DROWSE -- a new lo-fi supernatural crime webcomic

[Frank V]

Flip the switch. It’s time to wake the world.

I'm pleased to announce the launch of DROWSE, a free, (relatively) monthly lo-fi sci-fi crime webcomic brought to you by myself, Frank Verano, my longtime writing partner Nick Klinger, the incomparable Jaime Huxtable on art, and Taylor Esposito on letters. The project is edited by Kev Ketner.

DROWSE is the story of private detective Paul Caine, who spent decades pushing his mind to its absolute limits in pursuit of esoteric knowledge and rites beyond the veil of the conscious mind.

He barely survived.

Now Caine lives with devastating reminders of his unorthodox lifestyle — psychic trauma, compulsive behavior, and fractured personal relationships. He scrapes together a living using the only tools at his disposal — a sidekick husky named Ben Franklin and a singular set of detection methods rooted in urban mysticism that fail him more often than not.

As the year turns to 1969, Caine witnesses the declining harbor town of Fairhaven fall victim to record unemployment and a brutal crime wave. While he struggles to keep his practice afloat, a dangerous new movement called the People’s Project works to exploit Fairhaven’s social unrest for its own ends. A desperate mother’s plea sets a bizarre investigation in motion — one made all the more unpredictable by Caine’s obsessive reliance on an impossible machine.

Read the first issue here: DROWSE Chapter One.

We'll also be updating the official DROWSE website with regular supplementary content such as entries from Caine's journal, in-world newspaper articles and adverts, process pages, and From Hell-style annotations.

Your feedback is much appreciated! We're excited to engage with our readers as the story unfolds here and on Twitter.

[Frank V]

Chapter 1 preview:

[Frank V]

As a creator, I'm always interested in seeing others' process work. Here is a process sequence for a given panel in Chapter 1 -- from script to colored/lettered finished page. Note Jaime's decision to reframe the shot between layouts and pencils. When you see the panel in sequence with those that come before and after on the page, I'm sure you'll agree he made the correct storytelling decision.

[Frank V]

Flip the switch and turn on to DROWSE Chapter One. Chapter Two releases in just under two weeks. Teasers coming soon . . .

[Frank V]

Coming Wednesday, August 18 -- DROWSE, Chapter 2.

As always, DROWSE Chapter 2 will be available for FREE on the official website. Three-page preview coming soon!

[Frank V]

It's here! I'm excited to announce the publication of DROWSE Chapter Two on the official website. We're pretty proud of this one. That page one is pretty epic, right?

In this chapter, things get weird, to say the least . . .

A preview:

Over the next few weeks, I'll be sharing some process work on this chapter and dropping teasers for the next. In the meantime, connect with us on Twitter. Your feedback is welcome (encouraged, even!).