On Monday, Iron Circus launched the Kickstarter campaign for Stonewall Honor Book Award winner Mel Gillman’s new graphic novel, an adult sapphic fairy tale called The Goblin Throne. Today, The Beat can reveal an exclusive preview of the book, which doubled its funding goal in less than 24 hours.
Here’s the synopsis:
When a young woman cornered and out of options makes a pact with the Goblin Queen for peace and safety, she initially thinks herself prepared to pay any price. But when confronted with the true cost of her contract, she breaks her word and flees to start a new life far from the strange old creature. What she doesn’t realize is that all roads lead to the Goblin Kingdom—and its Queen will always find you. One way or another.
Eventually the woman’s young son unwittingly walks right into the Goblin Queen’s trap. And when the woman’s son awakens bloody and alone, will he dare to use the hunting skills his long-dead father taught him to save his mother? After all, he once made a promise, too… A promise to shoot slow.
Check out interior and cover art below.
“The Goblin Throne is my best, nastiest horror-romance comic yet,” said Gillman. “It’s a squarely adult story about craven lesbian desire and heartbreak, told in the style of ancient fairy tales—specifically the old, weird, and violent ones. I could not be more thrilled to be working on this book with Iron Circus Comics, which has never shied away from unleashing messy, complex, and challenging queer adult comics onto the world!”
“There are far too few sapphic fairy tales out there,” said Iron Circus Publisher C. Spike Trotman. “We’re sick of stories about some dude stalking yet another princess! We want a story about a hot, one-eyed Goblin Queen scouring the earth for the woman that stole her heart and broke a promise. And that’s exactly what The Goblin Throne delivers. Author Mel Gillman sucks you into a world of passion, blood, and betrayal, rendered in their peerless colored pencil illustrations.
“If you like the aesthetic of Over the Garden Wall and the quiet horror of Grimm’s Fairy Tales, the fanciful and sinister world of The Goblin Throne is for you,” Trotman continued.
The Goblin Throne is an adult graphic novel that will be printed in a 6″ x 9″ full color hardcover. Kickstarter backers can claim exclusive rewards including original pages, a bookplate, and a discounted bundle of Iron Circus titles hand-picked by Gillman.
The Goblin Throne is live on Kickstarter until June 30.
