Freaks of the Heartland

by Steve Niles, Greg Ruth (Illustrator)

Overview

Trevor's monstrous little brother lives in the barn behind the house. The boy's only six years old, but he towers over his older brother, and possesses incredible strength. For years, Trevor has looked after his baby brother, keeping him from the light, but now that's all about to change. His family's secret is about to be revealed, uncovering the horrible truth of the small midwestern town the boys have grown up in.

Collected in a deluxe hardcover edition and sized at a generous 9" x 12", Freaks of the Heartland has now been redesigned to perfectly display Ruth's stunning artwork.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781506722320
Publisher:	Dark Horse Comics
Publication date:	03/30/2021
Sold by:	Penguin Random House Publisher Services
Format:	eBook
Pages:	160
File size:	73 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Steve Niles was born June 21, 1965. He is an American comic book author and novelist, known for works such as 30 Days of Night, Criminal Macabre, Simon Dark, Mystery Society, and Batman: Gotham County Line. Niles was born in Jackson, New Jersey, and he was raised in the Washington, DC suburbs, developing various creative interests in music, writing, and making amateur films. He is credited among other contemporary writers for bringing horror comics back to prominence.

Greg Ruth is an author and illustrator of comic books and books for young readers. He is the author and artist of The Lost Boy, a New York Times bestselling graphic novel with Scholastic; and the illustrator of Our Enduring Spirit by President Barack Obama (HarperCollins, 2009), and Indeh: A Story of the Apache Wars by Ethan Hawke (Hachette Books). Greg Ruth has also published with many other comic book publishers, including Dark Horse Comics and Fantagraphics Books. He lives in western Massachusetts.

Editorial Reviews

Like so many great stories that feature characters who are seen, for lack of a better term, as “freaks,” this six-issue collection by Niles (30 Days of Night) and Ruth (Conan) asks the reader to consider the age-old question of who the real freaks among us are. The story examines the relationship between two brothers, Trevor and Will Owen, the latter a monstrous humanoid who, though only six years old, towers over his slightly older brother and is possessed of strange and unusual powers. No one but Trevor really understands his brother’s true nature, however, since Will has been locked away since birth. When Trevor tries to protect Will from their father, events are set in motion that will bring the pair face to face with a secret that their community has harbored for many years. Ruth’s ability to bring his brand of realism to both the mundane and the phantasmagoric in Niles’s narrative is precisely what makes the story so compelling. Some readers may think the story needs further development, but this one is a case of “less is more.” (July)

Publishers Weekly