Posted in: Comics | Tagged: aftershock, arjuna susini, the replacer, Zac Thompson

Zac Thompson and Arjuna Susini Explore Disability Through Demonic Possession in The Replacer

Published Tue, 15 Jan 2019 09:14:50 -0600

Last updated Tue, 15 Jan 2019 20:44:57 -0600

AfterShock comics has announced a new original graphic novel by writer Zac Thompson, artist Arjuna Susini, and colorist Dee Cunniffe in which a 9-year-old boy comes to terms with his father's disability, which he interprets as demonic possession. Wait, what?

Well, the solicit explains better:

THE REPLACER / $7.99 / 64 pages / Full Color / ON SALE 04.24.2019
Writer: Zac Thompson
Artist: Arjuna Susini
Colorist: Dee Cunniffe
Cover: Arjuna Susini

The 1990's. Tragedy strikes the Beharrell family in the form of a debilitating stroke. Now the youngest child in the family is convinced his paralyzed father didn't truly fall ill but is possessed by something sinister. He believes a demon, THE REPLACER, has come to take away his jolly, agreeable, tech-obsessed Dad. But no one seems to see the monster — and with every passing day, his father falls deeper into the clutches of evil.

Based on Zac Thompson's true story of coming to terms with a disabled parent, THE REPLACER is a complete 64-page graphic meditation on loss, tragedy and fear told through the eyes of a nine-year-old — a horror tale about learning to walk again, even if a demon has to teach you how to do it. A bizarre mashup of IT, The Exorcist and The Diving Bell and The Butterfly, with stunning visuals by Arjuna Susini (Made Men), THE REPLACER is not for the faint of heart.

In a statement released by AfterShock, Thompson explained the concept and why he wanted to write this book:

The Replacer is a concept I've been developing for a few years. It's about how a little boy, Marcus, who's world is irrevocably changed after he witnesses his father suffer a massive stroke. When his disabled father returns home, permanently paralyzed and unable to speak full sentences, Marcus becomes convinced that his father has been replaced by a demon. I'm excited for this to come out because this book is a rumination on my own life experience. My father suffered a from a massive stroke when I was seven, and it took me a very long to understand what that meant to me as a person and how much it changed the way I see the world. I'm excited for people to read a horror story with a different kind of lens, and to shine a light on how we treat people with disabilities.

The comic, Thompson's third at AfterShock and part of his ongoing plan to eventually write every comic for every publisher, hits stores in April.