An abandoned drive-in theater, a missing mother, and a monster lurking beneath a lake. Sounds like the makings of a pretty good horror movie from the 1990s, doesn’t it?
That’s exactly the atmosphere Sean Gordon Murphy and Corin Howell are bringing to The Lost Bones of Lake Totem, a new four-issue horror miniseries arriving from Image Comics on January 6, 2027.
Murphy, known for Batman: White Knight and The Last Driver, teams up with Howell, whose credits include Lilith and Wonder Woman: Black, White, and Gold, for a story combining childhood adventure with some seriously creepy secrets.
Set in the 1990s, the comic follows a young girl named Nib, who discovers clues about a mysterious lake monster after a forgotten burial ground is uncovered beneath an abandoned drive-in movie theater.
Alongside her best friend Elliot and her cat Ripley, Nib begins investigating a mystery connected to her missing mother. Unfortunately, something in the lake has been luring children into its depths for centuries.
Murphy describes the project as one of his most personal stories, while Howell brings her love of creature horror to the artwork.
The series takes inspiration from the childhood mystery of Paper Girls and the monster-movie atmosphere of Creature from the Black Lagoon.
The first issue will feature covers by Murphy, Clay McCormack, Serena Bell, and Fero Pe, along with a blank sketch variant.
The Lost Bones of Lake Totem #1 arrives in comic book shops Wednesday, January 6, 2027, with 32 pages and a cover price of $3.99.
For readers who grew up on VHS horror movies, creepy small towns, and stories about kids discovering things adults probably should have left buried, this new Image Comics series looks like one worth keeping an eye on.
Just remember, when something has been hiding at the bottom of a lake for centuries, there’s probably a good reason nobody’s gone looking for it.
Beam Me Up Scotty
Old punk rocker from Miami who still smells faintly like comic shops and poor financial decisions.
