Exclusive: Blacksad Co-Creator Juan Díaz Canales Brings Fraternity to Lion Forge

Blacksad, the hard-boiled noir tale of an anthropomorphic cat private investigator, helped lead a wave of European comic imports in the early part of this century, and landed Spanish co-creators Juan Díaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido awards and accolades on both sides of the Atlantic. Canales, along with artist José-Luis Munuera and colorist Seydas, went on to create Fraternity, a Civil War-era tale of monsters and men. Today, in advance of Comic-Con International in San Diego, Paste can exclusively announce that Fraternity will be published for the first time in English later this year by Lion Forge’s Magnetic Collection imprint.

From the publisher:

Fraternity is a haunting horror story written by Juan Díaz Canales, the Co-Creator of the popular Blacksad series, and illustrated by the talented Jose-Luis Munuera. During the Civil War, the inhabitants of a small frontier town discover a mysterious beast is prowling the forest around them, a beast that may have a connection to a feral child found several years earlier. Fraternity is perfect for fans of the monster genre and people who have a love for the classics Universal Monster movies as this tale feels like it would have been right at home among them.

Lion Forge has already had an ambitious 2018, ramping up its original superhero efforts alongside the Roar imprint for young adults, the Caracal imprint for middle-grade-aged children, the CubHouse imprint for early reader and a commitment to European imports. In addition to Fraternity, Lion Forge also announced this week that the Magnetic Collection will publish Wilfrid Lupano and Gregory Panaccione’s wordless A Sea of Love, as well as Lupano and Rodguen’s Curtain Call.

To kick off news of Fraternity’s U.S. release, Paste has an exclusive first look at Munuera and Seydas’ cover and interior art. We’ve also got previews of Panaccione’s Sea of Love art and Rodguen’s Curtain Call pages. Fraternity will be available in comic stores and digital retailers September 19th. For more news ahead of San Diego’s Comic-Con International, as well as more from Lion Forge, keep your eyes glued to Paste.