Renowned comic book author Vita Ayala (New Mutants, Static: Season One) is teaming up with rising star artist Skylar Patridge (Absolute Power: Ground Zero, Supergirl) to create The Horizon Experiment: Finders//Keepers, a brand-new action-adventure comic that redefines the genre. Fans of Indiana Jones, The Mummy, and Tomb Raider will appreciate this exciting and fresh interpretation that infuses new energy and perspective into storytelling. Set to release in January 2025, this will be the final chapter in The Horizon Experiment series of one-shots.
The Horizon Experiment centers on original protagonists from underrepresented backgrounds within a popular genre or inspired by well-known pop culture characters. Each distinct comic offers a diverse twist on beloved stories. This initiative is spearheaded by Eisner and Harvey Award-winning creator Pornsak Pichetshote (The Good Asian, Infidel) and acclaimed editor Will Dennis (SOMNA: A Bedtime Story, Gideon Falls).
The Horizon Experiment: Finders//Keepers is a reverse Indiana Jones story that follows Puerto Rican archeology grad student Ines Guarua, who plans to steal an important cultural artifact from a famous museum in order to bring it back home to where it belongs, in the heart of the rainforest. If she fails, then a curse may bring about the destruction of Puerto Rico. This leads Guarua on a quest to smuggle other artifacts from museums and institutions to return them to their native cultures. Finders//Keepers flips the script on traditional action-adventure tales in a fun and exciting way, opening up a new path for protagonist Guarua for potential future stories.
“I’ve always loved action-adventure stories, but the archetypal protagonist and most of the traditional setups weren’t really ever going to work for people like me,” said Ayala. “Working on The Horizon Experiment, I knew I found a way to open that world up to anyone who wanted a shot of being the hero! What a thrill to get to be on such an amazing team, on one of the most fun projects of my career!”
Like the other titles in The Horizon Experiment, this one-shot serves as the equivalent of a pilot for a creator-owned series, with the potential of continuing should there be demand for more. Along with a cover featuring art by Patridge, the issue will feature variant covers by Eisner Award-winning artist Tula Lotay (SOMNA: A Bedtime Story, Barnstormers: A Ballad of Love and Murder), part of a series of connecting variant covers across all five Horizon Experiment one-shots.
The Horizon Experiment series kicked off on September 25 with The Manchurian, written by Pichetshote and illustrated by superstar artists Terry and Rachel Dodson (Adventureman, Harley Quinn), featuring a Chinese super spy inspired by James Bond. Other upcoming issues include the Muslim exorcism horror The Sacred Damned (by Sabir Pirzada and Michael Walsh), East African werewolf horror Moon Dogs (by Tananarive Due and Kelsey Ramsey), and “Evil Dead for blerds” horror-comedy Motherf*ckin’ Monsters (by J. Holtham and Michael Lee Harris). The five issues will be released on a monthly basis.
The Horizon Experiment: Finders//Keepers #1 will be available at comic book shops on Wednesday, January 15.
