Dark Horse Comics has unveiled the first-issue cover of Batman writer Scott Snyder‘s post-apocalyptic comic series. Originally released digitally, Duck and Cover #1’s print edition will hit comic book shelves in September.

Per Dark Horse via AIPT, Jacob Phillips drew the cover for the first-ever print edition issue of Duck and Cover. Snyder, alongside series artist Rafael Albuquerque (American Vampire, A Study in Emerald), crafted the post-apocalyptic, manga-influenced teen adventure series with a historical twist. The acclaimed series reimagines the age of the atomic bomb. Marcelo Maiolo (Nocterra, Jean Grey) and Bernardo Brice (Census, Adora and The Distance) provided the colored and lettered Duck and Cover, respectively. Duck and Cover #1 will also feature two covers by Albuquerque, including a foil variant and variant art by Dave Johnson and Ariela Kristantina. Dark Horse will reveal one more variant cover at a later date.

Duck and Cover #1

Written by SCOTT SNYDER Art by RAFAEL ALBUQUERQUE Color by MARCELO MAIOLO Letters by BERNARDO BRICE Cover by JACOB PHILIPS Variant cover by RAFAEL ALBUQUERQUE, DAVE JOHNSON, AND ARIELA KRISTANTINA

Each upcoming issue of the series, which Dark Horse has compared to the video game Fallout, will span fifty-six pages. Duck and Cover‘s description reads, “For generations, the threat of nuclear attack was always in the corner of their minds. Millions of elementary school students and teens were taught that ‘the flash means act fast. Duck and cover!’ But what happens AFTER the blast?”

“The year is 1955, and teenager Del Reeves dreams of ditching town life for a life in movies beyond projecting them at the local drive-in. But when Cold War nightmares become a reality, Del discovers that the film genres he’d grown up watching are more real than he could have ever imagined. When a sudden nuclear exchange obliterates the U.S., only the children who hid under their school desks are spared. These teens now find themselves the lone survivors in a strange and wild new ’50s America.”

Why Duck and Cover Is Set in the 1950s

Shortly after the comic series debuted last year, Snyder told CBR why he and Albuquerque decided to set Duck and Cover in the ’50s. “Raf and I had this idea quite a while ago. While we were on American Vampire we were looking for the right time to sort of apply it,” he said. “It felt like this particular moment, culturally — both in Brazil and here in the States — is one where it feels like there’s a tremendous amount of paranoia. Culturally, [there’s an] intense pressure on kids to be very conservative in their thinking and all that. It felt like the right time to explore this idea about an attack that isn’t what it seems, [and] it gets nastier and nastier.”

Duck and Cover #1’s print edition will arrive in comic book shops on September 24, 2024.

Source: AIPT