Set in a world where a gaming console known as the Dreamwave allows you to explore a video game’s ominous open world while you sleep, writer Zac Thompson and artist Daniel Irizarri’s four-issue comic book series Cemetery Kids Don’t Die follows a quartet of friends who encounter an entity known as “The King of Sleep” in their favorite video game “Nightmare Cemetery,” and that’s when the horrors of the online world become all too real, leading to the friends’ most epic—and deadly—quest yet.
One of the most imaginative and timely comic book releases of 2024, all four issues of Cemetery Kids Don’t Die are now available in a trade paperback from Oni Press just in time for the holidays, and as a special treat for Daily Dead readers, we have the entire first issue that you can read now!
Click on the cover below to read the first issue of Cemetery Kids Don’t Die, and in case you missed it, read our Q&A with writer Zac Thompson.
Cemetery Kids Don’t Die Vol. 1
By Zac Thompson
Illustrated by Daniel Irizarri and Gegê Schall
Publisher: Oni Press (December 3, 2024)
Length: 112 pages“A chilling reflection on the cost of overreliance on technology and the seductive power of virtual realities to reshape our identities and relationships, sure to resonate with both horror and science fiction fans.” —Library Journal
“Younger comics fans will delight in this breezier update to David Cronenberg’s ExistenZ.” —Publishers Weekly
YOU’RE ONLY ALIVE IF YOU’RE ONLINE . . .
The twenty-first century sucks hard, but it’s been made somewhat tolerable by the latest media innovation to finally unseat the iPhone. Enter the Dreamwave: the first gaming console played entirely while you sleep.
Now the obsession of millions around the globe, it’s also the one point of solace for four friends whose lives have been marred by trauma and dysfunction. Together, this group of ultra-online “Cemetery Kids” spend their nights roaming the open world of the most immersive and brutal horror game ever created: “Nightmare Cemetery.” Together they seek to dethrone an enigmatic humanoid monster known only as the “The King of Sleep.”
Which was fun—until one of them doesn’t wake up . . . and finds their consciousness locked inside a horror game that is anything but imaginary. Now, the three remaining Cemetery Kids must navigate the game’s forbidden landscape to rescue their friend . . . and pray that the secret lurking at its center doesn’t follow them home.
Experience an exhilarating, terrifying adventure downloading from the cortexes of critically acclaimed writer Zac Thompson (Hunt for the Skinwalker, The Dregs) and blockbuster artist Daniel Irizarri (XINO, Judge Dredd)!
Zac Thompson is a multidisciplinary writer from Prince Edward Island, Canada. He is best known for his work at Marvel Comics, including the eco-horror title Ka-Zar: Lord of the Savage Land and showrunning the Age of X-Man event. He has also written characters like Batman and Swamp Thing at DC Comics. In 2017, Zac released his critically acclaimed debut graphic novel, The Dregs. His 2018 follow up, Come Into Me, was named one of the Best 100 Horror Comics of All Time by Paste magazine. In 2021, his science-fiction horror series I Breathed A Body was called one of the best comics of the year by SYFY. In 2022, Thompson’s original screenplay The Replacer was selected for production financing from Telefilm Canada. Zac has also written stories for Vice, Huff Post, IGN, Seraphim Films, Image Comics, and many other publications. When Zac’s not out foraging for mushrooms or cycling, you can find him at the cinema or walking his dog, Astra.
Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Daniel Irizarri has been illustrating or drawing comics for the majority of his life. His art can be found in various projects, including Cloudia and Rex published by Magnetic Press, Judge Dredd: The Blessed Earth and Star Trek Waypoint 2019 one-shot from IDW, and the Oni Press anthology XINO. Additionally, his art can be seen in the Kickstarter hit Holy West, and a variety of self-published efforts like his Otherworldly sci-fi and fantasy artbooks. He spends his days on the north coast of the island with his lovely girlfriend and their cats.
To read the first issue of Cemetery Kids Don’t Die, click on the cover below or visit: https://dailydead.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/CKDD-1-pages-for-DD.pdf
