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The hashtag to Damn Them All would be #damnthemall, but it looks more like Damn The Mall. But from the moment they teased that The Walking Dead‘s Charlie Adlard would be bringing a project over to Boom Studios, we knew it would be a big one for the Big Four publisher. After all, this is Adlard’s first creator-owned series since The Walking Dead made him a household name.
Bleeding Cool was the first to speculate Adlard would be paired with Step By Bloody Step writer and former Bleeding Cool columnist Si Spurrier and, naturally, when Damn Them All was announced ahead of Comic-Con, we were proven right. We were also the first to point out that the series lead, Ellie “Bloody El” Hawthorne, is basically the illegitimate daughter of Johanna Constantine and Negan making her a very appealing character indeed for fans of Spurrier and Adlard. Throw in being featured on the cover of Diamond Previews, and it’s not surprising we’re hearing that Damn Them All is tracking to be Spurrier’s biggest creator-owned launch yet.
Earlier this week, Boom unveiled a surprise variant cover by Becky Cloonan, who took a break from writing Wonder Woman and Batgirls for DC, to return to her artistic roots. Yes, the same type of surprise variant cover dropped just ahead of Final Order Cutoff that helped catapult Something Is Killing The Children, Grim, and Briar into the certified hit stratosphere. Will Cloonan’s cover give Damn Them All the “Boom Bump” we’ve seen on those other series and help Bloody El take her place next to Erica Slaughter, Jessica Harrow, and Briar Rose?
In addition to the open-to-order variant, Boom also added a 1-in-200 variant of Cloonan’s cover and a fully returnable Boom Guarantee variant by cover artist InHyuk Lee to the already cover lineup of Adlard, Dani, Sean Phillips, and Christian Ward. What’s more, I’m hearing that there’s a baker’s dozen retailer-exclusive variant cover queued up for Damn Them All from a murderer’s row of cover artists.
More importantly, I’m hearing the first issue is a 28-page tour-de-force by Spurrier, Adlard, colourist Sofie Dodgson, and letterer Jim Campbell. Fans missing Spurrier’s work on the cut-far-too-short John Constantine, Hellblazer series will get their itch scratched coupled with the high concept of Bloody El having to send the 72 devils of the Ars Goetia back to Hell by any means necessary. Meanwhile, Adlard and Dodgson have pulled out all the stops and given the series a fresh look that distinguishes it from even The Walking Dead Deluxe. Will retailers order enough copies to meet the demand of The Walking Dead and Hellblazer fans? And if so, will Damn Them All become Boom Studios’ highest ordered creator-owned launch of the year (so far)?
Final Order Cutoff for Damned Them All #1 is this coming Monday, September 26th so we will know soon enough!
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