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Whistles first appeared in installments at SLG's digital comic site Eyemelt.com.The graphic novel will be available in late July or early August.
Whistles serves up a dystopia chock-full of deadly clowns
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Classic horror actor Lon Chaney once famously remarked “There is nothing scarier than a clown after midnight.”
Lon lived in simpler times.
Today, with a copy of the new graphic novel Whistles: The Starlight Calliope in hand, Lon would revise his statement: “There is nothing scarier than an alternate dimension crawling with cannibalistic circus people, Cthuloid creatures, a thriving sex trade and surreal flexible clowns. After, uh, midnight.”
And then somebody would take Lon away.
But the sad thing is that Lon would barely have scratched the surface.
Whistles obviously isn't your garden-variety clown saga: it's an entire universe, where the masses are entertained by clowns of global-star status. Our titular star, Whistles, finds himself drawn into the seamy underbelly of Mr. Pendlecoat's Starlight Calliope, and thrown from the only world he ever knows – the Big Top – into a bizarre world of spaceships, slug-things, sordid sex and unspeakable atrocities.
Will the heroic clown Gumblin be able to overthrow the nefarious Pendlecoat? Who will win the hand, and heart, of the delightful lady clown Doodlebean? And what is Pendlecoat's secret, and the secret of the Starlight Calliope?
Writer-artist Andrew Hussie has taken what might easily have been a one-note joke, and turned it into a fully realized universe. “I was as surprised as anyone to find out a quick gag about a cannibalistic clown conspiracy would unfold into something more broadly engaging of the human condition, especially in later chapters," said Hussie. "Whistles the Clown’s sick attachment to his master, who only wants to kill him, strikes me as very human. Humans are pathologically self-destructive, though goodhearted they may be."
Whistles the book also has the distinction of having been the flagship title for SLG Publishing's comics download service, Eyemelt.com. Copies of Whistles have been (and will continue to be) downloadable at eyemelt.com for $0.89 per issue, but reader response and demand led SLG publisher Dan Vado to create the TPB for the traditional print market.
“A comic book story as visceral and vibrant as Whistles needs to be held in one's hands in order to be fully appreciated," Vado said. "While we can debate the future of digital downloads, web comics and the like, nothing really beats the experience of holding an authors collected works in your hands."
Whistles Volume One: The Starlight Calliope will be 128 pages and retail for $10.95. It is available for pre-order from Diamond Comics now and will soon be available at SLG Publishing's website www.slgcomic.com and Amazon.com.
Readers looking for a distinct new blend of dark humor and melodrama (and a refreshing new voice in comics) won't be disappointed.
Don't tell Lon Chaney.
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NOW, I say! If you do not get SLG's digital comics you are being left far behind. We who ride the technology dirigible will float away and wave at you who are still standing on boring old solid ground with a bunch of old people who still use checks to pay for groceries.
In this issue, you get to know Gumblin, the ambiguously sexual clown who became the star of Starlight Calliope circus after Whistles was so unjustly and unceremoniously given the boot. There is nothing more inspiring than seeing Gumblin ride through the sky on his flying tricycle. Believe me.
Here's the official description. Notice that it doesn't mention sweet, sweet clown ass. We're dignified people here.
Having escaped the circus with his beaten master, Whistles wanders through the desert, hungry and wounded. Gumblin has set out to bring them to justice, leaving Doodlebean in charge. Whistles learns more about his unique powers as a clown. While Doodlebean tries to organize the show, she encounters another disturbing twist in the Starlight Calliope.
Purchase it now at store.slavelabor.com. Select "downloadable comics" from the drop-down menu.
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Some other newly-downloadable titles include Midnight Sun #1 by Eisner nominee Ben Towle, Emo Boy #4-6 by Steve Emond, Next Exit #1 by Christy Lijewski, and Cemeterians #2 by Gilgrim.
We're also recommending a web comic reader for Mac users--it's called Comic Book Lover (or Lovah, if you prefer). It's very slick and sophisticated, and it works like iTunes for organizing your soon-to-be-giant collection of downloaded comics. The free version displays a watermark on images, but if you purchase the software, the watermark is removed. It's $24.95, but the developer is offering 10% off to SLG comics readers. Just use the coupon code SLAVELABOR at check-out. Alas, there is no Windows version. (We all uses Macs here at SLG, though. They're purdy.)
To answer the "I don't wanna pay $0.89 to support something I like!" comment on YouTube: The first issue used to be on Andrew Hussie's website for free, yes, but subsequent issues will be new material.
You know how I've been hinting at new downloadable comic project? Well, read on!
SLG's Whistles a Twisted Clown Tale with Heart
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Whistles the Clown is the beloved one-time star of the Starlight Calliope circus. Lithe, innocent and full of joy, Whistles loves his job as much as he loves the circus's ringmaster, Master Pendlecoat. He never suspects there are dark secrets in the Starlight Calliope until an unfortunate accident with a clown fire truck forces him to confront the gruesome truth. Still, nothing can sway Whistles' devotion to his Master, not even the prospect of being turned into a meal or being forced to accept the life of a gigolo to support himself. Meanwhile, sedition brews at the Starlight Calliope. Can the new star Gumblin and the rest of the clowns count on Whistles to help them in their revolution? Or will Whistles' undying love for Pendlecoat continue to blind him to his master's sinister, murderous nature?
Whistles, SLG's new comic book series, is the first published work of creator Andrew Hussie. Whistles' story had simple beginnings--Hussie originally planned it as a two-page gag comic. "The nature of the story was very much to serve as a vehicle for silly and twisted jokes about clowns," Hussie said. "But through its evolution, it has accumulated the elements of a dramatic story, with deeper character relationships, emotional conflicts, and dare I say, even traces of poignancy."
SLG sees Whistles as a comic for its core fans. "Whistles has that dark-and-funny thing going on for it. It will appeal to fans of Johnny the Homicidal Maniac, but Andrew definitely has his own vision," said SLG's editor-in-chief Jennifer de Guzman. "On the one hand, Whistles is an abused clown driven to senseless violence, but his naïveté makes him loveable. And it is touching, as Andrew says. Whistles is very human in his love for the circus and his desire to be loved."
Whistles will be SLG Publishing's first digital only comic book. Having recently made news by releasing some of its printed comics in digital format, SLG will be taking what it considers to be the logical next step by serializing Whistles as downloadable-only comics, following with a print version of the comics in graphic novel format being made available to the book trade and direct markets in the late spring. Readers will be able to read Whistles this October, when SLG offers the first issue on their webstore.The issues will cost $0.89 and will be available in CBZ and PDF formats. Each issue will include an ad for the first Whistles trade paperback. A preview of Whistles #1 is available now at www.slgpublishing.com.
