The Funeral Portrait and Z2 Unveil “Welcome To Suffocate City” Original Graphic Novel,

BAND’S MYTHOS IS EXPANDED IN THIS STORY BY LEE JENNINGS. WRITTEN BY LEAH MOORE WITH ART BY ANDRES LABRADA AND COVER BY ALISON SAMPSON

LIMITED EDITION “FLOPPY” AVAILABLE AT ALL MUSIC AND COMIC RETAILERS

The Funeral Portrait and Z2 have consolidated the rich lore from the band’s first full length album, Greetings From Suffocate City, into a one-stop original graphic novel universe for fans to be enthralled in.

The Funeral Portrait Presents Welcome to Suffocate City tells the story of Irving Westhound, a man on a mission to save the youths of his town from the enigmatic leader of the Coffin Crew Cult. The tale expands on the world and iconography created by Lee Jennings and Caleb Freihaut through their music and Instagram videos.

Lee Jennings shares “I’m beyond excited for The Funeral Portrait to be releasing our first-ever graphic novel, ‘WELCOME TO SUFFOCATE CITY,’ through Z2. It’s an incredible opportunity to merge our music with a whole new world of storytelling, and there’s no better place to unveil it than at San Diego Comic Con. This is a dream come true for us and our fans, and I can’t wait for everyone to see it!”

Along with the powerful visuals from the band’s music, the ever-talented Leah Moore brings another layer to the narrative with her meticulous storytelling, “Rarely do I work on a book that feels like it already exists, like it is out there in the aether and all I have to do is guide it through into our world, but this was that book. Any Coffin Crew member will already know this story from front to back, cover to cover and hopefully every panel of it will feel like home. My only wish, in scripting this, was to capture a tiny spark of the energy and life that pours from the album, if I’ve done that, then I’ve done my job.”

Artist Andres Labrada took on the challenge to bring this world in its entirety to life, “working on The Funeral Portrait Graphic Novel was a blast. Every hand on this project was in sync and understood the vision. Fans will definitely have a lot of fun with all the references we stuffed in. If you’re a fan of the band you’ll be a fan of this comic and vice versa!”

Details of this comic first surfaced on May 15th, when Z2 and The FUNERAL PORTRAIT announced the cover contest, giving fans the opportunity to contribute an alternate cover for the book. After dozens of submissions, Lee Jennings and the band selected four beautiful pieces of work as the finalists that fans then voted on. On May 21st, the results were in, with Autumn N. winning the coveted prize! Autumn’s art will be seen on the softcover Coffin Crew Edition, and will be available for purchase at all comic and music retail locations.

Z2 Editor, Jasminne Saravia adds “Watching what seemingly looked like 100s of jigsaw pieces come together was definitely a sight to see. The band had so many storyline strands sprinkled in their music that having it collected in one location seemed like it would be feat but with such a talented creative team, they were able to tackle it head on and in such a beautiful way. Everything stayed intentional to keep in the realm of the world established for the fans.”

The 44 page oversized 12”x12” comic in a slipcased Deluxe Edition, which comes signed, with art prints, and a four-piece Funeral Portrait card collector’s set in a frame. Deluxe editions are available exclusively at Z2’s website [HERE] while a standard 9”x9” edition is available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble, as well as other independent retailers and fine comic shops worldwide.

For more information on the book and to preorder your copy, visit z2comics.com/thefuneralportrait

In addition, GREETINGS FROM SUFFOCATE CITY – FROM BEYOND THE ABYSS: DELUXE EDITION will be released Friday, June 13 via Better Noise Music, with digital, CD, and vinyl copies available to pre-order HERE. The new package contains 24 songs including tracks from the CASSANOVA EP and the FROM BEYOND THE ABYSS EP, as well as the recently released versions of “Holy Water” feat. Ivan Moody of Five Finger Death Punch, “Hearse for Two” feat. Lilith Czar and three brand new songs: “Skinny Lies,” “Evergreen,” and “Lost Boy.” The vinyl and CD two-disc deluxe packages feature 21 tracks, one of which is exclusive to the physical formats (“Friends Like These”).

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!