This coming March, series by writer Jeff Lemire and artist Gabriel Walta. Described by the publisher as "Mad Max: Fury Road meets The Sandman," Phantom Road will reunite Lemire and Walta, who previously collaborated on Sentient, promising to take readers on a midnight run unlike any other. Now, Screen Rant is proud to bring readers an exclusive first look at the new series, on sale in print and digital March 8.
Phantom Road kicks off when long-haul truck driver Dom stops to help a young woman named Birdie who has just been in a bad car wreck. Birdie swerved to avoid hitting a mysterious object - one that will launch Dom and Birdie into a nightmarish road trip. The preview pages, shared below, chronicle Dom’s first meeting with Birdie, beginning a story which the creators intend to rank among the most ambitious comic epics.
This is the second collaboration between Jeff Lemire and Gabriel Walta after 2019’s Sentient, which was nominated for an Eisner Award. Both Lemire and Walta have had distinguished careers. Lemire broke into the mainstream comics' industry in the 2000s and in the following decade, established himself as one of the field’s top creators, working on everything from superhero books to creator-owned titles at a variety of publishers, with books including Sweet Tooth, Descender, and Gideon Falls. He recently signed an exclusive contract with Image Comics. Gabriel Walta came to the comics field after working in children’s books, drawing titles at Marvel such as Occupy Avengers as well as the beloved Vision with Tom King.
Phantom Road Could Be Lemire & Walta's Masterpiece
With bibliographies like these, it was a given that a collaboration between the two would be epic and Sentient was the proof - and now they have reunited for an ambitious ongoing series, one certain to appeal to fans of long-form dark fantasy titles such as The Sandman. Phantom Road looks to put its own spin on this genre, mixing it with high-octane, Grindhouse style road action. Both Lemire and Walta have proven themselves masters of various genres, ranging from horror to science fiction, and Phantom Road is going to allow them to mix these styles together and unleash what is sure to be one of 2023’s most talked about books. Speaking about the project exclusively to Screen Rant, Lemire states:
As soon as I first worked with Gabriel on Sentient I knew he was a collaborator I needed to do more with. We began talking about a big creator-owned series at Image. Something massive in scope like all the books we loved when we were getting into comics. Something with the scope of Preacher and Sandman and Walking Dead. We began putting ideas together and Phantom Road is the result. A sprawling mash-up of sci-fi, horror and character driven road movie. We can’t wait to share it with everyone
Walta echoes Lemire's excitement and ambition, saying:
Working on Phantom Road is such a gift! Doing a creator-owned book with Jeff is something I've been wanting to do for many years and having the chance to collaborate with Jordie, Steve and Greg is a real joy. Also... seeing the Image logo in our book is just a blast!!
Jeff Lemire and Gabriel Walta were nominated for an Eisner on their first work together, which sets the bar extremely high for this new series. The preview pages confirm that Lemire and Walta have once again struck gold with Phantom Road, and Image Comics has another winner on its hands.
Phantom Road #1 is on sale March 8 from Image Comics!
