From the acclaimed DC Comics writer and the artist of the #1 New York Times bestselling and National Book Award–winning illustrated trilogy March comes a stunning crime noir graphic novel exploring the intertwining threads of crime, conspiracy, racism, and insanity in the post-World War II Deep South. After World War II, tensions rise in a Southern city ruled by organized crime, touching countless residents as they struggle to make sense of the new world. A sudden act of violence sets off a series of bloody events between the police and mafia as they lash out against one another. As the violence worsens, desperation grows to stop it, by any means necessary. Told in multiple perspectives—from a seemingly untouchable mafia don, to a gun-happy seasoned detective succumbing to the depths of his schizophrenia, to a newly minted police lieutenant haunted by his recent service in the war, and two African-American brothers, one mired in corruption and the other leading a local militia in an effort to see that justice is served—Two Dead is at once a white-knuckled and unputdownable thriller, a roman à clef inspired by true events, and a book about post-traumatic stress disorder and the underlying social traumas of how war and segregation affect their survivors on all fronts.
Authors
Van Jensen was born and raised in the farm country of Western Nebraska where he wrote and drew stories as soon as he could hold a pencil. He became a newspaper crime reporter, then a magazine editor, and eventually an author of comic books and graphic novels. He has written some of the world’s biggest characters, including James Bond and The Flash, Superman, Wonder Woman and the Green Lantern Corps for DC Comics. He also has co-created acclaimed series including Two Dead from Simon & Schuster/Gallery 13 (with National Book Award-winning artist Nate Powell), Cryptocracy from Dark Horse (with Pete Woods), and Pinocchio, Vampire Slayer from Top Shelf/IDW (with Dusty Higgins). Jensen is known for creating fiction that combines mind-bending genre concepts with deeply emotional, character-centered stories that have earned praise from fans and critics alike. His work can be thrilling, hilarious or terrifying, but it is always heartfelt. In 2016, Jensen was named a Comic Book Ambassador by the U.S. State Department. In that role, he has traveled internationally to work with students and refugees, teaching them to share their stories through the medium of comics. In 2018, he created a comic book biography for Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams. In 2019, he was awarded a grant from the Atlanta BeltLine to create “Up Hill” with artist Joshua Ray Stephens, a comic book public art installation that reimagined the myth of Sisyphus as a Looney Tunes cartoon. He lives in Atlanta with his family.
Nathan Lee Powell is an American cartoonist and musician. Born in 1978 in Little Rock, Arkansas, Nate spent his childhood in different parts of the country, as his family moved around following his father's duties as an Air Force officer. Powell became active in the punk rock scene since his teen age. He ended up performing in several bands over the years, and even owing a DIY punk record label. At the same time, he developed an interest in visual arts and majored in Cartooning at the School of Visual Arts (SVA) in New York. For about ten years Powell worked as a care giver for adult with developmental disabilities, while also drawing comic books. His major break came with the graphic novel Swallow Me Whole, which won the Ignatz Award for Outstanding Debut and Outstanding Artist in 2008, as well as the Eisner Award for Best Original Graphic Novel in 2009. Between 2013 and 2016 Nate Powell released what remains his most famous work, the three volumes of March, a comic biography of civil rights activist and Congressman John Lewis.
