Stylish Mystery ONE FOR SORROW Has Big Surprises You Won't See Coming

Powerhouse writer/artist Jamie McKelvie returns to the world of creator-owned comics with his first solo story in over a decade: One For Sorrow, which arrives November 6th, 2024 from DSTLRY. The hot-new-thing publisher has been on a roll with über-original genre comics, and One For Sorrow is no exception.

The year is 1900, and the place is London - both the West End and the East End, as the first issue makes a point of noting. One For Sorrow follows a large cast of characters throughout the city as they navigate supernatural cons, organized crime, and a nagging mystery one Sherlock Holmes-like character just can't let go. Lurking behind these daily dramas is the mysterious Magpie killer, an eerie figure wearing a plague mask, who seems both unkillable and unstoppable.

One For Sorrow is very much the supernatural mystery it's billed to be, filled with horror, violence, and strange happenings. But beyond the period-drama horror, which of course poses the standard question for a tale like this - who is the mysterious killer? - is another set of questions hidden beneath McKelvie's architecture, both narrative and visual: when and how will these characters get paid? And who will do the paying?

One For Sorrow Embraces Slow Burn Victorian Horror

Exclusive Preview Pages for One For Sorrow #1 - Plus Variant Covers by Annie Wu & Tula Lotay

In the spirit of Becky Cloonan and Tula Lotay's Somna before it, McKelvie's One For Sorrow mines its chosen era for period-based horror to great success, even beyond the unique visual quirks of period stories. The comic embraces suspense over cultish, nightmarish visuals or page-turn jump scares. Sorrow's horror elements are not only "successful" - basic and essentially expected praise for a creator as experienced as this - but surprising, often turning the reader's expectations so totally around so that it feels, in the most gasping-ly delightful way, that one is reading a totally different story by the issue's end.

The mystery is as rich as the web is unbelievably tangled.

Suspense, as a genre, should make the reader feel like they're teetering on the edge of understanding; One For Sorrow tip-toes down the length of that line until the last possible moment with a pacing that rewards patient readers, those who are willing to wait for a mystery to unfold. And with a character web as intricate as this - a Russian widow and her con-man partner, an upper-crust banking family, a barmaid, a mob boss with a thief's sense of honor, a world-famous detective, and more in between - the mystery is as rich as the web is unbelievably tangled.

What Is Suspense Tale One For Sorrow Really About?

Exclusive Preview Pages - Plus Variant Covers by Becky Cloonan & Junko Mizuno

Beneath the horror and suspense, however, One For Sorrow and its characters have one central obsession: payment. Money and class, while not obvious elements on the surface of the story, are the pillars that support its entire structure, down to its setting. That McKelvie denotes specific areas in London - the East End traditionally being a more working class area than the luxurious West End - is a subtle signpost of class and power: in a cast like this, despite any and all cons and deceptions at play, where one is from matters deeply in terms of character motivation and desire.

All of these characters, from the banker to the barmaid, want what they feel they are owed. Payment, of course, comes in many forms, from wages to service fees to revenge: "you'll pay for what you've done" and all its many classic iterations.

But in setting this supernatural suspense story in turn-of-the-century London - in shaping a period piece, in other words - McKelvie doesn't dodge thematic nuances that hold relevance to today's readers. Actually, there's little that's more relevant to contemporary readers than class consciousness, and the unfamiliarity of the period elements allows those themes to shine through, uncannily familiar without the risk of ham-fistedness. The best reason to set a story in the past, after all, is to tell some essential truth about the present.

Jamie McKelvie Reaches New Artistic Heights in One For Sorrow

Variant Cover by Jamie McKelvie

Beyond those meaningful truths, One For Sorrow is very simply a good-looking book and a triumph for McKelvie as an artist. The design for the Magpie killer alone is unforgettable: the long-nosed plague mask beneath the dark hood. But the other everyday characters and settings are just as sumptuous, calling to mind the word "costuming" even more than "design."

Thanks to McKelvie's expressive style - in the same class as Kevin Maguire in terms of facial expression and character acting, surely - these characters are so lively, they could walk off the page and dress themselves. Each design detail in the historical world of One For Sorrow, from hairstyle to neckline to every architectural nook and cranny, feels intentional and researched, making for a genuinely rich visual experience.

Looking for more from Jamie McKelvie? Try his collaborations with writer Kieron Gillen: Young Avengers from Marvel Comics and The Wicked + The Divine from Image Comics, both available now in collected editions from the publishers.

Fans have waited quite a while for a new series from McKelvie, but One For Sorrow is worth the wait. The book, of course, is perfect for long-time fans of the creator, and those fans won't be disappointed. But, like all of DSTLRY's titles so far, One For Sorrow is a self-contained and art-driven miniseries ready to be enjoyed by any fan of well-made genre fiction. With twists even the most careful reader won't see coming, One For Sorrow proves that now is always the time for a bit of period-drama horror.

One For Sorrow #1 is available November 6th, 2024 from DSTLRY.