Mad Cave Studios has announced a new fantasy series, Our Soot Stained Heart, and The Beat has all the details. Debuting in December, the series is co-written by Joni Hägg and Stipan Morian, illustrated by Morian, colored by Ropemann, and lettered by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou.
This wintery tale combines elements of frostpunk, steampunk, and folklore for a story of rebellion. Here’s the full synopsis:
The Coalition is a city of wonder in the deep north, but it is ruled by the cruel Governor Glass and his factory lords. Coal is the lifeline of the city, and for honest workers like young Peggy Stones, life can be hard because of the nefarious quota. To get extra coal at the end of the year, you must be bad, every day! Peggy’s life is thrown into chaos when she is imprisoned and sent into exile, which begins a harrowing journey to the ends of the world to find answers that could change the world!
“Our Soot Stained Heart is a curious story that mixes familiar wintertime stories and traditions with various myths in a unique fantasy setting,” said writer Joni Hägg. “It’s not a retelling of any one story, nor do we use any Christmas characters ‘as-is.’
“Instead, we’ve reimagined them into an entirely new world—one that draws on my Finnish cultural mindscape and Stipan’s Balkan heritage. At its core, this book speaks to the need for the working class to unite against oppression,” Hägg continued. “For me, writing is always about big ideas, and this is a book of big ideas with simple delivery.”
Co-writer and artist Morian added that he and Hägg have been working on Our Soot Stained Heart for more than three years.
“I was on fire with my first book, 20th Century Men, and I just knew we had to make this one sing. Peggy, for me, is the lamb who gets lost in the woods by her own design—because she wants change and wills it into existence,” said Morian. “She’s the agency of youth, the moving force. Readers will find themselves not just in her journey, but in the mirrors of revolution, resilience, and choices that surround her.”
Our Soot Stained Heart #1 will be available digitally and at your local comic shop on December 10, with preorders beginning September 19.
English (US) · 