Tag Archives: appalachia comics project

The Monster Appreciation Society Ashcan teases some Appalachian horror

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Monsters lurk in ancient mountains…
Bigfoot.
The Moon-Eyed People.
Real Estate Developers.

In the southern Appalachian Mountains, the greed of man collides with the unseen world of the first inhabitants. For a group of extraordinary young people and the small town trying to raise them, the fallout changes everything.

How do you parent your kids when their best friends are Bigfoot? And how do you save them all?

Story: Andrew Aydin
Art: Jonathan Marks Barravecchia

Get yours:
Etsy
Kickstarter benefiting Islands in the Sky

Appalachia Comics Project launches June 17 on Kickstarter with a kickoff event at the Pigeon Community Multicultural Center

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Appalachia Comics Project

Tomorrow, June 17th, the Appalachia Comics Project will formally launch with a national Kickstarter campaign and kickoff event at the Pigeon Community Multicultural Center in Waynesville, NC. The kickoff event is a celebration featuring local comic book and graphic novel creators as well as the survivors telling their story in the ACP’s first graphic history — Islands in the Sky: The Story of Hurricane Helene as told by those who survived.

Luminaries such as Barbara Kingsolver and José Andrés are expected to make public statements of support upon launch and the book will include work by noted scientist Dr. David Easterling, former Chief of the Scientific Services Division at NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center, among others, including multiple Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winners.

WHEN:           Tuesday, June 17, 2025
                        6:00pm (remarks begin at 7:15pm)

WHERE:         Pigeon Community Multicultural Center
                        450 Pigeon Street
                        Waynesville, NC 28786

The Appalachia Comics Project (ACP) is an initiative formed by local and national comic and graphic novel creators to (1) create a nonfiction graphic history of the Hurricane Helene disaster in southern Appalachia, and (2) work toward a self-sustaining comics publishing initiative that creates comics works for, from, and about Appalachia.

So far, ACP has paired more than a dozen local survivors with renowned comic creators like Brian Michael Bendis, Gene Luen Yang, Matt Fraction, Nate Powell, and others to create Islands in the Sky as a monument to the storm that changed everything. Harrowing, inspiring, humorous, and tragic–this history is being brought to life in comics to create a first-hand account of what really happened by those that lived it. Survivor accounts include Dr. David Easterling, former Chief of the Scientific Services Division at NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, NC presenting a science-based exploration of what occurred.

Good Trouble Comics announces the Appalachia Comics Project aiming to spotlight the devastation of Hurricane Helene and history of the region

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Appalachia Comics Project

Good Trouble Comics, the publisher behind numerous educational comics spotlighting American history and civics, has announced the Appalachia Comics Project (ACP). As first reported by Smoky Mountain News, The Appalachia Comics Project aims to:

  1. create a nonfiction graphic history of the Hurricane Helene disaster in southern Appalachia, and
  2. partner with area journalists, storytellers, and artist to reach an underserved–and often intentionally misunderstood–audience where the loss of local news infrastructure and institutions has led to rampant mis- and disinformation.

Initially launching in June with a Kickstarter, the project is multifaceted that includes multiple comic projects and various goals but most importantly help contribute to the rebuilding of the Southern Appalachian economy and community. Three steps it’s taking are:

  1. Putting affected creators and journalists back to work, giving survivors paid story-telling work, and allowing locals control over their own narrative,
  2. Providing no-cost copies of the Helene graphic history and subsequent Appalachia Comics, to local Appalachian bookstores to sell and public/school libraries to help rebuild their collections, and
  3. Establish a vetted history of the disaster as well as a regular source for community news.

Part of its initial goal is to donate 1000+ graphic history copies, and ongoing free distribution of Appalachia Comics issues, to local bookstores, schools, and public libraries.

Planned for release are:

● Quarterly 64-page comics/magazine hybrid inspired by the “Foxfire” project of the 1970s and The Bitter Southerner today, blending folklore, history, fiction, and nonfiction comics with a focus on Appalachia. Here we can explore environmentalism through shared experiences like growing a garden, changes in weather, and land management, as well as innovative explorations of foodways including comic-style recipes.

● Quarterly 32-page comics profiling the people of Appalachia; subverting stereotypes and delving into the real life of “Mountain Folk”.

The first issue of Appalachia Comics is set to be released Winter 2025 and then quarterly after with the graphic history getting a release Summer 2026.

Good Trouble Comics produces works of creative nonfiction in the form of comics and visual media. It was founded in 2019 by Andrew Aydin, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Valentine De Landro, Matt Fraction, and Vaughn Shinall.