Exclusive Preview of Vince Locke’s Artwork from Luke Arnold & Chris “Doc” Wyatt’s ESSENTIALS Graphic Novel

“In ESSENTIALS, mathematician Harris Pax predicted the end of the world, but failed to prevent it. Now he’s living alone in a bunker and his niece’s favorite toys are starting to talk to him. The good news? He’s not the world’s sole survivor. The bad news? The other survivors are trapped in alternate realities — trapped in imagined worlds full of zombies, pterodactyls, and chaos. And now Harris Pax and an unlikely ally must travel the country on a quest to restore reality, save humanity, and defeat his new interdimensional nemesis: Snuggles.”

Essentials is the graphic novel debut of Luke Arnold  and the first-ever release from THE LAB PRESS. Having just launched its Kickstarter campaign, it’s an incredibly ambitious project featuring “a stunning array of all-star comic artists,” including: DaNi (Sandman The Dreaming), Glenn Fabry (Preacher), Jason Howard (Transformers), Vince Locke (A History of Violence), Brendan McCarthy (Spider-Man: Fever),  Andrea Mutti (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), M.K. Perker (Air) and a cover by legendary artist Bill Sienkiewicz (New Mutants).

Along with exclusive preview pages from Vince Locke, giving us a tease of Essential‘s zombie apocalypse, we have quotes from Luke Arnold and Doc Wyatt about what you can expect from their new graphic novel:

“Though we begin our story in a zombie apocalypse, don’t expect the book to remain here. Without spoiling things too much, this book takes place in a different kind of apocalypse, where objective reality has become untethered. Now, an individual’s subjective view of the world will manifest around them, creating a personal bubble reality that reflects their beliefs, desires, fears or dreams.

As we travel into each of these manifestations, our heroes – and the reader – will be unraveling the mystery of what each reality says about the person creating it.

What experience might have caused them to see the world this way?”  – Luke Arnold

“When we were thinking about what worlds/realities we wanted to visit in this reality-hopping romp, we knew we wanted to do something stripped down and low tech, to stand in contrast to some of the more scifi-type realities. What’s more stripped down and low tech than a zombie apocalypse. It’s a familiar enough reality that you can get a little comfortable before we rip the rug out from under you.”  – Doc Wyatt

“The ambitious 140-page sci-fi epic is the debut offering from THE LAB PRESS, a new graphic novel publisher helmed by founder and CEO Nicholas Kalikow, who is joined by Editor-in-Chief Dagen Walker, Vice President of Business Development Diane Richey, and Chief Creative Officer and partner Mike Zagari.

The original graphic novel features a stunning array of all-star comic artists: DaNi (Sandman The Dreaming), Glenn Fabry (Preacher), Jason Howard (Transformers), Vince Locke (A History of Violence), Brendan McCarthy (Spider-Man: Fever),  Andrea Mutti (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), M.K. Perker (Air) and a cover by legendary artist Bill Sienkiewicz (New Mutants). ESSENTIALS features colors by Jordie Bellaire, Brad Simpson and Wesley Wong and lettered by DC Hopkins of AndWorld Design. The book’s design and logo were created by Emma Price (Barnstormers).

An all-star roster of artists brings Luke Arnold and Doc Wyatt’s wild, sci-fi adventure to life, with each artist illustrating a different alternate reality. Vince Locke unveils a zombie apocalypse. Andrea Mutti depicts tragedy in outer space. MK Perker illustrates a stunning, aquatic fantasy sequence. Glenn Fabry pulls back the curtain on a creepy collector of classical art And DaNi and Jason Howard play with an ever-changing “objective” reality, which threatens to swallow our hero and everything we have ever known.

In addition to its core staff, which includes THE LAB PRESS Editorial Assistant Lindsay Musil, THE LAB PRESS is working with talented publishing freelancers, including Lillian Laserson, John J. Hill, Ryane Lynn Hill, Olivia Ngai, Emma Price (Barnstormers), and David Hyde and Dustin Holland of Superfan Promotions.

THE LAB PRESS’ Chief Creative Officer Mike Zagari is a twenty year comics veteran, who has worked at Marvel, Disney, and DC Comics and, most recently, as the head of AMC Networks Publishing. “It’s no secret that the comics industry is in a period of tremendous, transformative change,” said Zagari. “THE LAB PRESS is prepared to meet those challenges and opportunities head-on. We’re dedicated to publishing fearless storytelling, with unique styles and perspectives. THE LAB PRESS is focused on creating high end, original graphic novels with stories that challenge, surprise, and engage readers.”

For more updates on THE LAB PRESS and its first Kickstarter, visit them on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram and X.”