Artist LySandra Vuong - AKA Explodikid - has quickly risen to become one of the most popular creators on WEBTOON. Their series Covenant - pithily described on their website as being "a supernatural action comic about hot priests battling even hotter demons" has had more than 21 million reads - and now it's coming to print, courtesy of Oni Press.
Covenant Volume One is the first of three planned collections and brings together the first 18 episodes of the series in 6x9" paperback format, with a brand new cover by Vuong.
The series follows Ezra, a tattooed exorcist whose faith in God is diminishing until he is sent on a mission to protect a mysterious boy, Sunny, who has "hidden secrets and a bloody past nipping at his heels." Somehow, the two must find some common ground while battling deadly demonic threats.
Check out an exclusive preview from the new book in the gallery below.
"Covenant combines classic shounen manga tropes with fantasy Catholicism to tell an action-packed story in which angels talk to us and demons walk among us," said Vuong in a statement. "Covenant is an unconventional comic. It's supernatural, a little blasphemous, a little sexy, and unapologetically queer."
Speaking exclusively to Newsarama, Vuong explained the relevance of the tattoos on their machine gun-wielding priests. "I'm a big, BIG fan of tattoos. I have many, myself. It really bothers me though, that people see my tattoos first before they see me, and assume I'm a bad person just because of my tattoos. I wanted to turn that perception on its head with the church factions in the world of Covenant. Sure, the exorcists of Providence are covered in ink, but they have good intentions, even if the Great Church wants to portray them as otherwise!"
Oni Press's editor-in-chief Sierra Hahn added in a statement, "Covenant takes the exorcist sub-genre that has made stories like Constantine so beloved into a refreshing and modern direction with action sequences that recall the flare of shounen manga like Blue Exorcist and the slow burn romance of a Kaori Yuki or Clamp series. We can't wait to introduce a brand new audience to the powerful and unique storytelling of debut creator LySandra Vuong."
Covenant - Volume One is published by Oni Press on May 15.
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