Update, August 18, 2022:
Per Newsarama, Nick Dragotta will pencil the third and final five-issue arc, which is titled ‘Not Even If You Were The Last Person on Earth.’ “I’ve wanted to draw a Jason Aaron comic for some time, I got even more excited when I learned it was a ‘love story,’ […] Couple that with getting to craft a comic alongside fellow artists Alexandre Tefenkgi, Leila del Duca, and editor Sierra Hahn. Sign me up,” he says. Expect his run to begin in 2024.
Update, August 17, 2022:
Via AIPT, Leila del Duca will pencil the second arc of the series, ‘The Rise and Fall of Golgonooza,’ which will kick off in 2023. She comments, “I’m incredibly excited to be jumping into ‘Once Upon a Time at the End of the World’ for the second arc. When Sierra and Jason first introduced me to this project, I was immediately drawn in (ahem, pardon the pun) to Alexandre Tefenkgi’s character designs and Jason’s premise. And then when I read the script, I was hooked like Dustin Hoffman in the movie Hook.”
Original story is as follows:
BOOM! Studios have announced “Once Upon a Time at the End of the World,” a 15-part, post-apocalyptic romance written by Jason Aaron. The comic will follow Maceo and Mezzy, as they spend a lifetime surviving a world destroyed by an environmental catastrophe. “The dark mysteries of a ruined world and their own stark differences [threaten to] tear at the threads holding Maceo and Mezzy together… will they, and the earth beneath their feet, ultimately be torn apart?” The first five-issue arc will feature art by Alexandre Tefenkgi (“The Good Asian”), with colors by Lee Loughridge, and lettering by AndWorld Design.
Aaron states, “A love story should be more than just one kind of story. More than just a first act. Especially when it’s the kind of epic, unbridled love that carves a trail across two lifetimes, leaving behind moments of joy and suffering, pleasure and horror, healing and scarring. Even more so when those lives are being lived in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. This is the story of two lost kids who find each other at the very end of days. Like if Wes Anderson had directed Road Warrior. But that’s only the beginning of their journey of survival and of the world’s last great love story.”
Tefenkgi adds, “If I had to describe how I feel working on this book, it would be as if I had won a plane ticket to one of the strangest and most beautiful places on earth, the kind of universe where you can find gems buried in a dumpster world. Contrast is the name of the game, and Jason has created an original and captivating tale that I’m looking forward to bringing before your eyes.” Aaron says “in Alex’s hands, the end of the world has never looked more beautiful or harrowing.”
Sierra Hahn, Executive Editor at BOOM! Studios, says “Jason and three uniquely distinct and original artists weave a story that feels close to home — whether it takes you back to your own childhood and the unjaded attempts at first love, first great heartbreak, or first steps into the unknown — ‘Once Upon a Time at the End of the World’ hits a nerve, reminds you of a forgotten time, and sweeps you up into the lives of this unlikely duo navigating a dying world. Each artist will weave in and out of each other’s respective chapters taking readers on a journey forward and back in time. It’s a comic reading experience that you won’t want to miss.”
“Once Upon a Time at the End of the World” #1 will be released in November, with main cover art by Mike Del Mundo (who collaborated with Aaron on “Thor”), and variants by artists like Tefenkgi, Junggeun Yoon (“Something is Killing the Children”), and Jenny Frison (“Wonder Woman”). Each issue will be over 30 pages long.
