The first issue of SOMNA, DSTLRY’s erotic folk-horror series, is out today. Written, drawn, and colored by Eisner Award-winning creators Tula Lotay (Barnstormers) and Becky Cloonan (By Chance or Providence, Wonder Woman), the series is a dark and sexy period thriller that spins out of the duo’s 11-page story “What Blighted Flame Burns in Thee?” from DSTLRY’s debut release The Devil’s Cut.
DSTLRY today revealed lettered interior pages from SOMNA #1, highlighting the intertwined art styles of Cloonan and Lotay as SOMNA’s narrative shifts between dreams and reality. SOMNA is an eerie exploration of puritanical oppression and forbidden passion presented in oversized, perfect-bound issues, with issue #1 clocking in at an extra-special 56 pages.
Set amidst the terrifying backdrop of the witch hunts in a quiet 1600s English village, SOMNA follows one woman’s escape from the confines of her puritanical world. Ingrid is unhappily married to Roland, the town’s bailiff and chief witch hunter, who has embarked on a single-minded quest to purge the ‘heretics’ in their midst.
After a prominent town leader is found murdered, accusations fly and no one is above reproach from Roland’s deadly crusade. Ingrid has her suspicions about who the real murderer is, but even as she searches for the truth, she’s pursued by a shadowy figure. Ingrid gravitates to the foreboding phantom in ways she can’t resist; does this otherworldly seduction hold the key to the mystery? Or will he damn Ingrid’s soul to the blackest circle of Hell?
SOMNA #1 is available at local comic shops and online through DSTLRY’s website at https://dstlry.co/.
