SEATTLE, WASH., OCTOBER 8, 2019—Fantagraphics is thrilled to announce the acquisition of worldwide rights to the three-book graphic novel series The Cloven by author Garth Stein and artist Matthew Southworth. The Cloven: Book One is set to release in July 2020 and debut at San Diego Comic-Con International.
Garth Stein is a #1 New York Times-bestselling author, filmmaker and playwright based in Seattle. His book The Art of Racing in the Rain has sold over six million copies worldwide, and was released as a major motion picture in 2019 to wide acclaim.
Matthew Southworth is a Seattle-based comic artist and writer. He is the co-creator (along with Greg Rucka) of the comic book series Stumptown, as well as an Executive Producer of ABC’s new Stumptown TV series.
The Cloven follows James Tucker, the most successful Genetically Modified Human Organism ever created. Conceived in a privately financed, top-secret laboratory on Washington’s Vashon Island, Tucker is a cross between a human and a goat — a Cloven. Known to his friends as “Tuck,” all he wants is to live a normal life as a university student; everything is going fine, until he shows a girl his hooves… Moody and mysterious and atmospheric as a fever dream, The Cloven follows Tuck’s breakneck journey across the Pacific Northwest as he searches for his tribe — a fabled herd of feral Cloven living in the Cascade Mountains.
“I am having so much fun working on The Cloven with my partner, Matthew Southworth; I can think of no better home for our series than Fantagraphics, a publisher with an impeccable reputation for quality stories and world-class artwork,” says author Garth Stein. “This is truly a match made in heaven. Or in Seattle. Any connection between ‘heaven’ and ‘Seattle’ is entirely your own…”
“For years now I’ve been filling my bookshelves with more Fantagraphics Books than those of any other publisher,” explains artist Matthew Southworth. “I’m thrilled that what has been my favorite creative experience making comics with Garth is going to have ‘Fantagraphics’ on the spine. Good things come to those who wait.”
Fantagraphics Associate Publisher Eric Reynolds remarks, “I’ve got a ton of respect and admiration for Garth and Matthew and am thrilled to have an opportunity to finally work with them — which was always my secret plan when I first introduced them! Theirs is a collaborative match made in heaven, in the service of a book that appeals on so many different levels: as a reflection of our paranoid media culture, as a loving ode to the Pacific Northwest, as a vibrant new twist on classic monster literature, or as a thoughtful meditation on just how sinister the disparity of wealth in America really is. It’s a rollicking, beautiful genre yarn as well as something readers will have a ball unpacking for years to come.”
The Cloven: Book One begins a raucous, funny, fast-paced, and action-packed series of graphic novels by two bestselling and critically acclaimed storytellers.
The Cloven: Book One
By Garth Stein (author) & Matthew Southworth (artist)
July 14, 2020
$19.99 • ISBN 978-1-68396-310-3
128 pages • full color
Hardcover • 8″ × 10 1/4″
https://blog.fantagraphics.com/press-release-cloven/
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Media Contact:
Jacq Cohen | Executive Director of Marketing and Publicity
cohen@fantagraphics.com | 206-524-1967
Fantagraphics | Seattle, WA