits. When Jaime comes into an unexpected fortune and some surprising, super heroic tools, he discovers there might be another, more direct way to do some actual good in the world.

But can the masked man known only as The Dusk push back against decades of entrenched corruption without compromising his commitment to social justice…

Much less his teenage daughter’s?

Creation.Ink is proud to present our latest oversized 8×12 hardcover graphic novel, THE DUSK,  brought to you by the minds and talents of Alex Segura, Elizabeth Little and David Hahn, with Ellie Wright and Taylor Esposito.

THE DUSK is a modern reimagining of the superhero vigilante that flips the script on the traditional “might makes right” approach while adding the grounded, socially conscious perspective that modern crime fiction has become known for. 

The graphic novel blends the dark deco of BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES with a dose of moral complexity and dark humour, creating an engaging and witty look at the inner workings of a beloved genre through the eyes of a flawed, human, and heroic figure.

Aided by an all-star team of fan favourite creators: Howard Chaykin, Francesco Francavilla, Jamal Igle, Rebekah Isaacs, Gabriel Hardman and more, Jamie  Nuñez has begun to fight the never-ending battle for the heart and soul of Blackstone City. 

But The Dusk will need your help to finish the war!

The Creative Team

The creative team behind the project draws on a wealth of professional experience and diverse personal backgrounds to create and enrich the characters and world of The Dusk. Together, they bring decades of storytelling experience in various formats to the project. 

 Alex Segura is an acclaimed, award-winning writer of novels, comic books, short stories, and podcasts. He is the author of Star Wars Poe Dameron: Free Fall, the Pete Fernandez Mystery series (including the Anthony Award-nominated crime novels Dangerous Ends, Blackout. and Miami Midnight), and the upcoming Secret Identity. His short story “Red Zone” won the 2020 Anthony Award for Best Short Story, and his border noir short story, “90 Miles” will be included in THE BEST AMERICAN MYSTERY AND SUSPENSE STORIES of 2020. He has also written a number of comic books, most notably the superhero noir The Black Ghost, the YA music series The Archies, and the “Archie Meets” collection of crossovers, featuring real-life cameos from the Ramones, B-52s, and more. He is also the co-creator/co-writer of the Lethal Lit crime/YA podcast from iHeart Radio, which was named one of the best podcasts of 2018 by The New York Times. By day he is Co-President of Archie Comics. A Miami native, Alex lives in New York with his wife and children.

Elizabeth Little ( elizabeth-little.com )  is the best-selling author of Dear Daughter, Pretty as a Picture, and two works of nonfiction. Her crime fiction has been nominated for the Barry,  Macavity, and CWA John Creasey Debut dagger awards, and she received the Strand Critics Award for Best First Novel. Her latest novel, Pretty as a Picture, was Barnes and Noble monthly pick and a Los Angeles Times and Publishers Weekly bestseller. Her writing has also appeared in the New York Times, McSweeney’s, and the Los Angeles Review of Books, among other publications. 

David Hahn ( davidhahnart.com) has professionally illustrated comic books for over 20 years, including issues of Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane,  Marvel Adventures: The Fantastic Four for Marvel Comics, and Batman ‘66/Wonderwoman ‘77, Fables, and Fringe for DC Comics, as well as The Batman Handbook, licensed for Quirk Books.

David was nominated for both an Eisner Award and an Ignatz Award for his creator-owned comic series, Private Beach, published by Slave Labor Graphics.

Joseph Illidge ( josephillidge.com ) is the Executive Editor for Heavy Metal magazine. Previously, he served as an Editor on the Batman line of comics for DC Entertainment, Executive Editor for Valiant Entertainment, and Senior Editor for “Hair Love” producers Lion Forge on their superhero imprint, “Catalyst Prime.” Joseph’s first job in the comic book industry was at Milestone Media, Inc., the groundbreaking publisher of inclusive superhero stories and creators of the animated series “Static Shock”, and he was featured in the History Channel documentary “Superheroes Decoded.”

Ellie Wright is a Comic Book Colorist from The Republic of Ireland. Ellie’s background is in Art, she has studied Creative Media Design at Crawford College of Art and Design. Ellie has been a freelance Comic Book Colorist since 2016,  and has worked for global publishing companies including: Dynamite Entertainment, DC, Image, and POW Entertainment. Ellie is also the proud winner of ICN 2018 & 2019 ‘Best Published Colourist in Ireland’. Some of Ellie’s titles include Elvira: Mistress of the Dark, Betty Page: Halloween Special / The Secret Diary / Unbound, Sherlock Holmes: The Vanishing Man, Batman: The Shadow, James Bond: Goldfinger and many more. Ellie’s work can be found here: www.elliewrightartist.com

Taylor Esposito ( ghostglyphstudios.com ) is a comic book lettering professional, owner of Ghost Glyph Studios and teacher at the legendary Kubert School. A former staff letterer at DC and production artist at Marvel, he has lettered titles such as Red Hood and The Outlaws and Constantine; Interceptor, Heavy, Finger Guns (Vault Comics), Exorsisters, Jook Joint (Image), Babyteeth, Hot Lunch Special, Knock ‘em Dead (Aftershock), and No One Left to Fight (Dark Horse). Other publishers he has worked with include Line Webtoon (Caster, Backchannel) Dynamite (Elvira, Red Sonja and Vampirella meet Betty and Veronica, Green Hornet), and IDW (Scarlett’s Strike Force). 

REWARDS

Creation.Ink and the creative team behind The Dusk have banded together with an amazing array of guest talent to create a selection of unique, collectible rewards to help our project hit its funding goal. Take a look!  

Ominous Press/Creation.Ink
Sean HusVar (CEO, Publisher)
Bart Sears (Chief Creative Officer)
Ron Marz (Editor-in-Chief)
A. Christopher Smith (Art Director)
Keith Champagne (Project/production Manager)
Kimberly Reganato  (Queen of creation.ink)

Add-Ons: We are happy to assist with any add-ons through an over-pledge. Add-ons are also available through this campaign and via Backerkit. Email us to let us know what you would like to add, and we will accommodate your request as best as possible.

SHIPPING WILL BE CHARGED THROUGH OUR PLEDGE MANAGER AFTER THE KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN HAS SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED. We will charge backers a shipping fee based on the cost for our fulfillment partners to ship from their hubs to you. We will ship your rewards to the hubs of our fulfillment partners. From there, our partners will ship out packages to you as soon as they are received.  PLEASE NOTE: shipping costs have increased due to circumstances beyond our control. The addition of extra copies and items will require additional shipping.