Dennis Hopeless' Real-Life Family Secrets Inspires the 1980s Rural Crime Thriller 'She’s Running on Fumes'

Issue #1 Arrives February 6, 2024, from Comixology Originals With Art and Color by Tyler Jenkins and Hilary Jenkins

Inspired by his family’s real-life secrets, writer Dennis Hopeless (Spider-Woman, All-New X-Men) has penned She’s Running on Fumes, a 1980s rural crime thriller. Told in 6 fast-paced issues, She’s Running on Fumes features art by Tyler Jenkins (Grass Kings), a rich watercolor palette by Hilary Jenkins, lettering by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou, and edits by Heather Antos. She’s Running on Fumes #1 arrives February 6, 2024, from Comixology Originals, Amazon’s exclusive digital content line.

“When I was 3 years old my mother started a chop shop with a half-wit junkyarder named Corn Dog,” says Hopeless. “Dad was the criminal. Mom had never broken a law in her life, but with him, brain-damaged, fifty-thousand dollars of cocaine gone missing, and hospital bills piling up, grand theft auto was our only hope.”

She’s Running on Fumes is set during the summer of 1984 in the town of Deepwater, Missouri. When a small-time criminal by the name of Jody, gets his Monte Carlo t-boned by a Ford Bronco, the trajectory of his family’s life is forever changed. As hospital bills start piling up, and his young wife and mother of two learn he was involved in drug trafficking, she too must resort to illegal activity, doing everything she can to survive.

Hopeless continued, “She’s Running on Fumes is based on the true story of how my mom lied, cheated, and stole her way through dad’s tire fire and the freedom she found out the other side. The story is based on family stories and my father’s near-fatal accident from when I was a toddler. As I grew older, details were added that made it clear my father was a criminal, and many of the events of my childhood were driven by his criminal dealings. The seeds of the idea came from asking my mother about these old stories as an adult and getting the real dirt.”

Enhancing the story is Tyler and Hilary Jenkins’ watercolored artwork, giving the book a pitch-perfect rural 1980s sunbaked feel.

Culling from his past, Hopeless tells a heartbreaking and eye-opening story about poverty, parenthood, and a young mother finding her strength at rock bottom.