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Coffin Bound first look: Image Comics goes old school with grindhouse and ashcan homage

By Josh Weiss
Coffin Bound ashcan scan Image Comics

Indulge your inner Tarantino with Coffin Bound, a forthcoming Image comic from writer Dan Watters (Lucifer) and artist Dani (2000 AD). Described as "a grindhouse existential horror-action kind of beast," by Watters himself, the book follows Izzy Tyburn, a woman being chased by a relentless killer. Filled with cynicism and anger, Izzy decides that if the world doesn't want her in it, then it deserves to suffer as much as she does.

"Coffin Bound is a story of self-destruction, but also about how we each stumble through a series of happy and unhappy accidents that become the tangled web of our lives, and how we very much may need to just take it or leave it all together," Watters tells SYFY WIRE.

Dani also shared with SYFY WIRE this exclusive first look at Coffin Bound, the first issue of which hits stands early next month. Not only did we get the first eight pages of the book, but they also happen to be limited hand folded and stapled riso-print ashcan scans, of which only 400 exist for convention purposes. That's just a fancy way of saying that these specialized scans are meant to look like they were printed during the old days of cheap comic book production — tactile blemishes and all.

Coffin Bound ashcan scan Image Comics

Coffin Bound ashcan scan Image Comics

Coffin Bound ashcan scan Image Comics

"When Dan and I decided to print the ashcans we thought that we wanted to make something different visually from the actual comic book, something like a small experiment that could boost this grindhouse aesthetics we were shooting for," says Dani. "The result is a version of the first pages of Coffin Bound, which is visually dirtier than ever: Printed in just three layers of color (yellow, red, and black), none of which is centered properly with one another, with accidental fadings in parts and an overall grained texture."

"When Dani suggested doing Riso print ashcans, I thought it was perfect," adds Watters. "We both come from pretty snotty DIY punk rock backgrounds, and that sort of energy is exactly what we wanted in the book. The idea of a limited item, like an old comic, that’s produced cheaply and with flaws that make it wholly unique, therefore ending up with value after all — seemed like the most Coffin Bound idea imaginable."

Issue #1 of Coffin Bound goes on sale Wednesday, Aug. 7. Whet your appetite for the upcoming series with 12 exclusive ashcan scans in the media gallery below!