The Dark Horse Comics series “Barstow” describes the town at the “center of the Mojave Desert” as being the “crossroads between hell and gone.”
The creators of the horror-comedy series are award-winning writers and filmmakers David Ian and Rebekah McKendry, best known for their work on the films "Glorious," and "All the Creatures Were Stirring," Fangoria magazine said.
Something dark and demonic
The November debut of the comic book will focus on agent Miranda Diaz, on the trail of a missing agent in “godforsaken” Barstow.
The authors explain that Diaz is searching for a missing agent, a man she has never met, “and yet her name was the only clue he left behind.”
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“Something dark…something demonic…lurks beneath this oddball town, but can Miranda unravel the mystery before all hell breaks loose?” the authors ask.
Inspired by quirky desert places
“As avid horror comic book readers, we are elated to be working on our first comic book series with the legendary Dark Horse Comics,” McKendry said in a written statement. “This whole experience has been a dream come true."
They first had the idea for the comic book while traveling very late on Sunday evening from Las Vegas to Los Angeles, the authors said.
"We fell in love with the wild stretch of road between the two cities, especially the area surrounding the Mojave Desert and all the towns in between," the authors stated. "Though we used the name Barstow, our town in the series is an amalgam of all the quirky desert burgs we have encountered in that area.”
Some of those “quirky burgs,” on or near Interstate 15 in the High Desert, might include Oak Hills, Hesperia, Victorville, Apple Valley, Lenwood, Hinkley, Yermo, Baker, or Jean.
Exit 666 to Barstow
Lettering for the comic book is being created by Justin Birch, while Eisner Award-winner Tyler Jenkins will illustrate and bring color to the series, according to the Daily Dead.
The comic book cover includes what looks to be a woman in a suit, whose body has been ripped open from just below her neck down to her left leg.
Instead of bloody internal organs, the inside of the woman appears to show a single eye of a creature, a river, and a waterfall.
The woman is standing near cactuses and a roadside that reads “Exit 666” and “Barstow.”
Reader Jess Phoenix took to Facebook to congratulate Rebekah McKendry on her upcoming comic and to say, “Having spent way too much time in the actual Barstow, I have to commend you for the accuracy on the cover.”
Henry Henrich, owner of Comic Cult HD bookstore in Hesperia, said the comic book is published by Dark Horse, “so that’s got some credence behind it." He added that books and comic books with stories centered on the High Desert are few and far between.
"Barstow" issue No.1 of 4 will be released in stores on Nov. 20. Pre-orders are available at your local comic shop for $4.99.
Daily Press reporter Rene Ray De La Cruz may be reached at RDeLaCruz@VVDailyPress.com. Follow him on X @DP_ReneDeLaCruz
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