This spring at IDW, where there’s aliens, there’s
zombies! In THE COLONIZED, a new four-issue series launching in April, writer
Chris Ryall, artist Drew Moss, and cover artist Dave Sim explore the arrival of
these strangely interwoven threats in a secluded separatist town in Montana.
In the Carbon Falls Collective, Huxley Robertson is
dealing with the passing of his father and pushing against old guard objections
as he attempts to push the separatist camp into becoming a fully sustainable
green town. As if circumstances weren’t volatile enough, a craft full of alien
explorers inadvertently re-animates the town’s dead! Throw a rogue ATF agent
into the mix, on the hunt for the town’s weapons cache, and let’s just say this
is a bad time for the otherwise sleepy Carbon Falls Collective to be cut off
from the outside world.
This potent mix of horror, drama, and black humor comes
from Chris Ryall, no stranger to either aliens (Groom Lake) or zombies (Zombies
vs. Robots), working with illustrator Drew Moss (Zombies vs. Robots Annual),
and Locke & Key colorist Jay Fotos, with legendary Cerebus creator Dave Sim
providing covers for the four-issue affair.
“Exploring the idea of ultimate outsiders like aliens
landing in a separatist community and then having both besieged by zombies
sounded like ripe territory for commentary-free chaos and some thrilling Drew
Moss artwork,” said Chris Ryall, also IDW’s Chief Creative
Officer/Editor-in-Chief. “But then when Dave Sim miraculously signed on to do
covers, it made it all coalesce into something even bigger and better.”
In addition to Sim’s covers, each issue will also offer
special subscription-only variants from stellar artists like John Byrne--who
tackles issue one--Gabriel Rodriguez, Zach Howard, and a
player-to-be-named-soon.
“It’s great to be able to work with my friends on this,”
Ryall added, “especially when those friends are so damned talented, they
elevate anything they work on. Having Dave Sim or John Byrne covers on a book
of our creation is an endless thrill for both Drew and I.”
THE COLONIZED #1 ($3.99, 32 pages; full color) will be
available in stores in April 2013.