Broken Frontier

Writer and creator Sal Cipriano came onto the scene last year with the critically acclaimed debut of The Adventures of Bio Boy; this April, teaming with red hot Argentinean artist Jok, he rolls out a hard-edged new original graphic novel entitled THE HILL!

Jill is a failed assassin, Jack is a failed experiment, both were created by the same evil company, and both want out. A beaten and shattered Jill has lost everything she has ever cared for and has lost the will to live, but her employers won't let her die until she completes one last mission…kill the monster Jack! But when a mutual connection steps between Jill's cross hairs everything that they've ever known becomes a question mark, sending them into a bloody downward spiral to the end! Speakeasy Comics presents an extreme action horror tale of the price you pay for redemption!

“This is a book I've been working on for quite a long time, tweaking and layering the story till I knew it was right. It's got quite a bite to it, one that I hope will infect and stay with you for awhile after reading it.” Sal further said, “It's for fans who like some meat with their potatoes, and not just a cookie cutter action movie story. Jack and Jill are complex characters and their decisions and motivations are human and relatable; always an important factor for me.”

Artist Jok brings a unique style (a combination of McKeever, Mignola, and Risso!) and sensibility to the book, giving the book even extra layers of depth. Jok commented, “The story urges you to judge these rich characters, but this may prove a difficult task, as Sal drops you into a labyrinth full of atrocity and adrenaline. The Hill will show readers that high- pitched action, deep drama, and transcendent questions can be skilfully amalgamated.”

As an added feature to the book, an art contest at the Speakeasy Comics’ Bio Boy/The Hill forum has been opened up to all artists, professional and amateur. The top 5 entries, to be judged by the book's creators, will be included in the book. Sal explains, “I decided instead of going out and asking for pinups from artists, I'd just open the gates for a little friendly competition!” The finalists of the contest will be announced during February's NY Comicon.

The story itself comes in at 110 pages and then the rest of the 128 pages are filled with all kinds of extras from previous incarnations to a sketch library to the contest pinup gallery.
“As seen with Bio Boy, densely packing up a book and giving people their money's worth is really important to me, and with The Hill I think we've achieved this even further.”

Finally commenting on Speakeasy's current situation Sal stated, “The fact remains that Speakeasy is still going to put out books, and this will be one of them. I can only hope that fans and retailers put their faith in the creators and individual books and not a line as a whole. I can vouch for my book and its quality and hope that people respond with a healthy order.”

The Hill, written and created by Sal Cipriano and illustrated by Jok, is a full color 128 page original graphic novel and it comes out this April through Speakeasy Comics.

Jack and Jill went up the hill…

…Jack fell down and broke his crown, and Jill came tumbling after?