EXCLUSIVE: Till Death's Gorgeous Cover Art by Matthew Therrien and Tula Lotay
- CBCCPodcast
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We've got an Exclusive Sneak Peek at the Kickstarter cover art for the new original graphic novel, Till Death.
Friends, we’ve got a treat for you today. Below, you’ll find two exclusive art reveals for the new Clover Press graphic novel, Till Death. Up first, you’ll see the sumptuous wraparound cover by artist Matthew Therrien. Slightly below that, you’ll find the Kickstarter Exclusive Clear Acetate Slipcase featuring Tula Lotay’s stunning coverwork.
Till Death launches on Kickstarter today. Click Here to check it out. We read an early version of it and were knocked out. It’s written by Armored writer and frequent CBCC guest Michael Schwartz, along with screenwriter Rachael Schaefer. The interiors come from artist Gaia Cardinali, and they’re so sweetly considered.
The comic itself aligns perfectly with our interests and, certainly, with those of any listener of Comic Book Couples Counseling. The plot follows a restless spirit named Vivian. She’s waiting for her husband to join her in the afterlife, but when she discovers that he is buried in another cemetery across the country, she requires a seer to carry her bones on an epic road trip toward reunion. Of course, the afterlife has rules, and when you try to fudge them, there are consequences.
Till Death is a true ghost story. It's not spooky-silly-scary; it's utterly HAUNTING, lingering with the reader long after they turn the final page. Storytellers Michael Schwartz, Rachael Schaefer, and Gaia Cardinali craft a beautifully romantic supernatural adventure with joy and bittersweetness intertwined. Grief sits at the center, but Till Death celebrates how memory uplifts loss and no one is gone once one person captures another in their heart. It's a bold, original, yet necessarily nostalgic four-color romance, fitting snugly inside comics' most unsung genre.
We look forward to having some of these artists on the podcast in the near future. Until then, read the full press release below and get lost in the art by Matthew Therrien and Tula Lotay featured in this post.
For Immediate Release:
Clover Press Presents TILL DEATH, an original graphic novel, from Writers Michael Schwartz & Rachael Schaefer and Artist Gaia Cardinali
Featuring a Cover by Eisner-Award Winner Tula Lotay and additional artwork by Suspiria Vilchez, Fell Hound, Matthew Therrien, Emilia Strilchuk, Jeff Dickson and Francesco Tomaselli
TILL DEATH IS NOW LIVE ON KICKSTARTER
(Friday, July 10) Clover Press has officially launched the Kickstarter for Till Death, a new original graphic novel from Armored writer and co-creator Michael Schwartz, screenwriter Rachael Schaefer, and illustrator Gaia Cardinali.
Till Death is a ghostly romantic horror-comedy that’s part The Frighteners and part Harold and Maude. Vivian has spent decades as a restless spirit, waiting for her husband to join her in the afterlife. But when she learns her husband is buried in another cemetery across the country, her forever-after falls apart. Enter Mack, a troubled man who has a near-death experience, giving him the ability to see ghosts. Now Vivian has convinced him to carry her bones across the country to reunite with her husband—but breaking the laws of the afterlife isn’t without its consequences as relentless reapers are hot on their trail.
The Kickstarter campaign features both a standard hardcover edition and a Kickstarter-exclusive hardcover edition housed in a clear acetate slipcase featuring a stunning cover by Eisner Award-winning artist Tula Lotay. The 192-page book will also include a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the comic, chapter-break artwork by Armored cover artist Matthew Therrien, and a bonus art gallery featuring work by Francesco Tomaselli, Jeff Dickson, Suspiria Vilchez, Emilia Strilchuk, Fell Hound, and more.
“Rachael and I first came up with Till Death years ago on a road trip across the United States,” explains Michael. “We spent a lot of that trip going on ghost tours, which led us to a personal question. What would happen if one of us died much earlier than the other, and the living partner moved on and remarried? What would that be like for the one who did not get to move on? That question became the heart of this story.”
“While I was adapting a graphic novel for television with Netflix, I started seeing Till Death in a new light,” Rachael said. “It felt like the perfect story for a graphic novel, allowing us to tell it exactly as we envisioned through a rich visual medium. Once the script was finished, we knew we needed the right artist, and Gaia Cardinali delivered. Her striking depictions of the American landscape create a strong sense of place while beautifully balancing the story’s darker themes with humor.”
“We’re big fans of Michael Schwartz at Clover Press, and when he pitched us on this new graphic novel, we took a half second to say YES.” said Clover Press Publisher Hank Kanalz. “He and Rachael Schaefer make a great writing team, and Gaia Cardinali brings the story to hauntingly beautiful life.”
SYNOPSIS:
Vivian died in a horrific car crash in the 1960s and has spent decades as a restless spirit, waiting at her gravesite for her husband so they can ascend together. When another woman is buried in his plot, she spirals into despair. Everything changes when Mack, a troubled man who survives a skydiving accident, gains the ability to see ghosts. Bound to her remains, Vivian persuades him to exhume her bones, and they embark on a cross-country search for her husband. But in doing so, they break a sacred afterlife rule, unleashing reapers determined to right afterlife wrongs.
Here’s what people are saying about TILL DEATH:
"Beautifully tragic and emotionally resonant, Till Death explores the idea that the ghosts who remain behind may not be waiting on the living at all -- but on a final truth about themselves.” —Geoff Johns (Geiger, Green Lantern)
"A haunting love story about ghosts, road trips, and letting go. Rachael and Michael will leave you questioning life, death... and what waits beyond." —Doug Wagner (Plastic, Narco)
"Knowing these authors, I wasn't at all surprised to find here a page turner chock full of rich, colorful
characters. What I didn't expect, however, was a clever, satisfying mystery set in a captivating world hidden right before our eyes. If you want to read a great book that stands on its own while bursting with sequel and adaptation potential Till Death's got you."—Tim Sheridan (Masters of the Universe, Alan Scott: Green Lantern)
"A great blend of genres charms in this afterlife romance road trip mystery. Great world-building and a fabulous lead in Viv who you root for even when she’s breaking her own heart." —Cecil Castellucci (Shade, the Changing Girl, Batgirl)
"Till Death is a true ghost story. It's not spooky silly scary, it's utterly HAUNTING, lingering with the reader long after they turn the final page. Storytellers Michael Schwartz, Rachael Schaefer, and Gaia Cardinali craft a beautifully romantic supernatural adventure with joy and bittersweetness intertwined. Grief sits at the center, but Till Death celebrates how memory uplifts loss and no one is gone once one person captures another in their heart. It's a bold, original, yet necessarily nostalgic four color romance, fitting snugly inside comics' most unsung genre"—Brad and Lisa Gullickson, Comic Book Couples Counselling
"Till Death had me hooked from the first page! Rachael and Michael have built a world that is inventive, surprising, and cinematic and visually stunning. Its protagonist, Vivian, is the kind of character you'd dream of seeing on screen: entertaining, emotionally complex, and impossible to look away from. I devoured this!" —Alexandra Chaves (The Next Step)
"Till Death sucks you right into the afterlife. What starts as something simple morphs into an adventure between life and death, full of unexpected twists. All while showing it's never too late to start living your life." —Lauren Freeman, Nerd Initiative
“Don’t wait for the afterlife to get your hands on this book! Till Death is a wonderful graphic novel with gorgeous visuals, touching storytelling, fun twists and an ending that had me in tears. Get in on this supernatural road trip now and invite some friends along for the ride!” —Adam Pope, Wizards, the Podcast Guide to Comics
To get an email when the Kickstarter page goes live, follow the prelaunch page. For updates, follow Clover Press on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. You can subscribe to the Clover Press newsletter here.
For more information, contact:
Hank Kanalz
Clover Press Publisher hank@cloverpress.us
Michael Schwartz & Rachael Schaefer
Writers, Till Death mschwartz311@gmail.com rachael.schaefer@gmail.com
About Clover Press: Headed by IDW co-founder Robbie Robbins and former DC executive Hank Kanalz, Clover Press publishes a wide variety of collected and original content ranging from remastered reprints of classic newspaper strips to horror graphic novels and high-quality art books. Clover Press is working with a wide variety of creators, including Jorge Jimenez, David Mack, Alex Maleev, David Nakayama, Russell Dauterman, Michael Allred, Tyler Kirkham, Mike del Mundo, Kevin Eastman, Steve Niles, Gabriel Rodriguez, Ruben Bolling, Richard Bennett, Ray Troll, John K. Snyder III, Stewart Kenneth Moore, Aron Wiesenfeld, and more.
About Michael Schwartz (Writer): Michael Schwartz is the writer and co-creator of Clover Press’s popular and award-winning indie comic series, Armored. Michael is also a feature film screenwriter, who wrote Netflix’s animated movie Gnome Alone and R.L. Stine's Zombie Town, starring Dan Aykroyd and Chevy Chase. In addition to writing, Michael works in VFX and animation production, having worked on such shows as The Nut Job, What We Do in the Shadows, and The Walking Dead: Dead City. He currently teaches animation production at Seneca Polytechnic College in Toronto and is working on a Sony Animated movie.
About Rachael Schaefer (Writer): Rachael Schaefer is a BAFTA Award–winning writer, showrunner, and producer. Originally an LA native, she moved to Toronto after watching a movie that featured the University of Toronto (yes, really), proving that sometimes, impulse decisions can lead to incredible careers. She began her writing journey on Family Channel’s Wingin’ It and YTV’s Make It Pop before
joining the hit international series The Next Step. Over seven seasons, she wrote more than 40 episodes and eventually stepped into the role of showrunner. The show went on to win a BAFTA and earned multiple Canadian Screen Award nominations. She also created companion digital content that reached hundreds of thousands of viewers and earned a CSA win. More recently, Rachael has developed original series for Netflix, adapted a graphic novel for the screen, and written on the Netflix/Mattel franchise, Barbie Mysteries.
About Gaia Cardinali (Illustrator):
Gaia Cardinali is an Italian comics artist and illustrator. She graduated in 2015 from the Academy of Fine Arts of Bologna with a degree in Comics and Illustration. She made her publishing debut with the graphic novel Viktoria, released by the Italian publisher Tunué. In 2019, she worked as a colorist on the Disney graphic novel Mulan’s Adventure Journal: The Palace of Secrets, published by Dark Horse Comics.
In 2021, she illustrated La Leonessa di Dordona (Tunué). This was followed by In the Shadow of the Throne (2022) and King Arthur and the Knights of Justice: Volume 1 (2023), both published by Maverick under Mad Cave Studios. Till Death is her latest graphic novel, and she is currently working on her next graphic novel for the French market.
About Ferran Delgado (Lettering):
Ferran Delgado is a comics letterer and editor from Barcelona, Spain. He was nominated for a 2019 Eisner Award for editing Sky Masters of the Space Force: The Sundays, showcasing the legendary collaboration between Jack Kirby and Wally Wood. He has lettered Savage Dragon for Image, worked on retro projects for Marvel, and his current credits include Metamorpho, Creature Commandos, Krypto #4 for DC, and creator-owned works like Armored.
About Chris Stevens (Editor):
Chris Stevens is a multiple Eisner Award-winning editor, EIC of Lighthouse Press, and writer whose projects include ARMORED, AX-WIELDER JON, THE GOLEM OF VENICE BEACH, THE MARVEL ART OF DAVID MACK, THE MARVEL ART OF MICHAEL ALLRED, and the upcoming deluxe artist edition of Steven Bissette’s TYRANT.