Block’D is a coming-of-age story that deals with figuring out who you are in a legacy left behind by your parents, featuring basketball and Werewolves! Written by Brian Hawkins (Black Cotton, The Vineyard), illustrated by Ignacio Di Meglio, colored by Ezequiel Cataldo, and lettered by Chas! Pangburn.
In a small but not too quiet town, Cam Banter, a high school basketball star with a monstrous secret — that he’s part of a pack of paranormal shifters with the ability to change into werewolves — struggles to find his place on the team and the changes happening in his life when his abilities begin to show and he’s unable to control them.
With an overbearing father whose expectations exceed what Cam is capable of and pushes him to his limit, teammates who no longer trust him or even like him, and a basketball rival from another school trying to rekindle things with one of the stars of the girls’ basketball team that Cam has his eyes on and is a confidant for him, he is left trying to figure things out on his own…
That is until his new coach, who has a secret of his own, attempts to make a difference in his life. But will Cam let him in before it’s too late? It’s a teenage fight for survival on both a social and personal level as basketball, life, and the supernatural all clash.
“Block’D is about the journey of self-discovery,” said Brian Hawkins. “However, no individual is capable of really understanding who and what they are without a support system. What we find is that it truly is a village that raises individuals and Block’D captures this through the aspect of the family dynamic, specifically a father and son’s struggling relationship, the concept of team, and finding and trusting your person.”
“Block’D has been a blast from the beginning,” said Ignacio Di Meglio. “Brian and I have worked together before and had a great synergy, so when we started talking about our next project, he mentioned his initial idea for Block’D and had me hooked with the mere mention of werewolves and basketball. Werewolves because they are my favorite mythical creature and basketball because it represents a challenge for me to depict it in a cool convincing way, and I love a good challenge.”
Block’D is now up for pre-order through bookstores, comic shops (FOC: January 13, 2025) and the Maverick site. It will be in bookstores February 4, 2025 and comic shops February 5, 2025.