AHOY Celebrates 5 Years With Project: Cryptid. Check Out a First Look Here (Exclusive)

Check out this first look at 'Project: Cryptid,' AHOY's latest anthology comic.

By Russ Burlingame - September 6, 2023 04:29 pm EDT

For the last five years, AHOY Comics has asked its readers to believe in the weird and sublime — whether it's a friendship between Jesus and a superhero, a grandmother who fights eldritch horrors, or a space squadron run entirely by cats. The publisher's latest jam-packed anthology, Project: Cryptid, launched today, featuring "unbelievably hilarious and hilariously unbelievable tales" about cryptids from around the world, according to AHOY's official statement. ComicBook.com has an exclusive look inside the issue, which you can check out below.

Featuring comics and short stories from well-established creators as well as new voices, Project: Cryptid will transport readers from the depths of Loch Ness to the wilds of the Yeti's Himalayan Mountains to the Ohio backroads where the Loveland Frogman lurks, asking the important questions like are any of these mysterious, unthinkable creatures actually real? And more importantly, are they funny?

The anthology will feature comics and stories from writers Mark Russell, Paul Cornell, Alisa Kwitney, Alex Segura, Bryce Ingman, Paul Constant, Liana Kangas, Henry Barajas, AA Rubin, Joe Illidge, Melissa F. Olson, Zander Cannon, Gene Ha, Hanna Bahedry, Matt Ligeti, Stuart Moore and more, as well as art by Jordi Perez, Madeline Seeley, PJ Holden, Mike Spicer, Mauricet, Steven Bryant, Peter Krause, Richard Pace, Jamal Igle, Ted and Ro, Lew Stringer, Lane Lloyd, and more.

"Everybody needs something to believe in, especially these days," said editor Sarah Litt. "We here at AHOY believe that anything is possible — and possibly, everything is possible. From mothmen to chupacabras to Mongolian deathworms, the creatures in Project: Cryptid will test the limits of your faith in reality. You'll believe something is out there, although maybe not the truth."

"I'm excited for this. And not just because they let me write a story about Yeti justice," said writer Mark Russell. "AHOY has assembled a murderers' row of writers and artists and parachuted them into a forest of weird. This is the kind of comic I'd want to read as a fan."

"Combining horror and critters is the peanut butter cup of comic deliciousness," said writer Alisa Kwitney. "Also, cryptids exist. I had a Bigfoot encounter in Davie, Florida, when I was staying overnight at the Sunny Daze Nudist Camp back in '76. Mauricet, my artistic partner in crime, claims to have kept a small mandrake in his drawer for years but finally had to throw it out when it grew large and its screams could be overheard in the neighboring apartment."

"I've always loved my pet Mongolian deathworm, Dave, and maintained slightly indignant diplomatic relations with the fairies at the bottom of my garden, so it was a delight to work with the great monster artist P.J.Holden and the doyen of classic British cartoonists Lew Stringer on these two hopefully comedic tales of creatures that should exist, but don't or vice versa," said writer Paul Cornell.

"Five years of AHOY?! It doesn't seem possible!" said editor-in-chief Tom Peyer. "Like sands through the hourglass, so are the comic books of our lives. September '23 will mark the fifth anniversary of The Wrong Earth #1, the first comic we ever shipped. Jamal Igle, June Brigman, Stuart Moore, Mark Russell, Greg Scott, Grant Morrison — these artists and writers who helped launch AHOY — will return, and new creators will join them in the wildest celebration this young century has seen! The boisterous bacchanalia begins with our bestial new anthology Project: Cryptid and continues with a wave of projects, familiar and new, through the end of the year."

Project: Cryptid will be published monthly by AHOY Comics and available in stores today.