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Writer Cullen Bunn is back at Oni Press with another spooky horror tale, this time teaming up with artist Christopher Mitten for a story that follows two young girls as they fight to rescue their parents from a mysterious force in the woods near their vacation cabin.
Titled The Autumn Kingdom, the four-issue limited series is described as a combination of folk horror and fantasy, all centered around a family staying in the remote Swedish wilderness as the family's patriarch attempts to finish his latest novel.
"Bestselling author Andrew Kier found the perfect place to finish his latest dark-fantasy novel—an idyllic, remote cabin on the edge of a lush Swedish forest. His young daughters, Sommer and Winter, gleefully explore . . . until they happen upon a strange clearing of ancient statues: goblins, dwarves, elves, and a warrior queen mysteriously missing her swordhand and weapon," reads Oni's official announcement of The Autumn Kingdom #1.
"When something sinister follows the girls home and viciously snatches their parents in the night, the sisters’ only hope may be that ancient relic, lost in the forest underbrush, waiting for a new champion to take it up . . ."
We've got a gallery of uncolored interior pages by Mitten, along with his main cover for the first issue and variants by Alison Sampson, Malachi Ward, and Daniel Vega. Artist Vannesa R. Del Rey will also provide a variant, though it hasn't been released yet.
Cullen Bunn is no stranger to horror, with numerous series under his belt in the genre, as well as a prolific career writing superhero comics for both Marvel and DC. Bunn's breakout comic The Sixth Gun was a western horror title about a cursed weapon, and it seems some of those themes may arise in The Autumn Kingdom as well.
"The words 'the Autumn Kingdom' have been written in one of my oldest journals for decades. Over the years, I've returned to them again and again," Bunn explains. "I knew I wanted to tell a dark fantasy tale about the fairy realms. I just wasn't sure what that story might be until I stumbled onto the idea of Sommer and Winter, a pair of young sisters who find themselves alone, facing the forces of a supernatural realm."
"Their lives - and the lives of their parents - are on the line," he continues. "Thank goodness they've discovered a nasty, death-dealing blade that seems to hunger for the blood of elves and trolls and goblins. Sommer and Winter are thrown down a violent path from which there may be no escape. No matter what, they won't get through this journey unscathed and unchanged."
Series artist Christopher Mitten is best known for his work on Hellboy and the BPRD, a concept that also blends horror with other genres, in this case horror superheroes.
"For years - almost as long as we’ve both been making comics - Cullen and I have been wanting to work together on something,” adds artist Christopher Mitten. "And that it's this book, this story, makes it all the more special."
The Autumn Kingdom #1 goes on sale September 4.
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