Butterfly Gate (Vol. #1)
By Benjamin Read & Chris Wilgoose

Improper Books are delighted to announce the upcoming international release of BUTTERFLY GATE, by Benjamin Read & Chris Wildgoose. The first volume of a creator-owned series, Butterfly Gate will be available from all good comic shops on Wednesday, 13th April 2016, and can be pre-ordered via the Diamond Code: FEB161597.

A Brother and Sister leave our world and its rules behind, journeying into legend through the Butterfly Gate, where every step they take will come at a price.

Written by Benjamin Read and illustrated by Chris Wildgoose, Butterfly Gate follows the story of two siblings who, after throwing themselves headlong through a portal into another world, must face the brutal reality that lies beyond and find their place amidst an empire built after a revolution against the Gods.

An ongoing story, consisting of three arcs, BUTTERFLY GATE is a silent comic, a SF odyssey for an adult audience, conveying the story purely through its imagery.

“Butterfly Gate is told entirely in art: there are no captions, no word balloons. Read and Wildgoose manage all sorts of complexity and subtlety using just the art.” Charles de Lint (The Borderlands Series, Ghostwood, Moonheart, Someplace To Be Flying)

“It’s a story entirely without words. But the progress of the narrative is delightfully clear. It’s absolutely worth your time. It’s a comic you should make a point of seeking out and experiencing.” Patrick Rothfuss (Name of the Wind, Wise Man’s Fear, The Slow Regard of Silent Things)

Knight & Dragon
By Matt Gibbs & Bevis Musson

Improper Books are delighted to announce the upcoming international release of KNIGHT & DRAGON, by Matt Gibbs & Bevis Musson. Inspired by ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ books, Knight & Dragon will be available from all good comic shops on Wednesday, 20th April 2016, and can be pre-ordered via the Diamond Code: FEB161598.

Written by Matt Gibbs and illustrated by Bevis Musson, with colours by Nathan Ashworth, Knight & Dragon playfully subverts the story of a heroic Knight defeating a ferocious Dragon to rescue the fair Maiden by offering variant paths and three different outcomes to the classic storybook adventure.

Each narrative begins the same, with a beleaguered Knight riding his Horse into a seemingly deserted village, where the majority of the Villagers mistake him for a heroic warrior. Distracted by the beauty of the Maiden, before he really knows what he’s doing, the Knight agrees to fight a Dragon and, much to the Maiden’s evident dismay, the Village Chief offers the Knight her hand in marriage should he succeed. Learning too late from the Villagers that the Dragon is both huge and ferocious, the despondent Knight heads out to meet his fate, and at this point the stories begin to diverge…

From here, the Knight, Dragon, and Maiden, along with the Horse, Farmhand, and Village Chief, provide different paths through the unfolding narratives before reaching different endings.

“It’s fun and quite fascinating how your perspective of the story changes depending on which character you’re following—even though each storyline borrows pages from the others.” Charles de Lint (The Borderlands Series, Ghostwood, Moonheart, Someplace To Be Flying)

“The innovation of Knight & Dragon took me completely by surprise… It’s a brilliant piece of work, and one that I heartily recommend.” Laura Sneddon, comicbookgrrrl.com

MULP: Sceptre of the Sun #2
By Matt Gibbs & Sara Dunkerton

Improper Books are delighted to announce the upcoming international release of MULP: Sceptre of the Sun #2, by Matt Gibbs & Sara Dunkerton. The second installment of their creator-owned Pulp adventure set in a world of mice, MULP: Sceptre of the Sun #2 will be available from all good comic shops on Wednesday, 20th April 2016, and can be pre-ordered via the Diamond Code: FEB161599.

Sceptre of the Sun follows the exploits of Jack Redpath and Vicky Jones as they attempt to unravel a mystery surrounding an ancient stone tablet unearthed during an archaeological excavation in Egypt. This tablet is the first marker on an adventure that sees them racing around the world in search of a legendary treasure. Joined by their friends Cornelius Field, Prof. Walter Harvest-Scott, and Elisabeth Harvest-Scott, together they must prevent a powerful artefact falling into unscrupulous paws.

“This has all the elements of a classic kids’ adventure like TINTIN itself: secrets and experts and exotic locations; infiltration, reputation and ducking for cover.” Stephen L. Holland (Page 45)

“The issue fair flies by, setup quickly passes to action, a shooting, a crash, intrigue, secrets, ancient artifacts, a femme fatale, musclebound goons, a mysterious evil genius lurking in the shadows… oh yes, a lot in here.” Richard Bruton (FPI Blog)

“It’s an extremely clever, well rounded story they’ve built here, one that isn’t beholden to its influences but also isn’t embarrassed by them.” Alasdair Stuart (travellingman.wordpress.com)

“Most anthropomorphic adventure series, such as Rupert Bear or Bryan Talbot’s Grandville series, take their characters as human analogues to the extent that they are human size, MULP does not – in MULP the mice really are mice sized.” Jeremy Briggs (downthetubes.net)