The oversized, 8.7 x 13.3 inch, 120 page, printed on newsprint GHOST Agents: Apocalyptico is a real art-forward object. It represents a new movement in independent comics. It’s not meant to live in the “retro” bin, but it is the result of an attempt to recapture the spirit of a time when comics radiated a kind of energy they perhaps haven’t in a long while.
“There was this stretch of time where certain comics and readers were wired into the sex, drugs, and rock & roll paradigm,” says GHOST Agents writer/producer Rocko Jerome. “This book is intended to recapture that energy that some comics had in the mid-sixties and throughout the seventies. There was an element of danger there that I want to tap into: the vibe of Heavy Metal, Spain Rodriguez, Guy Peellaert… and the headier, more whacked out kinds of Marvel Comics that ended up getting sold in headshops. As much as I’m sure it would have rattled Ditko, I have it on good authority that some people bought Strange Tales at the same places they bought their rolling papers. That’s the space that I want this book to occupy.”
An anthology series made up of short, self-contained pieces, GHOST Agents is a book where every story exists in the same world and characters reoccur through the centuries spanning narrative. If you read it all, a rich overarching storyline will emerge, but you aren’t in the least bit required to do that.
This book features the work of up-and-coming indie artists Chris Anderson, Ben Perkins, Barry Tan, Chris Fason, Christian J. Meesey (aka Meesimo), Adam Lemnah, John Burkett, Craig CK, Shawn Coots, Chris Humphreys, Dave Grom, Rick Lopez, Chris Fason, Danny Nicholas, Dave Praetorius, Miguel Galindo, Jason Foster, Peter Hensel, Tony Fero, and Sam J. Royale, along with the legendary outlaw comics icon Ken Landgraf. They are names to keep an eye on and the lifeblood of the book, says Rocko.
“GHOST Agents is a showcase for these artists to shine,” he says. ”Nobody was making the comics I wanted. I’ve gotten my friends to do it with me.”
GHOST Agents: Apocalyptico is published by Eli Schwab’s Cosmic Lion Productions. Along with several other exciting new comics, it can be ordered directly via CosmicLionProductions.com