Alexandra Grant is pleased to announce the launch of Nano, a three-part comic book series published by Dark Horse Comics, co-written with Matt Kindt, and brought to life by the artist Natacha Bustos.
www.darkhorse.com/comics/3014-484/nano-1/
“I began Nano as a novel in 2004, about a dystopic and post-apocalyptic world where a group of hybrid animals and magical folks challenge a political order where the men are made small and forced to work or are incarcerated inside of Nanocorp and the women… wait, work and fight outside. I wanted to write about a world where the marvelous and nature are sidelined, both feminine and masculine power are diminished, and the collective effort to bring them back. I also wanted to explore a world inspired by the Charles and Ray Eames’ book Powers of 10 and Mary Norton’s The Borrowers.
I left Nano aside until, at the end of 2021, I contracted a severe case of Covid 19, and was quarantined for over 16 days. Feverish and isolated, after rewatching my favorite Miyazaki films over and over, I returned to the manuscript and rewrote it. Through a series of fortunate events, I sent it to the incredible comic book writer and illustrator Matt Kindt. The rest unfolded organically — working with the editorial team at Dark Horse, finding Natacha Bustos’s fantastic work online, and asking her to join us.” – Alexandra Grant
The first issue of Nano comes out in late July — you can preorder it now from your local comic book store!
About the Nano series: Sana is a badass operative of the underground organization The Order. She and her longtime comrade, Lukas, have been assigned to Nano, a mega-city run on prison labor and roiling from blackouts. While Lukas is tasked with infiltrating Nanocorp’s secretive research facility, Sana’s mission is something she’s never trained for: playing the doting wife of Lukas’s cover. In her guise as a middle-school PE teacher, she’s forced to cool her jets and teach eighth graders stretching while Lukas puts himself in danger. But when the signs are unmistakable and Lukas’s mission is clearly going sideways, Sana can no longer sit on the bench.
“I wanted this character to be completely kick-ass… smart… frustrated at the patriarchy. But it’s also about the power of nature, and magic coming into conflict with masculinity, toxicity, and authoritarianism.” – Alexandra Grant
Keep reading the interview with People Magazine
Matt Kindt is a Harvey Award-winning and NYT Best-Selling writer and artist of comics and graphic novels. His work includes MIND MGMT, BRZRKR (with Keanu Reeves), Bang!, Eniac, Revolver, 3 Story, Super Spy, 2 Sisters, and Pistolwhip. He has been nominated for four Eisner Awards and three Harvey Awards (and won once). His work has been published in French, Spanish, Italian, and German. The author lives in St. Louis, MO, with his wife and Dept H. collaborator, the colorist and artist Sharlene Kindt.
Natacha Bustos is a Spanish comic book illustrator who has worked with major publishers including Marvel Comics. She is best known for her run on Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, and has also contributed to titles such as Runaways, Spider-Woman, and Squirrel Girl. Across her career, she has collaborated with a range of writers on character-driven, youth-focused stories within the superhero genre. Nano marks the first comic that she will design in full.
Dark Horse Comics is a prominent American comic book and graphic novel publisher founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon. Established with the goal of fostering creator rights and producing high-quality, diverse content, it has grown to be one of the largest independent comic companies in the industry.
