DSTLRY, the next-generation publisher redefining creator-owned comic books and collectibles, proudly announces LIFE, an innovative six-issue series that unites co-writers Brian Azzarello (THE BLOOD BROTHERS MOTHER, 100 Bullets) and Stephanie Phillips (Grim, Harley Quinn) for the first time. Joined by artist Danijel Žeželj (Nostalgia) and colorist Lee Loughridge (SOMNA, Deadly Class), the team constructs an interlocking flip book, anchored by two violent stories that collide on a desolate prison planet. LIFE is edited by industry legend Will Dennis (Y: The Last Man, The Losers, Snow Angels). LIFE #1 will be on sale later this summer in print and digital.
“LIFE is about justice—and that being given more life isn't necessarily a gift. It explores incarceration and culture through the extreme filter of crime fiction. It's confrontational, though Danijel makes it incredibly seductive to look at,” Phillips & Azzarello said in a joint statement. “The flipbook design allows us to develop two narrative perspectives that will clash and segue through a prison break and a heist. Pick your poison.”
Artist Danijel Žeželj added, "World building on LIFE has been immensely rewarding, allowing me to approach this brutal ecosystem from two very different angles. DSTLRY’s oversized format allows so much more freedom to accomplish that feat.”
Debuting this summer, LIFE presents a grim future where the most depraved prisoners face a new extreme punishment—artificial immortality that lasts the length of their combined sentences. After centuries pass, the forgotten prisoners encounter a ship filled with intergalactic thieves eyeing the planet’s long-abandoned mines. Unbeknownst to the pirates, their target is far from deserted, haunted by the remaining prisoners now mutated into grotesque monsters.
Each story—that of the prisoners and thieves—initially unfolds independently through each end of LIFE’s innovative flipbook design. The stories crash and catalyze in surprising ways, as Phillips and Azzarello peel back the layered connections between the two groups and their looming brutal confrontation.
“Stephanie, Brian, and Danijel are responsible for some of the most transgressive and challenging comics the medium can call its own, and LIFE amplifies that experimentation,” DSTLRY Co-Founders Chip Mosher & David Steinberger said in a join statement. “This series pushes boundaries in both form and function. It’s simply arresting.”
Each issue of LIFE is presented in DSTLRY's signature perfect-bound Prestige format. As a flip-book, each issue of LIFE features full cover art on front on and back with spot gloss on robust stock. The debut issue of LIFE features 56 pages while subsequent issues will have DSTLRY’s standard 48 pages with exquisite interior paper quality. “It’s the DSTLRY difference,” says co-founder and CCO Chip Mosher.
Brian Azzarello
Once a fear of heights grounded his boyhood dream of becoming an astronaut, Brian Azzarello turned to writing comics. He’s the author of the Eisner- and Harvey-Award-winning crime saga 100 Bullets and the erotic thriller Faithless, as well as Joker, Batman: Damned, Before Watchmen, Wonder Woman, and many more. He lives and drinks in Chicago, which he regrets every winter.
Stephanie Phillips
Stephanie Phillips is an American writer known for comics and graphic novels such as Harley Quinn, Wonder Woman, Grim, and We Only Kill Each Other. She has written critically acclaimed work with some of the industry's major publishers, such as DC, Marvel, Dark Horse, Image Comics, Boom!, and more. Stephanie also holds a PhD in English.
Danijel Žeželj
Danijel Žeželj is a graphic novelist, animator, illustrator and painter. He is author of twenty five graphic novels and eight short animation movies.His work has been published by DC Comics, Marvel, Dark Horse, Heavy Metal, Image, Glénat, Dargaud, Eris Edizioni, The New York Times, Harper’s Magazine, etc. Since 1997 he has created a series of multimedia performances merging live painting with live music. They premiered in Europe and the USA. In 2001 in Zagreb, Croatia, he co-founded a publishing house and graphic workshop, Petikat. He lives and works in Brooklyn and Zagreb.
