Knockturn County: A Unique Crime Noire from Scout Comics
James Roche debuts a Gritty and Hilarious Comic
The landscape of Independent Comics is filled with amazing stories and broken dreams making Knockturn County by Scout Comics a breath of fresh air. Knockturn County is written by Indie Comic Book staple James E. Roche with a stellar creative team attached.
Joining Roche (Wretches) are Illustrator Axur Eneas (Toontorial) and Colorist Sean Callahan (Loco Hero). The Creative team is rounded out by the masterclass Letterer and Editor: Chas! Pangburn (Metalshark Bro).
Knockturn County is available for PRE-ORDER NOW (JUL221895) with an anticipated release date of September 07, 2022. Tell your local comic book shop that you want it ASAP because the cut-off to order is August 01, 2022!
What’s that? Do you want to know what all the fuss is about?
Well – Keep reading my fellow Nerds because Knockturn County is a gritty and addictive story that is as unforgettable as it is entertaining!
Knockturn County #1 from Scout Comics
From Scout Comics – Knockturn County is an adult crime noir set in a classic children’s book universe as if Dr. Seuss took a few swigs of whimsical whiskey and ran amok through Sin City. Tales converge and collide in this county built on blood, as a rhyming narrative leads readers through a tangled web of death, booze, drugs, and betrayal. This debut issue follows an obsessed detective who puts his badge aside to hunt for his missing ex, and a little girl in the scariest place of all: her home. Enjoy the first issue of this NON-STOP! title followed by the entire story collected soon in one volume.
Nerd Night News sat down with James E. Roche for a quick interview and to check out Previews of Issue #1. Without giving ANY spoilers at all – Knockturn County is unique, timely, and overflowing with nostalgia.
The decision to utilize a Dr. Seuss-inspired Narrator for this interconnected tale is nothing short of brilliant. The book is a quick read and flows seamlessly as each page urges a page turn and then another, and then another…
Excerpt from NNN James E. Roche Interview
James E. Roche was cool enough to answer a few questions about the book, the Publisher, and what he sees for Knockturn County in the future.
How is your working relationship with Scout Comics?
Roche: I’d worked with Scout once before with my creator-owned sci-fi adventure series, Wretches. They’re great! I’ve said many times on my YouTube channel (Writing Comics) that they were ahead of the game in allowing creators to publish with them AND use Kickstarter to either fund the creation of their books before release OR collect them after releasing with Scout. That right there says a lot about their mindset and efforts to help creators. James Haick (President of Scout) has wanted to publish this book since I told him about it back at NYCC in 2018, so I think it’s in great hands at Scout.
Where did the inspiration for Knockturn County originate?
Roche: I’d written a short comic for a crime anthology years ago that I called, “No Dawn for a Pawn”, which pretty much became Chapter 1 of Knockturn County. I wanted to take the rhyming, Dr. Seuss-esque narrative, and visual style, and smash it together with a dark, gritty crime noir. Then, when I finished, I thought, “I want to make an entire book out of this!”.
What do you see for the future of Knockturn County?
Roche: I just can’t wait till the full OGN is printed and I’m holding it in my hands. I’d been working on this with Axur Enease, Sean Callahan, and Chas! Pangburn since about 2018. We’d seen a few delays, had to wrestle the rights back from a flailing publisher and worked on it sparingly throughout the pandemic, and now we’re at the finish line. It’ll all be real once I’m holding the full 10 chapters and 88 pages of story in my hands! After that, well, several other creators I’d shared it with say it belongs on TV. So, who knows. A boy can dream.
Knockturn County: A Unique Crime Noire from Scout Comics
The upcoming Scout Comic, Knockturn County is a must-read comic book that screams adaptation from beginning to end. Put it on your pull list – you WILL NOT regret it.
SCOUT COMICS is an independent Comic Book Publisher that develops and publishes creator-owned comics. They excel at bringing exciting new, talented voices and their Intellectual Property to market. Scout has established themselves as a pipeline to major studios and producers for some the of best new characters, ripe for development in TV, Film, Digital, Mobile, VR, and video games. They Publish the critically acclaimed titles Stabbity Bunny, White Ash, Black Cotton, Everglade Angels and MORE.
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