Although breathtakingly gorgeous, the darker corners of the Appalachian wilderness are home to hellish red eyes that linger on Lamont, a young man plagued by his past and grappling with his future in Ravi Teixeira’s gripping new graphic novel Heaven, West Virginia. “A singular and seductive meditation on the complexity of grief, healing, and the power of the natural world,” Heaven, West Virginia will be released on November 11th from Oni Press, and we’ve been provided with an exclusive excerpt that shows how sometimes the shadows of the forest have sharp teeth… especially when you’re haunted by voracious inner demons from your past.
Below, you can read our exclusive preview of Heaven, West Virginia, and we also have the official press release with additional details!
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From the Press Release: Lamont’s father was not a good man. And now Lamont’s father is dead. Oni Press, the multiple Eisner and Harvey Award-winning publisher of groundbreaking comics and graphic novels since 1997, is proud to announce HEAVEN, WEST VIRGINIA, a story for anyone struggling with both inner and outer demons. An original graphic novel from Ravi Teixeira (A Quick & Easy Guide to Coming Out), HEAVEN, WEST VIRGINIA is a powerful and compelling tale that deals with the fallout from tragedy, and the sometimes-terrifying journey to healing.
When Lamont arrives in the tiny Appalachian town of Heaven, West Virginia, its lush landscape feels stubbornly at odds with the roiling anxiety that’s come to define his inner life. Living there and learning the art of foraging and tea-making from his kind, stoic aunt LaToya should be idyllic — even a paradise. But in the shadows of Heaven’s woods, Lamont sees a dark, hulking figure, long, glimmering teeth, and piercing red eyes. No one else seems to see this beast . . . not his aunt, and not the handsome cowboy, Coyote, whose gentle voice evokes the comforting, electric aroma of LaToya’s brews. Escaping its voraciously hungry pursuit feels impossible, and Lamont will have to face more than the darkness of the woods to do so.
“Lamont is me, Lamont is you, Lamont is my own father and his father, and anyone who has struggled with losing someone they couldn’t love, and who couldn’t love them,” said cartoonist Ravi Teixeira. “HEAVEN, WEST VIRGINIA is my love letter to finding love when you’ve been denied it, being haunted by your past, and the rolling hills and lush, ancient forests of Appalachia.”
Teixeira is a Cape Verdean American transgender cartoonist living abroad in Canada whose comics tackles trans and gay sexuality and grief during tough times. Their work has been nominated for the prestigious GLAAD Awards. In 2019, their work was featured in the Prism Award winning DATES anthology, published by Margins. In 2024, Oni Press published their acclaimed graphic novel A QUICK AND EASY GUIDE TO COMING OUT and their work was featured in the BECOMING WHO WE ARE anthology (AWBW), which was recommended by the New York Times.
A singular and seductive meditation on the complexity of grief, healing, and the power of the natural world by cartoonist Ravi Teixeira. Forget “Almost.” HEAVEN, WEST VIRGINIA is set to arrive in bookstores on November 11th, 2025.
Creator bio:
Ravi Teixeira is a Cape Verdean American transgender cartoonist living abroad in Canada. Their work has been nominated for the prestigious GLAAD Awards. In 2019, their work was featured in the Prism Award winning DATES anthology, published by Margins. In 2024, Oni Press published their acclaimed graphic novel A QUICK AND EASY GUIDE TO COMING OUT and their work was featured in the BECOMING WHO WE ARE anthology (AWBW), which was recommended by the New York Times. Ravi Teixeira’s comics tackles trans and gay sexuality and grief during tough times. They love cowboys, gothic horror, and telling stories about gay sex.
About Oni Press
Founded in 1997, Oni Press has a 25-year history as one of the industry’s most respected and acclaimed publishers of award-winning comic books and graphic novels with titles including Bryan Lee O’Malley’s Scott Pilgrim, K. O’Neill’s Tea Dragon Society, Cullen Bunn & Brian Hurtt’s The Sixth Gun, Maia Kobabe’s Gender Queer, Ezra Clayton Daniels’ Upgrade Soul, Brenna Thummler’s Sheets trilogy, and many hundreds more. In 2019, Oni Press merged with Lion Forge Comics – the Eisner Award-winning independent comic book publisher founded by Academy Award-winning producer and entrepreneur David Steward II – to create one of the largest, independent libraries of comics content anywhere in media. The Oni-Lion Forge Publishing Group now exists as a publishing subsidiary of Steward’s diversified global media company, Polarity.
The Oni-Lion Forge Publishing Group publishes more than 60 original and licensed graphic novels annually, in addition to an extensive list of periodical comics.
