2017's Calexit certainly made waves in the comic book industry, given that its premise was very directly inspired by the events surrounding the 2016 presidential election. Now writer and Black Mask publisher Matteo Pizzolo is following up that story with an equally topical speculative fiction series called Rogue State.
IGN can exclusively reveal the first details about Rogue State ahead of the book's official unveiling at SDCC this weekend. This ongoing series reunites Pizzolo with Calexit: San Diego artist Carlos Granda. It explores an alternate version of the US that has splintered into a series of paramilitary militia groups, and where a new freedom fighter named Vya of Brightstars emerges to rally a terrified nation.
Black Mask will be teasing the new series through a free preview ashcan booklet being released exclusively at Comic-Con. Check out the slideshow gallery below to see some of the unlettered artwork featured in that ashcan:
Here's Black Mask's official plot description for the new series:
In ROGUE STATE, a crew of young vigilantes will rise against an authoritarian state robbing Americans of their rights. The ongoing series tells the story of Vya Of Brightstars, a mysterious freedom fighter rising from the unrest, and Clara Santos (she/her), a young professional who becomes activated in Vya’s movement when her fiancée Taylor Sanchez (they/them) is disappeared as militias take over their Mission District neighborhood. As a nationwide police state takes shape following a contested Presidential election and The Supreme Court’s Second Amendment ruling to deputize paramilitary groups, Vya and Clara’s rogue state will blaze a path across America, inspiring others to raise their own armies… some in solidarity, others in opposition. Each issue of ROGUE STATE will also include non-fiction material about building local support networks and grassroots campaigning for coming elections.
“This is an amazing and crucial moment in the history of comics. It’s a real renaissance for socially relevant and politically challenging comic books and graphic novels, but at the same time these books are facing more attacks, lawsuits, and bans than they have in a generation,” said Pizzolo in a press release. “Researchers are pointing out the explosion in book banning has been disproportionately impacting graphic novels–and whether it’s Maia Kobabe’s powerful GENDER QUEER, Art Spiegelman’s incredible MAUS, Alison Bechdel’s moving FUN HOME, or Alan Moore and David Lloyd’s piercing V FOR VENDETTA, it’s clear that deeply personal and fearlessly political comics and graphic novels are capturing imaginations across our polarized world. There’s never been a more robust range of comics and graphic novels speaking to the demand for social and political change than right now.”
The Rogue State preview ashcan will be distributed at Black Mask's Comic-Con booth and during the Rogue State panel being held on Saturday, July 23 at 5pm PT. Additionally, the publisher will be offering the following exclusive comics at the con:
- Calexit: Our Last Night In America [Uncut]
- Godkiller: For Those I Love I Will Sacrifice #1 advanced issue
- Godkiller: Tomorrow’s Ashes Collected Edition Hardcover & Softcover
- Rogue State ashcan
- Destiny, NY Chapter 1
Rogue State #1 will be released in October 2022.
For more on San Diego Comic-Con, find out how to watch this year's event and what to expect.
Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.