Lion Forge Announces New Magical Cyberpunk Comic, r(ender);

On Wednesday morning, Lion Forge Comics announced a new creator-owned series from X-Men Black: Emma Frost writer Leah Williams and new artist Lenka Šimecková. The cyberpunk neo-noir r(ender); (yes, that semi-colon is part of the title) combines a world of technology and fantasy. In this society, those who can’t afford to augment themselves with tech turn to magic, and that’s just what the series’ lead does.

Protagonist Emie Ocampo has the power to make the dead speak, and she’s using that to augment her photography show. When r(ender); opens, Emie is taking photographs of the last thing a person saw before they died. Just when her idea starts catching fire, though, she’s accused of magical fraud and arrested. After Emie explains herself to the arresting officer, Detective Natalie Bixel, she’s offered a deal: she can go to jail or she can help crack a homicide case with her power. The two women spend a lot of time together, and Williams isn’t shy about joking that the series is “X-Files, but lesbians and magic,” in a statement.

The story is set to take place over 10 issues beginning in April of 2019. Williams’ writing can be found at BOOM! Studios, Marvel and Dynamite. The book’s editor, Jasmine Amiri, teases that up-and-coming artist Šimecková is “a spell weaver.”

Watch for this magical cyberpunk series to hit shelves next April.

r(ender); Concept Art by Lenka Šimecková