Novelists Owen King and Jesse Kellerman Co-Write the Upcoming California Noir Comic 'Self Help'

Novelists and writing duo Owen King (Sleeping Beauties, The Curator) and Jesse Kellerman (The Genius, The Golem of Hollywood) team up with artist Marianna Ignazzi (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Bram Stoker Award-nominated An Unkindness of Ravens), colorist Fabiana Mascolo, and designer/letterer Ian Chagren for the upcoming five-issue comic book miniseries titled Self Help. This new launch out of the Syzygy line at Image Comics will hit shelves in June.

Chagren will also be creating unique popular-crime-fiction-inspired logos and design pages for each issue. Issue #1's design pays homage to legendary Hollywood noir poster artist, Saul Bass.

“I couldn’t be more excited to be working with Jesse Kellerman on Self Help,” said King. “He’s one of my favorite novelists and one of my favorite people. We’re both incredibly lucky to have the brilliant Marianna Ignazzi bringing our sun-baked noir comedy to life.”

A California noir story with a wicked sense of humor, Self Help is a surreal and colorful world populated with two-faced talk-show hosts, cheerful Finnish mobsters, bloodthirsty white supremacists, snide English butlers, and panther-wielding Euro-trash assassins.

Kellerman added: “Writing Self Help has been nonstop fun—and the credit for that goes to my amazing co-writer, Owen King. This story is the product of two good friends cutting loose and letting our imaginations run wild. And we’re thrilled by the beautiful, stylish, vivid genius of Marianna Ignazzi. We can’t wait for you to get your hands on it.”

In Self Help, readers are introduced to down-on-his-luck rideshare driver Jerry Hauser, whose existence is a bleak one…especially because every fare he picks up tells him how much he looks like ultra-successful self-help guru Darren Hart. But in a twist of fate, Jerry is given the chance of a lifetime…which, if he’s not careful, may well end his lifetime. So begins this rollicking and gleefully lurid pulp crime story.

“I am beyond thrilled to be part of the incredible team behind Self Help,” said Ignazzi. “Working alongside such talented individuals has been an absolute joy. Get ready for a wild ride as we dive into a gripping crime story filled with unexpected twists and turns.”

From there the story races ahead at an ever-increasing speed, and with an ever-increasing body count, as Jerry assumes his rival’s identity, fights to keep a lid on the murder, fends off the Euro-gangsters to whom Darren was heavily indebted, placates Darren’s calculating assistant Cassandra, and rebuilds his relationship with his estranged ex-wife Michelle and daughter Amelia. Oh, and he also needs to avoid the white supremacists that hold Jerry’s personal marker—except to them, he’s Danny McClure—and keep up his Drÿvÿr rating.

Self Help #1 will be available at comic book shops on Wednesday, June 19: