Exclusive: Novelist Darin Strauss Launches Olivia Twist at Berger Books

Powerhouse editor Karen Berger had a knack for converting prose writers into comic masterminds during her storied tenure at Vertigo, and now she’s bringing that same skill to her eponymous imprint at Dark Horse Comics as internationally bestselling novelist Darin Strauss launches Olivia Twist at Berger Books this fall. Strauss, author of Chang and Eng, More Than It Hurts You and the National Book Critics Circle Award-winning memoir Half a Life, will be joined on his first comic project by co-writer Adam Dalva, artist Emma Vieceli, colorist Lee Loughridge and an as-yet-unannounced letterer. Dark Horse and Berger Books have also recruited some of the industry’s most popular women creators to provide covers to the four-issue series, including Vanesa Del Rey, Tula Lotay and Sana Takeda.

“I’ve been a comics fan ever since I was a kid, and to take the storytelling genius of Dickens into the world of comics is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Strauss said in a statement. “To work with Karen Berger, whom I’ve been a fan of since Swamp Thing, my friend the brilliant Adam Dalva, and the incomparable Emma Vieceli is a dream come true.” As Strauss mentions, Olivia Twist is a gender-bent spin on the Charles Dickens classic, Oliver Twist. The series follows a rag-tag gang of girl thieves struggling to survive in a dangerous future London. Check out the full series description below, along with an exclusive first look at Vieceli and Loughridge’s cover and interior artwork. Olivia Twist #1 hits shelves September 19, 2018.