The debut graphic novel of renowned artist Sage Coffey, Wine Ghost Goes to Hell centers on the reunion between two friends in the afterlife and the wild adventures that follow. With Coffey's new graphic novel now being crowdfunded by Iron Circus Comics, we have an exclusive excerpt from Wine Ghost Goes to Hell to share with Daily Dead readers!
Our exclusive excerpt showcases the many different forms one can take after dying in Wine Ghost Goes to Hell. As Coffey explains, they took a unique approach to depicting life after death in their first graphic novel:
"In WINE GHOST GOES TO HELL, the form you are given after death fits the punishment for your life. If an overall bad person loved to run but was scared of water, they’d be a mermaid in the afterlife. Working with that idea in mind allows me to get really weird with character designs on something as simple as a dominatrix in the background."
Below, you can read our exclusive excerpt and the official press release with additional details, and to support and learn more about Wine Ghost Goes to Hell, visit:
Press Release: Spike Trotman’s Iron Circus Comics, the trailblazing comics publisher that has raised nearly 3 million dollars over more than 30 crowdfunding campaigns, is crowdfunding WINE GHOST GOES TO HELL, the irreverent, sassy, and sexy graphic novel debut from cartoonist Sage Coffey. Best known for their work in The New Yorker, The Nib, The Washington Post and on the GLAAD 2021 nominated video game BUGSNAX, Sage Coffey is a trans nonbinary cartoonist living in Chicago, IL. Their full color graphic novel debut is a supernatural romp, featuring a slice of glamor and disaster, and the prelaunch page is now live on BackerKit.
When Wine Ghost was alive, she was an alcohol-soaked train wreck. Now that she’s dead… Well, not all that much has changed. When an old friend from her living days unexpectedly dies, Wine Ghost is faced with a lot more responsibility than she bargained for. She learned the ropes to hell a long time ago but it's his first rodeo. And, boy, howdy, it's a wild one.
“Imagine if the magazine Hollywood Insider was a person,” said cartoonist Sage Coffey. “Now imagine that person is a dead alcoholic. That's Wine Ghost! She is drama. She is fashion. She insists that wine counts as a fruit. And she may be her newly dead friend's only hope of having a life after death.”
“One of the great joys of publishing comics is introducing cartoonists to a wider audience,” said Iron Circus Publisher, Spike Trotman. “If you haven’t read Sage Coffey’s comics, it’s time to sit up and pay attention. This is Wine Ghosts’s world, we're just living in it.”
WINE GHOST GOES TO HELL will feature pink dyed page edges, and the BackerKit campaign will feature rewards and stretch goals, including glow-in-the-dark Wine Ghost vinyl figures.
Praise for Sage Coffey’s Work
“WINE GHOST GOES TO HELL is a blisteringly unique, psychedelic epic about running into your shitty ex in Hell, but it's also about friendship and self-confidence and an unstable real estate market. Sage's art is joyful in every line and a delicious multi-media collage that reminds me what comics can be.”
— Kendra Wells (Real Hero Shit)
“Bugsnax’s queer representation feels effortless, but I could tell that the creative team put plenty of care into their portrayal of queer and non-binary folks.”—Rock Paper Shotgun on Coffey's game Bugnax
“Coffey paces the comic beautifully.”—Women Write about Comics on Coffey's If It Were Socially Acceptable
“Coffey's mix of thin and thick line weights add to the sense of both exaggeration and nuance and goes well with the single-tone red that they use throughout.”—High-Low review of the original Wine Ghost mini
“Sage Coffey's illustrative hell is honestly heaven. I want to dive into the world of Wine Ghost and stay there forever. It's vibrant, spooky, yet cozy.. .like house hunting inside of a demon's mouth. Cheers to Wine Ghost!”—Bianca Xunise (Six Chix, Punk Rock Karaoke)
“WHY IS EVERYONE IN HELL SO HOT?! AND HOW CAN I GET THERE??” —cartoonist KC Green
“WINE GHOST GOES TO HELL is about the different stages of friendship, getting drunk and not knowing any better,” said Sage Coffey. “It’s very much inspired by my experiences and people I’ve known, although we’re all still alive. So far as I know, at least.”
WINE GHOST GOES TO HELL is Iron Circus Comics' thirty-eighth crowdfunding project and is crowdfunding now on BackerKit. For updates follow, Iron Circus Books on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. To sign up to net notified when the project is live, head to BackerKit.
About the cartoonist
Sage Coffey is a trans nonbinary cartoonist in Chicago, IL with a passion for drawing goofy and emotionally complicated creatures. They're best known for their work in The New Yorker, The Washington Post and on the GLAAD 2021 nominated video game BUGSNAX. Previously, they edited Sweaty Palms anthology and contributed to multiple award winning comic anthologies including Comics for Choice and Be Gay, Do Comics. They love salmon (the fish, not the color).
About the Publisher/E.I.C.
C. Spike Trotman was born in DC, raised in MD, and lives in IL. An artist and writer, she founded Iron Circus Comics in 2007, which has since grown to become the region's largest comics publisher. Her notable work includes the webcomic "Templar, Arizona," the Smut Peddler series of erotic comic anthologies, and Poorcraft, a graphic novel guide to frugal living. A Kickstarter early adopter, she pioneered the widely-adopted bonus model that's since completely reshaped the pay system of the small press, jump-starting the current renaissance of alt-comics anthologies. Iron Circus is also the first comics publisher of note to fully incorporate crowdfunding into its business model, inventing one of the single most effective uses of new media in comics publishing today.
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To support and learn more about Wine Ghost Goes to Hell, visit:
Raised on a steady diet of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps books and Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Derek has been fascinated with fear since he first saw ForeverWare being used on an episode of Eerie, Indiana.
When he’s not writing about horror as the Senior News Reporter for Daily Dead, Derek can be found daydreaming about the Santa Carla Boardwalk from The Lost Boys or reading Stephen King and Brian Keene novels.
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