The Spire (comics)
The Spire is an American weird fantasy / mystery[1] comics series written by Simon Spurrier and drawn by Jeff Stokely. The eight-issue limited series[2] has been published since 2015 by Boom! Studios. The series was nominated for an Eisner Award in 2016 for “Best Limited Series”.
| The Spire | |
|---|---|
 Cover of The Spire #1, showing Shå | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Boom! Studios |
| Format | Limited series |
| Genre | |
| No. of issues | 8 |
| Creative team | |
| Written by | Simon Spurrier |
| Artist(s) | Jeff Stokely |
| Letterer(s) | Steve Wands |
| Colorist(s) | André May |
It is set in the titular Spire, a vast city in the middle of a deadly wasteland, locked in war with religious zealots and riven by the tension between its rulers and the underclass of "Sculpted", humans who have been hybridized with nonhuman biology.[3] The protagonist is Shå, the city's captain of police, who investigates a series of murders of aristocrats at a time when a new Baroness is crowned and the city's internal and external conflicts are about to come to a head.
Spurrier described the recipe for the series as "one part 'Mad Max,' one part 'Bladerunner,' one part 'Dark Crystal,' one part nutfuck insanity".[3] Paste Magazine characterized the "beguiling" comic as inspired by China Miéville's Bas-Lag and Jeff VanderMeer's Ambergris in creating a world where "the fantastical aspects don’t mitigate the worst aspects of human nature".[4]
References
- Pitts, Lan (5 May 2015). "SPURRIER Sets Out On Magical Medieval Murder Mystery Tour With THE SPIRE". Newsarama. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
- Cook, Marcy (11 August 2015). "LOVING THE SPIRE". Panels.net. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
- Dietsch, TJ (30 June 2015). "MURDER, XENOPHOBIA & SCI-FI ACTION COLLIDE IN SPURRIER'S "THE SPIRE"". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
- Carroll, Tobias (7 July 2015). "Strange Cities, Stranger Crimes and "Glorious Weirdness": An Interview With Simon Spurrier on The Spire". Paste. Retrieved 16 August 2015.