XERO: Coming Soon from Mad Cave Studios

Welcome to The Mall. Where your life is the merchandise…

Coming this fall from Mad Cave Studios is XERO, a defiant, genre-bending original graphic novel from debut writer Vaho and artist Felipe Flores. This haunting dystopian journey blends pop art, manga, and philosophical horror into a searing meditation on late-stage consumerism, false comfort, and the cost of waking up…

Xero started with a dream. Felipe sketched panels from his recurring visions, and Vaho spun them into an entire universe. What came out of it is Xero: a pure comic book experience, a maximal blast of pop art that mashes Bronze Age compression with manga, video games, and film. Every page nods to a different era or style, bending the medium in ways only Mad Cave comics can.

The adventures of Xero center on his search for his half-forgotten and pregnant girlfriend, Donna. What’s worse is that he’s stuck in a doomed reality he doesn’t even know he’s trapped in: a subterranean Mall designed to incubate humans until they are sacrificed. As Xero pursues Donna, he unravels a monstrous conspiracy spanning back before an apocalypse he does not even know happened.

Xero discovers that his life in the Endless Mall is really just a waiting game in a sacrificial bubble. His plunge down the rabbit hole will lead him further away from his droll, comfortable life and challenge him to fight against this mega-structure and the malevolent forces behind it.

Xero pulls readers into a world where nostalgia is weaponized, freedom is a lie, and identity is currency. Filled with Easter Eggs that true comics and pop culture buffs won’t want to miss, this story doesn’t just explore dystopia—it rips it wide open, asking: what if you were the product all along?

The OGN is sure to resonate with fans of Severance, Neuromancer, We Live, and Descender, or anyone ready to escape the system before it eats them alive!

Xero will be available in bookstores and comic shops on October 7, 2025.

Get the latest news on Mad Cave Studios on social media, or visit www.madcavestudios.com to check out the full lineup of new releases, licenses, and celebrated creator-owned titles!

Author Profile

Al Mega

I'm Al Mega the CEO of Comic Crusaders, CEO of the Undercover Capes Podcast Network, CEO of Geekery Magazine & Owner of Splintered Press (coming soon). I'm a fan of comics, cartoons and old school video games. Make sure to check out our podcasts/vidcasts and more!