Grant Morrisoniswell - knownfortheir manyacclaimedcontributions to comics — with write credits for Marvel ( Fantastic Four , X - Men ) and DC ( Batman , Superman ) , as well asthe upcoming Flash flick , Peacock ’s Brave New Worldseries , their nonfictional prose bookSupergods : Our World in the Age of the Superhero , and so much more . But now they ’ve written their first fantasy novel , Luda , and io9 has a first flavor !
Today we ’re thrilled to share the covering fire for Luda , as well as a New World chat with Morrison and an excerption from the book . Morrison rooter , look no further — and if you ’re new to the writer ’s work , keep read and get dependent .
Here ’s a brief abstract of Luda :
See the full cover below!Image: Del Rey
Luci LaBang is a principal : for ten this flamboyant puff artist has throw away a spell over covert and phase . Now she ’s the leading lady in a smash strike musical . But as time take its cost , Luci fears her star is beginning to dim .
When Luci ’s co - star meets with a mysterious stroke , a fresh ingenue shimmer onto the scene : Luda , whose fantastic beauty and sinister magic spell infatuate Luci immediately … and who bear a striking resemblance to herself at a much younger age .
Luta begs Luci to share the arcanum of her stardom , and disclose the out of sight tricks of her business deal . For Luci LaBang is a schoolma’am of the The Glamour , a mysterious field of study that draws on gender , drug , and the occult for its trancelike transformative effects .
Image: Del Rey
But as Luci tutor her young protegee in the art , their fellow actors and crowd member lead off meeting with unseasonable end . Now Luci wonders if Luda has mastered The Glamour all too well … and exploited it to attain her dreary ambitions .
What follows is an lift up stemma into the demimonde of Gasglow , a fantastical city of dream , and into the nightmarish heart of Luda herself : a femme fatale , a phenomenon , a monster , and perhaps , the brightest wiz of them all .
And here ’s the full cover by creative person Chad Sell :
“ As a lifelong comics lector and graphic novelist , I was thrilled when Del Rey get through me about illustrating this new leger by comics caption Grant Morrison , ” cover creative person Sell state in a command provide to io9 . “ I have been reading Grant ’s piece of work since I was a teenager , and the fact that they ’ve pen this story about a darkly witching drag queen feel like a perfect fit for me ! For many years , I was comfortably known for my illustration of retarding force queens , and I loved explore how singular creativity can transform queens into more sorcerous interlingual rendition of themselves . illustrate the Luda cover allowed me to return to that world of the gorgeous and the garish — the design tries to poise artistry and enormity , the impeccable precision of this fagot ’s pulse counterpoint with the lip rouge ad libitum scrawl across her face . I trust the last final result is wizardly , mesmerizing , and a small turn menacing . ”
Next up , we ’ve got an e-mail interview with Morrison , followed by a brief but tantalizing excerpt from Luda !
Cheryl Eddy , io9 : You are apparently very well - known for your acclaimed work in comics and graphic novels , but Luda is your first novel ! What inspired you to shift medium at this point in your life history ?
Grant Morrison : The last time I eat up a novel I was 19 , so after numerous sham commencement , it feel like time to give !
io9 : What can you tell us about Luci LaBang , the main theatrical role of Luda , and her specific wizard powers ?
Toni Morrison : Luci ’s primary power , I go for , is to weave an unlikely story so convincing her interview will issue forth to accept everything she evidence them no matter how outlandish !
Otherwise , there ’s nothing supernatural in Luda — or IS there?—and nothing that could n’t easily be happening now … except it ’s strained through the flakey , psychedelic , occult filter of our unique narrator ’s mind !
io9 : Is Luda the opponent of the story ? How would you characterize the moral force between Luci and Luda ?
Morrison : Is the aspect you see in the mirror an adversary or an ally ? Our story begins as a tale of teacher and educatee , master and padawan … until it becomes something more complicated and serious .
io9 : What made you want to focus a risky fiction story in the world of drag nance ?
Morrison : At the antecedent of it I was mining and interrogating my past personal experience as young , wreak class , “ genderqueer ” and obsessed with performance …
As I grew aged , the day came when make - up made me look like my gran in an opened jewel casket and I was struck by a poignant nostalgia for the old clothes and self and possibilities that no longer fit so snugly !
As anyone in the circumstances might do , I saw a way of life to unpack my feelings into a twisty psychological thriller !
io9 : What are you most unrestrained for reader to know while study Luda — and is this a standalone taradiddle , or can we expect more adventures in this world ?
Morrison : I trust readers will bask the uncouth flamboyant language , the showbiz glitter and glam , the wily , puzzle box story , the naked humanity , and the trip of a life-time into an unrepeatable extraordinary individual ’s idea !
Luda is its own complete story but the “ humans ” in which it ’s set — the part - Brooklyn - part - Glasgow city of Gasglow — could play server to innumerable interconnect narratives !
In the beginning , I had no separate stage name for what I became when I was dressed and made up ; as I said , there was no interior naval division . It was only later , when we get going up the Troupe , that I baptize myself at the font of Mercurius :
I became Luci LaBang , a nom de fleece dripping with steaming bead of meaning .
But latterly , I ’d given up Luci . I ’d made my dolorous word of farewell . Her dresses stalk the closet , unworn , sulking spooks . Being honest , I was frightened to call her back , sure she ’d never allow my expression , that pit and dimpled canvas recollect from a carpet - bombed museum , to garble her beauty . I was panicked of what I might find out when I dug her up , smell of camphor ball and accusal .
But I knew there was no backing down ; Widow Twankey , incarnation of the Three - Times - Perfected , had delivered the perfect excuse . I was being presented with the chance to deliver to something stronger , quicker , more genuine than anything I ’d been for so long . I would unhorse my old lamp and junk off my wand , my rusty dagger , my cup , and my books . My Louboutins and Agents Provocateurs .
I would summon the Glamour one last time and let it burn me to chemical incandescence in its grim supernatural flame .
A couple of pills start me down the Yellow Brick Road . Vodka tonic , forked . What ’s the big that can encounter ? I suppose . I ’ll take a crap myself and choke on my own vomitus in the back of a taxi or onstage . At least I ’ll die with self-worth .
Excerpted from LUDA by Grant Morrison . Copyright © 2022 by Grant Morrison . Excerpted by permission of Del Rey , an embossment of Penguin Random House LLC . All rights reserved . No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher .
Grant Morrison ’s Luda arrives September 6 ; you’re able to pre - order a copyhere .
Wondering where our RSS feed went ? You canpick the new up one here .
Fantasy
Daily Newsletter
Get the beneficial tech , science , and civilisation news in your inbox day by day .
newsworthiness from the future , delivered to your present .
Please choose your desired newssheet and relegate your email to upgrade your inbox .
You May Also Like
