AfterShock Comics has announced The Brother of All Men, a new historical horror series debuting this summer. The series, which follows a World War I veteran and P.I. as he tries to rescue his brother from a cult, comes from the creative team of writer Zac Thompson, artist Eoin Marron, colorist Mark Englert, and letterer Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou. Marron & Englert provide the main cover for the series’ first issue, with Hayden Sherman providing an incentive variant cover.
Here’s how AfterShock describes The Brother of All Men:
It is 1928. Veteran of the Great War and part-time private eye Guy Horn travels to a remote community in Western Canada to retrieve his estranged brother from the clutches of a dangerous cult. As Guy struggles to gain control of his own personal demons, he’s tantalized by the cause and its charismatic leader, Brother XII.
The cult in question in the series is The Aquarian Foundation, a real-life group formed in Canada in the late 1920s by Edward Arthur Wilson, who went by the alias ‘Brother XII’ in his position as leader of the group. Thompson shared a teaser for the series featuring a message from the cult on social media yesterday:
with @eoinmarron, @markenglert, & @HassanOE
— Zac Thompson (@ZacBeThompson) April 11, 2022
join us
tomorrow pic.twitter.com/5eXdMB0a6k
The Brother of All Men is the latest AfterShock Comics work for both Zac Thompson & Eoin Marron. For Thompson, it’s his 6th book with the publisher, with previous titles including Lonely Receiver and I Breathed a Body. It’s the second AfterShock title for Marron, who worked on Killer Groove for the publisher. The new book is the first extended teaming between Thompson and Marron, who previously worked together on a Punisher 2099 one-shot for Marvel (with co-writer Lonnie Nadler).
In a statement announcing the new series, Thompson described his goals for the book:
“I’m excited for people to get into Guy’s head and understand his frustrations. But also – thanks to the omniscient third person narrator and three chapter per issue format – we’re able to explore all kinds of different characters in and around the cult. While the book is a moody blend of folk horror and neo-noir, it’s also historical fiction. Every page is layered with dense research about real people from real Canadian history. The goal is to hold a mirror to the tumultuous 1920s to tell a story about right now.”
Check out an unlettered interior preview of the first issue, as well as Hayden Sherman’s variant cover for the issue, below. The Brother of All Men #1 is set to arrive in stores and digitally on Wednesday, July 13th.
