Sponsored.  Writer Tini Howard (Catwoman, Excalibur) and artist Joe Jaro (Buffy: The Last Vampire Slayer) have come together for Marian Heretic, a new horror series from Boom! Studios.  Howard’s first creator-owned endeavor since 2018, the comic follows Sister Marian Heretic, a nun who hunts witches at the order of the domineering and cruel Holy Father Church.  When the witch Ravenna approaches the Sister with a bargain, Marian is forced to decide which way lies sin… and which way lies salvation.

In a statement, Howard said "I worked in comics retail for years before I was a writer.  It was a valuable part of my industry upbringing that I've never forgotten as a creator.  I remember the wealth of options you have when you're looking at that catalog, and how important it is to stand out – not just to retailers who are ordering, but to folks looking at the book on the shelf, the sell-through.  We considered that a lot when it came to developing Marian.

I wanted to make a book that would jump out at me on the shelves, and fans like me.  I asked myself 'how do I make a book that I couldn't resist?'  There's nothing quite like it out there right now, and there's a definite retro 90s comic vibe to our approach.

When we open the book, our Marian is a hunter in the City of Vespers, empowered by the Cardinals and the Holy Father Church.  But we learn quickly that the Church has little love for Sister Marian, and what love they have is highly conditional.  She's a heretic, after all, and that's not a vague statement or some cross she chooses to bear.  She believes in the Marian heresy. Each issue shows Marian at war for her soul, and that's a real pleasure to write.  I love creating stories for this character who has such strong, deliberate convictions, but is also being pulled apart.  That tension and struggle, that’s classic comic-character building, to me.

"To make all this theology go down easy," Howard adds, "we needed an artist like Joe Jaro.  His work on Buffy was the perfect layup into Marian, but he's using completely different muscles here, too, and I'm wowed at his choices every issue.  This book is sexy, beautiful, full of pages that reward a second look.  We hope you take that second look!"

Click on Gallery below for full-sized cover images and preview pages.