Zac Thompson and artist Nicola Izzo are teaming up for an arctic neo-noir crime thriller from BOOM! Studios. The Beat can exclusively reveal Blow Away, which follows wildlife videographer Brynne in the aftermath of seeing a heated argument between two climbers end in murder. Set on Canada’s largest island, the remote Bafflin Island in the northeast, this cinematic page-turner features sweeping landscapes and terrifying twists.
“Ever since I first watched Francis Ford Coppola’s The ConversationI’ve dreamt of telling a paranoid thriller story. Blow Away is that dream made manifest through an incredible collaboration with Nicola,” Thompson said in a statement. “We’ve crafted a neo-noir mystery about obsession and the slippery and subjective nature of the truth. Really, it’s a big love letter to Brian DePalma and Alfred Hitchcock where suspense is the driving force on every page.
“But beyond all of that, Blow Away is the story of a wildlife videographer who may have recorded a murder,” Thompson continued. “We’re arguably living in the most obsessive, post-truth era where regular people are routinely turned into subjects of collective scrutiny. So what happens when you explore those ideas in a place that is entirely removed from that culture? Does something still bleed through? Can a person whose job it is to see patterns really trust their eyes?”
Izzo added, “It’s great to work on a project that allows me to explore the comic book medium in such a cinematic way. I owe this to Zac’s multi-layered writing that creates suspense and interest at a FANTASTIC pace. I have always been fascinated by movies and comics where the direction is used in a three-dimensional way that focuses on storytelling and where the environment is an active part of the narrative. “I hope all my passion for it translates to the page.”
Blow Away is slated to debut in April, with issue #1 covers by Annie Wu, Tyler Bossand Tula Lotay and Dee Cunniffeseen below.
“Isolation, paranoia, misinformation. These are important benchmarks of a good noir story, and are the core pillars of Blow Away,” said series editor Elizabeth Brei. “Zac and Nicola are telling such an engaging, tight story. “They are a team made for each other and are bringing something very different to crime comics with this one.”
Blow Away #1 will be available in print and digital on April 17. Pre-order at your local comic shop.
