This week brings with it the release of the first collection of Legend, a new comic from writer Samuel Sattin and artist Chris Koehler. Legend follows a group of dogs in a postapocalyptic landscape that has been altered in a host of terrifying ways; it’s a fascinating spin on the genre. Sattin is also the author of a pair of novels, The Silent End and League of Somebodies. Today, we’re pleased to be publishing the introduction to the first Legend collection, from acclaimed horror novelist Paul Tremblay.
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Let me tell you something, between you and me, okay?
When Samuel first described LEGEND to me, I thought it sounded like good clean comics fun. A biological weapon wipes out humanity and leaves dogs and cats to fight and fend and rebuild. That’s totally fun, right? I assumed I was in for a clever, jokey adventure, one that riffs on but wouldn’t necessarily rise to the level of one of my favorite novels and movies, Watership Down.
From LEGEND’s very first haunting pages and images of a ruined city and a pack of dogs mourning its fallen leader, I quickly realized that the story here is much bigger and weightier than a simple riff. LEGEND, living up to its title, is an epic in every sense of the word.
I read comics for that magical synthesis between images and word, the amplified power of two storytellers. What Samuel Sattin and Chris Koehler have managed to do in their shared yet singular vision is astounding. Within the first two pages, they built a world and a set of empathic characters, and a mood and tone equal parts heroism and pathos. And then they expanded it throughout the five issues. The uneasy alliance between the two factions of survivors is always emotionally authentic, as is the palpable sense of mystery, menace, and danger they face.
I hesitate to say more for fear of spoiling anything. Only, I look forward to joining you on the blooded path.
–Paul Tremblay, author of Disappearance at Devil’s Rock and the award-winning Head Full of Ghosts.
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