We got a sneak peek of 'Party and Prey' the new original graphic novel from the creators of 'Rainbow Bridge.'
A partnership is forming between Steve Orlando, Steve Foxe, and Aftershock Comics. We couldn't be more pleased. Just weeks after announcing their collaboration on Rainbow Bridge, the publisher drops the news that Orlando and Foxe will be back with another original graphic novel called Party and Prey. This title, however, plays in a very different genre.
Along with artist Alex Sanchez, colorist Juancho!, and letterer Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou, Orland0 and Foxe splice into the queer thriller arena. The plot centers on Alan, who can't catch a break in the clubs. The cute boys in the club constantly dismiss him. That all changes when Scott sidles next to him, but Scott might not be the type of attention Alan actually desires.
Sexy thrillers make for some of our favorite movies, but we don't get enough of them in comics. The genre alone makes Party and Prey an enticing proposition. Toss in Steve Orlando, Steve Foxe, and Aftershock sensibilities, and now we're positively piqued and perked.
Below we've got the basic pitch from the publisher as well as a short Q & A from Foxe and Orlando. Even better, we have six preview pages of Alex Sanchez's deadly club sequence.
Party & Prey OGN / $17.99 / 112 Pages / Color / 10.06.2021
Writers: Steve Foxe & Steve Orlando
Artist: Alex Sanchez
Colorist: Juancho!
Letterer: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
Cover: Alex Sanchez w/ Jose Villarrubia
Alan is used to being ignored by younger guys, so he hardly believes his luck when lithe, handsome Scott makes a move on him in the crowded gay club. But there’s a wolf on the dance floor tonight, and he’s hungry for fresh prey…
A taboo-breaking queer thriller from co-writers Steve Orlando (KILL A MAN) and Steve Foxe (Razorblades) and artist Alex Sanchez (The Evil Within), packed with twists sharp enough to draw blood.
STEVE AND STEVE ON WHAT THE BOOK IS ABOUT AND WHY THEY ARE EXCITED FOR IT TO COME OUT:
“It’s tough to talk about PARTY & PREY without giving away some key plot details you really shouldn’t know until you’re about 30 pages in, but we’ll do our best: this thriller is about an older gay man named Alan who meets a younger man named Scott at a nightclub and takes him home. The book wouldn’t be a horror-thriller if that summed it all up, though, and there’s much more to this hookup in the making than is immediately obvious…
On a broader level, PARTY & PREY was a chance for the two of us as queer men to tell a grimy, taboo-testing horror story that centers LGBTQ+ men while also addressing the wolves in sheep’s clothing that exist within the community, as well as the way indifference and hate outside of the community can enable those wolves to run wild for far too long. We want to intrigue, we want to offer a wealth of representation, and also admit that we've got work to do within the community. When you've got a story full of queer folks of all kinds, no character has to be perfect, and that's when we can get into the provocative storytelling that makes horror so great.”
STEVE AND STEVE ON THEIR APPROACH TO CREATING THIS BOOK COMPARED TO RAINBOW BRIDGE, ANOTHER (MUCH DIFFERENT) BOOK THEY’RE BOTH WRITING:
“It’s really a fun fluke of timing that PARTY & PREY comes out just a few months after RAINBOW BRIDGE, because it’d be difficult to find two more different books. While RAINBOW BRIDGE found us Steves channeling an emotionally honest fantasy/adventure story about a boy and his dog, everything stays firmly in the PG range. PARTY & PREY, on the other hand, is a hard R or maybe NC-17, and was a chance for us to explore the darker underbelly of a community we’re both very proud and grateful to be a part of, using some of our favorite horror/thriller storytelling tools. Loving something doesn't mean ignoring when it's got some issues to work on, and we're playing that out in PARTY & PREY as a horror-thriller.”
STEVE AND STEVE ON WHAT THEY HOPE READERS WILL TAKE AWAY FROM READING THIS BOOK:
“First and foremost, we hope readers are thrilled in the most literal sense—our goal is to get hearts and adrenaline pumping when the full dynamic between Alan and Scott becomes clear. And if it leaves readers thinking about the complicated reality of threats within marginalized communities—and who does or does not take action when those predators are revealed—all the better.”
STEVE AND STEVE ON IF IS THERE IS ONE MEDIUM OF COMIC WRITING PREFERABLE OVER ANOTHER: (i.e. single issues vs. OGN)
“No iteration of the comic medium, from single issues to OGNs to newspaper strips, is intrinsically better or more preferable than another. Story should always dictate form, and we’re grateful AfterShock enabled us to tell PARTY & PREY in the form that suited it best: a single OGN with all of its twists, turns, and tortures between one set of covers.
This also gave our fantastic art team—Alex Sanchez, Juancho Valez, and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou—the runway needed to do their best work on the book. Each of them helped define and elevate the mood and tension in the book, and it’s been a test of willpower not to show off more of their hard work before now!”
STEVE AND STEVE ON WHAT READERS WILL FIND IN THIS BOOK THAT THEY WON’T FIND IN ANY OTHER:
“There is a very valid, important time and place for affirming, uplifting queer stories, and both of us Steves thankfully get to work on a lot of those, too. But there’s also a need for queer creators to be able to tell other kinds of stories, even those with difficult content or challenging going things to say about the community itself. That’s not to say the book is about gay misery or suffering—far from it, by the time you reach the last pages—but readers who pick up PARTY & PREY are going to find a thrill ride that isn’t afraid to ask some difficult questions.”