Matthew Erman's haunting newest graphic novel is also his most personal.
“Loving, Ohio” follows four teenagers in a rundown Ohio suburb where a cult controls much of daily life. They try to cope with the death of a friend by suicide and make it through high school before they can get out of town, while solving the mystery of the mysterious “man in the afternoon,” who may or may not be targeting and killing teenagers.
At the center of the group is Sloane, who lives with a father whose life is increasingly consumed by “The Chorus,” the cult that not so secretly dominates life in the town of Loving.
Erman, 35, has lived in Columbus for the past 15 years, but he grew up in a suburb in the Kettering area, near Dayton.
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“I was in a cult when I was a kid, so that's a big part of the book. Obviously, I fictionalized a ton, but the emotions and the feelings are very real,” he said.
“I wanted to show the boring side of being in a cult. They're not openly insidious, but instead, there is this mundane acquisition of influence and power. The cult that I was involved in when I was young was very similar.
"They have their headquarters in a town, and they have their fingerprints on everything. They're not kidnapping people, but they're infiltrating the sanctity of a community to grab at power and money,” he said.
Erman sees “Loving, Ohio” as a very Midwestern book.
“The expanse of suburban houses and fields and empty parking lots, I think that's a very Midwestern thing,” he said.
“The suburb where I grew up, parts of it feel like a ghost town now. Teenagers grew up and went to college and didn't want to stay in the places that they'd been their whole lives.
"For the most part, growing up, it felt very alone, very separated from the rest of the world. Part of that helped me as an individual want to leave and want to experience more of what was out there," he said.
"That also is a very Midwestern feeling. The ennui, the longing to be somewhere else.”
He worked closely on the graphic novel with Toronto-based illustrator Sam Beck.
“We shared this sense of what this place was and who these characters were and what they were going through. Sam brought so much to the book. One of the most interesting aspects of the book is that there are only four colors in it. That limited color palette creates so much mood and such a vibe,” he said.
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“Loving, Ohio” isn't Erman's only current project. Four issues of the “Golgotha Motor Mountain” comic series — described by its publisher as “an action-packed Southern body horror thrill ride” — are being released this year, and in September, his graphic novel for middle schoolers, “Heebie Jeebies” — which Erman says is “a kids' horror book I'm really stoked about” — will hit the shelves.
“But 'Loving, Ohio' has my heart right now. It's the one I'm most inspired to get out to everybody,” Erman said.
“To me, this book is about growing up in a place that is at odds with who you are and who you want to be. I think it's one of the best things I've ever written.”
At a glance
"Loving, Ohio" releases Aug. 6 and can be found on Amazon, but will also be available in town at Prologue Books, 841 N. High St., and the Laughing Ogre, 4258 N. High St., as well as most bookstores.
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