Berger Books and Dark Horse Comics have collaborated to publish writer/artist I.N.J. Culbard‘s Salamandre, a truly evocative graphic novel tied closely to the themes of family, loss, and the freedom of art. Culbard is perhaps best recognized as the British Fantasy Award-winning artist/writer responsible for adapting H.P. Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness into graphic novel form. In addition, he’s had his name attached to projects alongside some of the biggest publishers in the industry, like when he and Dan Abnett collaborated on Wild’s End or when he provided art for The New Deadwardians for Vertigo Comics.
Additionally, Umbrella Academy fans will remember him for his contributions in producing art for Tales from the Umbrella Academy: You Look Like Death. Now, he’s working closely with Dark Horse Comics and Berger Books to produce Salamandre as a brand-new piece of work straight out of his own mind.
Salamandre Explores Grief In A World Where Art Is Outlawed
The preview sees young Kaspar and a friend visiting a mysterious artist named Mélisandre, who lives alone with cats and is believed by some locals to be a witch. The former Umbrella Academy artist Culbard, said that his inspiration for this scene came from a personal connection:
My Babcia (Polish for grandmother) had a friend who was an artist who painted our family portraits and who also owned a lot of cats, but the similarities and the inspiration end there. I have a very vague recollection of going to visit her once and you couldn’t sit down for cats. You had to constantly move them out of your way. There were so many that I suspect she didn’t own them, they owned her. Mélisande is an amalgamation of a lot of artists I have known over the years.
Not much is revealed in the preview, but readers can see that Kaspar is dealing with the loss of his muse while living in a new land where spies are everywhere. Culbard is best known for crafting works that are laced with creepy visual imagery wrapped up in a compelling sense of allegory. It would seem as though audiences should expect Salamandre to follow a similar trend. The United Kingdom native has added his pen to many works over the years, but there is something about this particular work that feels like something of a passion project. As such, readers should expect nothing less than top-notch artwork alongside captivating storytelling.
Berger Books and Dark Horse Comics will release Salamandre by I.N.J. Culbard everywhere books can be sold starting on December 20th, 2022.
