Announcing Our New Comic: CRUDE

CRUDE is a book for right now. It’s a book that feels like it could only be done at this moment in history and only with this creative team. And it’s a book unlike anything we’ve ever done here at Skybound. Granted, we’ve done crime stories and stories about father and sons and so on, but nothing that touches on themes that are so relevant and so important to so many people in this country and beyond.

CRUDE is the story of former-assassin Piotr Petrovich Bilibin getting to know the son whose true life he didn’t understand. Oh, he tried to love his son, Kiril, but fear of himself drove him to keep Kiril at a distance. When it came time for Kiril to come out, he assumed Piotr would never understand, so he sought freedom in desolate refinery city of Blackstone. He died there, forcing Piotr to retrace the son’s footsteps and investigate. But Blackstone is controlled by the massive oil refining company Petropinnacle, who employed Piotr’s son when he died. Caught in a turf war between corporations, organized crime, and an upstart worker’s revolution that might’ve known his son, Piotr has no choice but to fight through the chaos to avenge his son…and maybe, finally, discover who he truly was.

CRUDE wouldn’t be possible without the staggering talent of Steve Orlando. I’ve known Steve for awhile and it’s always been my hope that we could work together. I never dreamed I’d finally get that chance on a book this good. With CRUDE, Steve has created something that feels both personal and worldly. To see how he writes the internal struggle of Piotr dealing with the loss of his son is something to behold. It’s nothing short of incredible. And enough cannot be said about the art team on this book. Garry Brown, Lee Loughride and Thomas Mauer are putting on an absolute clinic in comic making within these pages. Creating the grimy world of Blackstone, they manage to make it feel like a living, breathing organism that could swallow us up at any time. And filling the world with a cast of characters, they’ve created some of the most memorable characters I’ve worked on in recent memory. This book is truly, truly great.

CRUDE #1 goes on sale April 11th. If you’d like to follow Piotr’s journey of revenge and acceptance, make sure to go to your local comic shop and preorder it. Until then, please enjoy this short preview of the first issue. Thank you.

Jon Moisan
Editor, Skybound Entertainment

CRUDE #1

NEW SERIES

Killers once feared Piotr Petrovich. Now, they’ve sent his son home to him, in a body bag. Haunted by his failures, Piotr journeys across Russia to learn what type of man his son really was while hunting the bastards who killed him. And once Piotr finds them, they will learn to fear him once more…

GLAAD Media Award-nominated writer Steve Orlando (Virgil, Midnighter) and artist Garry Brown (Black Road) deliver an emotional, bone-shattering account of murder, masculinity and mayhem.