Jumanji meets horror in Jeff Lemire's Mazebook #1

Writer/artist Jeff Lemire returns to the haunting drama niche that produced such hits as Essex County and The Underwater Welder with the new five-issue Mazebook. The series follows Will Warren, the grieving parent of a dead child whose life is rattled a second time when he receives a mysterious call 10 years later that she's alive. There's a problem with that though, as he's told she is trapped in a maze that was included in one of the unfinished puzzle books his daughter has left behind.

Check out this preview of Mazebook #1, and try not to think of a certain Weezer song:

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(Image credit: Jeff Lemire (Dark Horse Comics))

Mazebook #1 preview

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(Image credit: Jeff Lemire (Dark Horse Comics))

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(Image credit: Jeff Lemire (Dark Horse Comics))

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(Image credit: Jeff Lemire (Dark Horse Comics))

"A lonely building inspector still grieving the loss of his puzzle-loving daughter receives a mysterious phone call one night from a girl claiming it's her and that she's trapped in the middle of a labyrinth," reads Dark Horse's description of Mazebook #1. 

"Convinced that this child is contacting him from beyond this world, he uses an unfinished maze from one of her journals and a map of the city to trace an intricate path through a different plane of reality on an intense and melancholy adventure to bring his daughter back home."

Check out this trailer for Mazebook, directed by Kelly Woessner:

Each issue of Mazebook will be 48 pages - double the page count of a traditional comic book. When asked by Previewsworld what kind of story Mazebook is, Lemire said it isn't "easily categorized".

"My favorite stories always combine all sorts of genres in interesting ways and are often very hard to define as just one type of story and I think Mazebook follows this path. It has elements of thriller, mystery, horror, and supernatural but these are never overt or easily categorized they all melt together into what I hope is a deeply human story about memory and human connection."

Lemire has drawn the primary cover to Mazebook #1, with his long-time collaborator Andrea Sorrentino (Gideon Falls, Green Arrow, Joker: Killer Smile, Old Man Logan) illustrating a variant cover. Check them both out here:

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(Image credit: Jeff Lemire (Dark Horse Comics))

Mazebook #1 covers

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(Image credit: Jeff Lemire (Dark Horse Comics))

Mazebook #1 (of 5) goes on sale on September 8.

You don't have to wait until September 8 for good comics horror - check out our recommendations for best horror comics.