NEON EMPIRE SDCC ASHCAN 2024

written by me, based on characters by AudioUp.
art by christian rosado, letters by crank! ]
edited by Rantz Hoseley for Z2.

despite the credits, i wrote this book by myself. the characters were supplied, with a loose bit of who they are. and as happens too often, the others involved jocky for credit. but pay no mind. and, sadly this book will never see the light of day, due to circumstances out of my and Z2's control. i put my all into it. so i want people to at least see what could have been.

Transcript

2. Welcome to Ca$hville. There can only be one king, so you better step right up before it beats you down. Just ask Kountry Boi. He’s taken Ca$hville by storm, topping the charts with his blisteringly honest debut hick hop album. But as high as his star rises, there is a darker reality to Kountry’s life, namely his connection to a Dixie Mafia leader named Rally Mally. Rally’s power over Kountry goes back to the days when he was a rising rapper, slinging CD’s in strip mall parking lots as a way to traffic pills, heroin and meth. While Kountry’s life has risen above these hardscrabble beginnings, Rally is determined to cash in on his investment in Kountry. The conflict between the two of them is a fuse burning down to a powder keg. Even in success, Ca$hville takes it’s toll. This is Neon Empire. STORY JARED GUTSTADT + KEVIN MELLON ART CHRISTIAN ROSADO LETTERING CRANK! COVER JASON LA LATOUR EDITOR RANTZ A. HOSELEY DESIGN JOSH BERNSTEIN + ROB SCHWAGER ©2024 Z2 + Audio Chateau. All rights reserved. All characters featured in this graphic novel and the distinctive names and likenesses thereof, and all related indicia are property of [rightsholder]. No similarity between any of the names, characters, persons, and/or institutions in this graphic novel with those of any living or dead person or institution is intended, and any such similarity which may exist is purely coincidental. No part of this publication may be copied, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of Z2. FIRST PRINTING 2024. Printed in the USA. For mature audiences only.