Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Ande Parks, Comics, dynamite, entertainment, Esteve Polls, Francesco Francavilla, Seduction of the Innocent

EC-Style Crime / Horror Stories Return In Seduction Of The Innocent

Dynamite Entertainment has announced a new series from Ande Parks and Esteve Polls called Seduction of the Innocent. Planned for release in December, the story is being called a gritty and depraved crime fiction in the tradition of James Elroy and EC-era crime and horror comics.

Set in the San Francisco of 1953, Seduction of the Innocent introduces Thomas Jennings, an FBI agent who has just arrived in the city, fresh-faced and ready to tackle crime in the big city… or so he thinks. In fact, Jennings is not nearly prepared for what he's about to encounter. The city's crime lords are being systematically murdered, and the killers waiting to fill the void are the pure stuff of Jennings' nightmares. Jennings will be forced to question every belief he holds dear to protect his wife and unborn child from the madness.

Writer Ande Parks says:

The story is, at its core, about loss of innocence. It's about seduction, but not sexual seduction. It's about the seduction of violence and power. It's about a good man struggling to hold onto the values that have always defined him as he battles things so evil that he can't really comprehend them. This is not a story that clings to the status quo. People change in the course of our arc. They die and lose things that can never be recovered.

I love period crime fiction, enshrouded in fog and bad intention," adds Parks. "Our story is told in a modern style, but it is rooted in crime fiction of the past: Jim Thompson and the True Crime comics of the fifties. We were lucky enough to get Francesco Francavilla to do covers that pay homage to the amazing Johnny Craig EC covers, with severed heads, bloody axes, and so on — all the glorious stuff that got Dr. Fredric Wertham in an uproar. Also, I get to work with Esteve Polls again, with whom I did a 25-issue run on The Long Ranger that I'm very proud of. He's great at atmosphere, and our crime story has plenty for him to draw.

This new series is not to be confused with whatever Dark Horse and Kitchen Sink are planning after having registered the trademark for Seduction of the Innocent. Though the series doesn't appear to have any direct ties to the Fredric Wertham books of the same name, there is a fitting irony to use the title for a series similar to the very comics that Wertham basically put out of business.

Seduction of the Innocent #1 will be solicited for release in December in the October Previews catalog with a cover by Francesco Francavilla.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!