Preview of 'East District' by Ash H.G.

book announcement, with writing by Stefano Gaudiano taken from the foreword

WHERE DOES ART COME FROM?

Ash H.G.'s graphic novel EAST DISTRICT evokes Los Bros Hernandez, David Lynch, and Guido Crepax — all of whom might be among his influences. More strangely, the work of Dino Buzzati peers through these pages.

Buzzati was an Italian journalist, novelist, poet, painter and cartoonist. Born in the early 1900's, he breathed in Europe’s long history of narrative and visual arts. The greatness of the past can be overwhelming; fortunately Buzzati felt free to spill over those bounds.

Ash H.G. is more American than the 4th of July — shaped by every tangled thread of this “new world” and steeped in the culture of books, movies, television, comics and music that surrounded him in Detroit and Seattle; where he grew up before moving to Chicago.

It’s unlikely that Ash ever came across Buzzati’s work. Their similarities point to creative roots deeper than the continental shelves, close to the source where art comes from. Ash H.G. transcended his early stylistic accomplishments, strongly inspired by the likes of Jae Lee, to achieve mastery of his own creative force — EAST DISTRICT is the full-fledged product of that rare and wonderful power of expression.

—Stefano Gaudiano (KAFKA, DETECTIVE COMICS and THE WALKING DEAD)

preview of the opening pages below

Title: EAST DISTRICT
Author: Ash H.G.
Price: $20.99
Publisher: 2dcloud 
Format: Softcover, 6 x 8.5”
Number of Pages in Finished Book: 88
ISBN: 978-1-937541-61-3
Publication: January 13 2025
Distribution: Direct -  2dcloud.com
Publicity: Melissa Carraher, melissa@2dcloud.com

Synopsis

A genre-bending horror psycho drama; an exploration of fear, spirituality, lust, depraved violence, and mystical force, set in a strangely familiar world.

EAST DISTRICT opens with 3 teen boys, apparently disposing of the body of a battered youth out by the tracks. One of their friends has been missing, but the body’s not hers. “Light as a baby,” says Marvin, dragging the body across the plains, then wrapping it in a trash bag and slinging the bundle over his back. The boys go to a Science teacher, who instructs them to stash the bag in his shed. “I knew Mr.Cobb would understand. He was in the service.” What’s happening inside the chain-link fenced borders of East District?

Author Bio

Ash H.G. is a painter, illustrator and comic book artist, living and working in Chicago, IL. From 2007 through 2016 he worked on, serialized, and self-published CHILDREN OF THE BLACK CIRCUS. In 2017 he began talking with 2dcloud, and reworking this series into a new graphic novel called EAST DISTRICT.

Author Website: ASHHG.com
Instagram: ashleehg

Praise for East District

“Ash H.G.’s graphic novel EAST DISTRICT evokes Los Bros Hernandez, David Lynch, and Guido Crepax…” —from the foreword by Stefano Gaudiano (KAFKA, DETECTIVE COMICS, and THE WALKING DEAD)

“EAST DISTRICT by Ash H. G. is an eloquently quiet and beautifully disturbing, thought-provoking, and uniquely articulated apocalyptic horror noir comic story that hit me hard and struck deep.” —Farel Dalrymple (POP GUN WAR, THE WRENCHIES)

“Ash H.G.’s raw primal and atmospheric approach weaves a tense web with functional simplicity.  Gripping, suspenseful and unsettling – like being caressed by a wooden hand.” —Wilfred Santiago (IN MY DARKEST HOUR, 21: THE STORY OF ROBERTO CLEMENTE)

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Advance copies available at Short Run in Seattle on Nov 2nd via the 2dcloud table (D23).