‘Aquinnah’ Exclusive: A New, Queer Take on ‘Moby Dick’
Dark Horse Books presents Aquinnah, an original graphic novel from writer Matteo Casali (Batman: Europa) and artist Rachele Aragno (Leonide the Vampyr). Together, Casali, Aragno, and letterer Clarissa Saccani spin a terrible tale of history and injustice in this new story inspired by Herman Melville’s Moby Dick. We’re excited to exclusively debut the cover, as well as a few teaser pages!
But first, read the full synopsis below:
Amber has carried the question of her past for years. With no memory of her childhood and haunted by chronic pain, she assumes she has amnesia––until a strange man claiming to have answers appears. And a story much darker, stranger, and more otherworldly than she imagined begins to take shape. Amber and her girlfriend are caught up in a net of occult secrets and ancient monsters connected to the seaside town of Aquinnah, and as the town’s dark history is uncovered, Amber must decide if she will be the town’s salvation…or its doom.
Check out the book’s cover and three interior pages!
“Matteo and I have known each other for many years and often talked about working together on a project,” said Aragno. “We always put it off, perhaps because the right idea hadn’t arrived yet, but it finally arrived a few months ago and totally engulfed us. As if it had come straight from a common mind, we started thinking of something about old sailors, stormy seas, and dark secrets. We had several brainstorms and from those chats, the central crux of our story was born. When I read the plot Matteo had written, I was struck by it; we had to make it happen.”
She added, “Thanks to Dark Horse and the wonderful Jenny and Misha we managed to compose it in the best possible way, I really put all my soul into it and I had a blast! Matteo writes from God and I was able to draw and color things I had never done before, immersed in those eerie and salty atmospheres.
“It’s funny we both struggle to remember how and when, precisely, we met,” said Casali. “I know I saw some of Rachele’s art, probably online, and fell in love with it. She had not yet published her first book, Melvina, but I knew she had it in her to make it as a pro. Time went by, we kept in touch (never meeting in person until 2022!) and it turned out I was right as she bloomed into the amazing artist she is today. We had been talking about the chance of working together for years, when a piece of art she posted made me say ‘Wouldn’t it be fun to finally do something like this together?’ And you know what? We did it.
Casali continued, “The funniest thing, in the early stages of Aquinnah, was Rachele telling me she wanted to be challenged and taken down a ‘dark, horrific path’. Turns out the real challenge was for me, because I loved her wonderful and sometimes relaxing art style. But I love a good challenge and when I started writing I had that dark path cleared for us both. So, we took it, and walked all the way down to the dark shoreline of Aquinnah…”
Aquinnah (paperback, 144 pages, 6.625×10.1875”) will be available in bookstores on January 14, 2025 and in comic shops on January 15, 2025. It is now available to preorder from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and your local comic shop or bookstore for $29.99.
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