Scott Snyder and Tony S. Daniel team-up for creator-owned series with Image and Kickstarter

(Image credit: Tony S. Daniel/Tomeu Morey (Best Jackett Press))

Batman alums Scott Snyder and Tony S. Daniel are coming together for an all-new, creator-owned series to debut in early 2021 - but are offering a 'collector's edition' of the first issue available early via Kickstarter.

"Nocternal takes place 10 years after the world is plunged into an everlasting night that turns all living creatures into monstrous 'shades'," reads the description for the series. "Enter Valentina 'Val' Riggs, a skilled 'ferryman' who transports people and goods along deadly unlit roads with her heavily illuminated eighteen-wheeler. 

(Image credit: Tony S. Daniel (Best Jackett Press))

"When an old man promising sanctuary offers Val a job to drive him and his granddaughter up through the Rocky Mountains, she takes it, hoping there might be some truth to his claim," the description continues. "What she finds in the end, though, is something much more horrifying than any shade..."

Snyder and Daniel will be joined by colorist Tomeu Morey, letterer Deron Bennett, editor Will Dennis, and campaign manager Camilla Zhang. Nocternal is being produced through Snyder's upstart imprint Best Jackett Press - a portmanteau of his first two son's names, Jack and Emmett. 

The 72-page Nocternal Collector's Edition will include the full script to the first issue, along with Daniel's original black & white interior art for the issue. The duo plan to release this edition in December exclusively to the Kickstarter backers, with the formal first issue from Image coming in "early 2021".

(Image credit: Emma Price (Best Jackett Press))

Nocternal Collector's Edition will be offered in two formats - an unsigned softcover, and then a hardcover signed by Snyder and Daniel. The team is aiming to raise $37,000 in this Kickstarter, with the money going towards book printing, rewards production, and fees from Kickstarter, Stripe, and BackerKit. Rewards include a limited edition lithograph, a Daniel sketch, and a master class with Snyder.

"2020 has put a lot of things into perspective, for comics fans, pros, and businesses–and for me," Snyder said in the press release announcing the project. "With everything going on right now, I wanted to return to creator-owned work in an even more dedicated way. Nocternal is the first release under my new Best Jackett Press label and will be released by Image Comics as a monthly series, starting early next year.

(Image credit: Tony S. Daniel/Tomeu Morey (Best Jackett Press))

"But with conventions shut down for the foreseeable future, the creative team and I wanted to find a direct way to build meaningful relationships with our fans before issue one drops to give them a unique experience," Snyder continued. "We decided to create a behind-the-scenes collector’s edition of the first issue that provides a different reading process, looks at how a comic like this gets made, and highlights Tony’s phenomenal linework."

For more information on Nocternal Collector's Edition and to pre-order the book, visit this Kickstarter page.

Chris Arrant

Chris Arrant covered comic book news for Newsarama from 2003 to 2022 (and as editor/senior editor from 2015 to 2022) and has also written for USA Today, Life, Entertainment Weekly, Publisher's Weekly, Marvel Entertainment, TOKYOPOP, AdHouse Books, Cartoon Brew, Bleeding Cool, Comic Shop News, and CBR. He is the author of the book Modern: Masters Cliff Chiang, co-authored Art of Spider-Man Classic, and contributed to Dark Horse/Bedside Press' anthology Pros and (Comic) Cons. He has acted as a judge for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, the Harvey Awards, and the Stan Lee Awards. Chris is a member of the American Library Association's Graphic Novel & Comics Round Table. (He/him)