Jumanji meets horror in Jeff Lemire's Mazebook #1

(Image credit: Jeff Lemire (Dark Horse Comics))

Writer/artist Jeff Lemire returns to the haunting drama niche that produced such hits as Essex County and The Underwater Welder with the new five-issue Mazebook. The series follows Will Warren, the grieving parent of a dead child whose life is rattled a second time when he receives a mysterious call 10 years later that she's alive. There's a problem with that though, as he's told she is trapped in a maze that was included in one of the unfinished puzzle books his daughter has left behind.

Check out this preview of Mazebook #1, and try not to think of a certain Weezer song:

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Mazebook #1 preview

"A lonely building inspector still grieving the loss of his puzzle-loving daughter receives a mysterious phone call one night from a girl claiming it's her and that she's trapped in the middle of a labyrinth," reads Dark Horse's description of Mazebook #1.

"Convinced that this child is contacting him from beyond this world, he uses an unfinished maze from one of her journals and a map of the city to trace an intricate path through a different plane of reality on an intense and melancholy adventure to bring his daughter back home."

Check out this trailer for Mazebook, directed by Kelly Woessner:

Each issue of Mazebook will be 48 pages - double the page count of a traditional comic book. When asked by Previewsworld what kind of story Mazebook is, Lemire said it isn't "easily categorized".

"My favorite stories always combine all sorts of genres in interesting ways and are often very hard to define as just one type of story and I think Mazebook follows this path. It has elements of thriller, mystery, horror, and supernatural but these are never overt or easily categorized they all melt together into what I hope is a deeply human story about memory and human connection."

Lemire has drawn the primary cover to Mazebook #1, with his long-time collaborator Andrea Sorrentino (Gideon Falls, Green Arrow, Joker: Killer Smile, Old Man Logan) illustrating a variant cover. Check them both out here:

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Mazebook #1 covers

Mazebook #1 (of 5) goes on sale on September 8.

You don't have to wait until September 8 for good comics horror - check out our recommendations for best horror comics.

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)