The Walking Dead Creator Robert Kirkman Announces New Comic Series 'Oblivion Song'

10/06/2017 07:49 pm EDT

Robert Kirkman is creating a whole new genre with his latest series, something he calls "apocalyptic adjacent".

What does that really mean you ask? Well, Kirkman revealed that and more after officially announcing his new series Oblivion Song. The new series sees him pairing up with Italian artist Lorenzo de Felici to create a world that looks a lot like yours, except for the whole other dimension thing.

"I wanted to do something that was apocalyptic in a sense, but also not," Kirkman told EW. "So, I like to think that we're creating a new genre that's like apocalyptic adjacent."

Oblivion Song focuses on a character named Nathan Cole, who is the only one left trying to help the citizens of Philadelphia. 10 years ago four miles of Philadelphia swapped places with another dimension, and ever since the Government has been trying to rescue the people stranded in that dark and monster-laden universe. Most have given up at this point, but Cole refuses to do so and has to make due with the resources at hand to rescue as many as he can, with only the help of his friends Bridget and Duncan.

"Just the thought of this very real, very engaged situation that's happening that we're all aware of but we don't necessarily see and we don't necessarily interact with it on a regular basis, and so this was a cool way to kind of explore how much we as a people can kind of turn our backs to and ignore, and how terrible that is and how hard it is to deal with," Kirkman said.

The series has similarities to other books of Kirkman's, but it's also a way for him to stretch creatively.

"I hope that I'm breaking into new territory with this," Kirkman says. "I mean, it's not horror, it's not superheroes, so it's definitely a version of science-fiction, but I think it's a somewhat unique kind of science-fiction story so I'm very excited about that. Tonally I think that it's possibly a little less depressing than Walking Dead can get at times, and it's probably not quite as fun as Invincible can get at its most fun so it's kind of a cool middle ground I think between the two books.

Oblivion Song hits comic shops on March 7, 2018.

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