Exclusive: BOOM! Studios Announces Wizard Beach From Shaun Simon & Conor Nolan

A few years ago, comic publishers realized that announcing comics at Comic Con International in San Diego usually resulted in the news getting lost between flashy film and TV trailers. The solution: announcement gauntlets like BOOM! Studios’ “The Road to San Diego,” a 10-day rollout of comic book and graphic novel news in advance of San Diego’s festivities. Today, Paste is thrilled to participate with the exclusive announcement of Wizard Beach, a new five-issue limited series debuting in December 2018 from writer Shaun Simon (The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys) and artist Conor Nolan (Jim Henson’s The Storyteller: Giants).

From BOOM! Studios’ official description:

Wizards exist. As do witches and frost giants and an array of magical creatures. But they were hidden from view until a few found themselves weary of the ice-capped mountains and made their way to the beach. Now wizards are part of the norm, and all they want to do is relax. When Hexley Daggard Ragbottom, a young wizard, wants to put an end to the frost of his homeland, he seeks out his Uncle Salazar, the greatest wizard of all time. But Uncle “Sally” has other plans. Namely napping.

“Wizard Beach is about leaving the cold, unrelenting and dreary life in the mountains for a stress free and relaxing life on the beach,” Simon said in a statement. “The book doesn’t take itself too seriously, something our main character, Hexley Daggard Ragbottom does when he arrives at the beach. […] For me, like the premise of the book, Wizard Beach is me letting go of what I thought I should be writing and learning that’s it’s ok to write what I want—to let my guard down and have fun and be funny along the way.”

“Wizard Beach asks the question, ‘Where does the magical world go to vacation?’” added Nolan. “The answer lies within our story as we navigate the strange new home of our protagonist, Hexley. The journey will entail copious amounts of ridiculous magic, sun baked high adventure and possibly a basilisk under the boardwalk. Shaun and I have been building this world for some time, and hope that each issue will be a day at the beach for readers.”

If Wizard Beach sounds purely humorous, BOOM! Studios Executive Editor Sierra Hahn hints at more apocalyptically serious underlying themes to go along with sorcerous beach shenanigans.

“Wizard Beach is an upbeat family drama that, behind the humor and hijinks, provides a satirical look at global warming and how to happily exist in an ever-shrinking, high-stressed planet,” Hahn said. “The beach is an obvious cure-all for what ails ya! Or so we hope…”

The first issue of Wizard Beach hits comic stores and digital retailers in December 2018. Paste readers can take a look at Nolan’s concept art and first cover below.

Wizard Beach #1 Cover Art by Conor Nolan