Comics for Adults

DEATH STRIKES: THE EMPeror of Atlantis

written by Dave Maass, illustrated by Patrick Lay, concept design by Ezra Rose, letters by Richard Bruning

Mixing dystopian sci-fi, mythic fantasy, and zombie horror, Death Strikes: The Emperor of Atlantis, is a graphic novel based on a suppressed opera written in 1943 by Peter Kien and Viktor Ullmann, two prisoners at the Terezín concentration camp in Czechoslovakia. The authors did not live to see their masterpiece performed.

Set in an alternative universe where Atlantis never sank but instead became a technologically advanced tyranny, the power-mad buffoonish Emperor declares all-out war--everyone against everyone. Death goes on a labor strike, creating a hellscape where everyone fights, but no one dies. Can the spirit of Life stop this terror with the power of love?

Includes designs from the original opera, historical essays, photographs, and more. Published by Berger Books/Dark Horse Comics, Jan. 2024.

Haymarket

written by Paul Axel, illustrated by Patrick Lay, letters by Taylor Esposito

Caught in the most explosive moment in the American labor movement, a Chicago factory worker becomes an eyewitness to history!

This project has not yet been signed to a publisher: if you are interested in viewing the proposal please contact Madison Smartt Bell at madison@pandeliterary.com.

A SCi-Fi, Workplace comedy

This space-comedy is unpublished.