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Bloody-Disgusting Presents: ‘Late Sunsets, Early Sunrises’ – Meet Butch Orlofsky!

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Last week we announced the first ever Bloody-Disgusting.com exclusive comic book series “Late Sunsets, Early Sunrises” that will be debuting for FREE this August from Graphic Content editor, Theo Scheresky and illustrator Idiceanu Mihai. Today you’ll have the chance to feast your eyes on some conceptual art for the next character from the series: Butch Orlofsky! “From the minds of up and coming creative team of writer/creator Theo Scheresky and artist Idiceanu Mihai, comes the first ever exclusive comic mini-series from Bloody-Disgusting.com. “Late Sunsets, Early Sunrises” is a story of death, damnation, and a man’s struggle to recapture not only his lost love, but his own humanity.

Butch Orlofsky

Born into a poor Russian family, Butch Orlofsky spent much of his life living in Southern Nevada working alongside his father as a factory worker. Butch was never much for academics, but one thing that he could do well was play sports, particularly wrestling. Because of his unusually large build and his 0 to 100 anger, Butch excelled on his High School squad and broke nearly every record that had been set at the school. So it came as no surprise that when he was 18 the young Russian immigrant was offered a scholarship to UNLV as part of their wrestling program. Butch accepted the offer, and packed his bags to move away from his family for the first time in his life.

Once the humble giant from a small town got a taste of the big city life however, things changed drastically. In school Butch became transfixed on just two things for his tenure there, and those two things were women and booze.

For these reasons Butch didn’t last long in school. Slipping grades and an unfocused lifestyle lead the young man into spiraling existence that left him with nothing, a destiny that seemed to manifest itself suddenly one day when the wrestler showed up to his match intoxicated, and was therefore suspended.

Rather than return home to parents that were shamed by their son, Butch decided to make his way to Las Vegas to try and get a job as a bouncer at a strip club. (Something that the young man thought might best take advantage of both his strengths and his vices respectively) After living for some time on the streets before he had earned enough money to move into his own apartment, Butch began living with one of the women that was employed in the strip club at which he worked named Ruby. Ruby was a beautiful girl with flowing red hair to match her name and an addiction to cocaine that made her even more alluring to a man as weak of mind as Butch.

It was through Ruby that Butch met the man known only as ‘The Don’. The Don was Ruby’s drug dealer, a ruthless man with a stern scowl, and more power than anyone Butch had ever hoped to meet. In a sick twist of fate (or perhaps an eventual one) Butch began to go poor from the addiction that he had been given by his girlfriend, and as a result he started slipping further into debts that he could not pay.

If one thing is was a sure bet in Las Vegas it was that you do not go into debt to The Don for very long before he comes to collect.

One night The Don and 4 of his men, including Angel-Eyes, stormed into the couple’s apartment looking to collect their payment. Almost immediately Ruby was killed in the altercation, and it took all 4 men to subdue Olofsky in the subsequent struggle. The Don would just as soon have killed the young man, but when a gun is pressed against your forehead you have a tendency to come up with life preserving ideas fairly quickly. The Russian told The Don that he would pay his debt to him the only way he knew how, and that was through work. Ever the sly business man, The Don accepted Butch’s terms and quickly added him to his bodyguard detail.

Then that fateful summer’s day came when the world decided to upend itself, sending every known country into a bloodthirsty rage that left the world so desolate. In the coming months The Don would rise to power in the remnants of Lost Vegas, and in the aftermath Butch found himself at the side of what could just as easily have been the most powerful man left in the entire country.

WRITTEN BY: Theo Scheresky
ILLUSTRATIONS BY: Idiceanu Mihai

Set in a time in the not so distant future where most of the planet has been ravaged by World War 3 and the resulting nuclear fallout. Much of the planet is left barren and uninhabitable, and those that were ‘lucky’ enough to make it out of the cities that were touched by the ash are burnt, deformed, or worse.

There are no governments, no rulers, no presidents, no politicians or principalities. Rape, robbery, and murder are no longer just fears in the back of one’s mind but morbid guarantees to those that do not protect themselves accordingly. The only rules are those set forth by those that have the most drugs, and as a result, the most money.

One such man is The Don. A man who controls the mostly dead remains of the graveyard that used to be Vegas. Everything and everyone in the town of ‘Lost Vegas’ is owned by The Don and his men: the psychotic rockabilly punk Viggy, the hulking muscle Butch, and the quiet beautiful man named Angel Eyes. Together these men keep the inhabitants of Lost Vegas controlled with heroine and the threat of an execution order with your name on it. Seemingly the only weakness in The Don’s armor is his wife, Meghan. Beautiful and as majestic to the world now as a cold soda or a warm bath, Meghan is seemingly one of the few untainted and untarnished creatures left in Lost Vegas.

Will Morris is the gardener of The Don’s estate, a handsome and innocent young orphan who is simply trying to survive long enough to earn the money to run away to Missouri where people say that the air is good and the sounds of birds are not just recordings on the old videos. These are the things of Will’s dreams. That is until he sets eyes on Meghan, and she on him.

So sets the scene for the star-crossed love of two people born into a world that has forgotten the meaning of the word. A small piece of paper slipped under a door and sealed with a kiss that reads “Meet Me At The Ruby Slipper”.

A bride dressed in her finest wedding gown in the back of a dimly lit strip club and a suitcase full of stolen cash. A gardener with just the clothes on his back. Together they race through the desert hand in hand towards Missouri, leaving Sin City behind to be together forever.

Until they are run off the dirt road by a black Cadillac and out steps a lover scorned and his men. The two are brutally beaten by The Don and his men and then forced to kneel at the barrel of a gun. The last thing that Will will ever see with his soul intact is the flash of red that exploded from the forehead of Meghan before the deafening sound of thunder that pulled the curtains down on his life echoed through the cascading red hills of the Nevada desert.

Will awakens face down in the sand. A smoking hole occupying the back of his scalp, but besides that no evidence of the events that occurred before he blacked out are visible. Adding to the confusion is the cabin standing against all reason before him, a thick cloud of dark smoke rising from its stack. The door is open. The Gardener stumbles into the house of The Hermit, a shriveled and tired looking old man who might have seen much in his time, but one could not tell with how deep his eyes have sunk back into his skull. He offers Will a seat with the reassuring calm of a grandfather offering the same to his grandchild.

Then the offer comes. The Hermit tells him that Meghan is dead, with the scorpions crawling up and down the very same curves that he once caressed beneath the sheets of his bed. According to The Hermit, The Gardener himself is dead as well, but there is a chance of that changing. IF he says yes that is.

The offer is this: take the lives of 99 evil men so that The Hermit may ‘take what is rightfully’ his and he will give Will back his dearly departed lover good as new. In order to carry out his end of the deal The Hermit promises that he will provide the young man with all the tools necessary. These are the stipulations and these are the rules. There is no negotiation nor is there room to question.

Will agrees. Will is damned.

So begins the story of death, damnation, and morality that is the final days of Will Morris’ soul. For when he awakens Will is less of a man and more of a monster. A monster that cannot step into the sun directly without searing the flesh from his bones and boiling the impossibly stilled blood in his veins. A monster with a hunger for revenge and death that will stop at nothing until its debt is paid in full. A monster that becomes less human by the day, seeming to put a terrible deadline on Will’s contract.

It’s time to go back to sin city. It’s time to get revenge. It’s time for blood to flow.

“Bloody-Disgusting.com Presents: Late Sunsets, Early Sunrises” Issue #1 (of 6) Will Be Available This August! (MSRP-$3.99 Or As A Free Web-Comic Download For Registered BD Users)

Horror movie fanatic who co-founded Bloody Disgusting in 2001. Producer on Southbound, V/H/S/2/3/94, SiREN, Under the Bed, and A Horrible Way to Die. Chicago-based. Horror, pizza and basketball connoisseur. Taco Bell daily. Franchise favs: Hellraiser, Child's Play, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, Scream and Friday the 13th. Horror 365 days a year.

Comics

‘The Wicked Trinity’ – Preview New Archie Comics One-Shot Inspired by ‘The Craft’ [Exclusive]

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From Sabrina’s Magical World, Bloody Disgusting has learned this afternoon that Archie Comics will be releasing brand new one-shot comic The Wicked Trinity this coming June.

You’ll be able to meet The Wicked Trinity in the 32-page comic on June 12, 2024.

In The Wicked Trinity, “Sabrina’s magical nemesis Amber Nightstone and her sidekicks, Jade Kazane and Sapphire Gill, are intent on becoming the most powerful witches in the world. Isolated from so many around them, the three have formed a coven based on their individual needs for vengeance and true freedom.

“But when there is some dissent among the ranks, their small coven is threatened to be obliterated from within.”

The Wicked Trinity features a script by Sam Maggs, art by Lisa Sterle, colors by Ellie Wright, letters by Jack Morelli, main cover by Lisa Sterle, and variant cover by Soo Lee.

Archie Comics Senior Director of Editorial Jamie L. Rotante tells Bloody Disgusting, “When Editor-In-Chief Mike Pellerito came up with the idea of the Wicked Trinity—Amber Nightstone, Jade Kazane, and Sapphire Gill—I was immediately intrigued. I even had the good fortune to work on the script for Jade and Sapphire’s first appearance in last year’s SABRINA ANNUAL SPECTACULAR comic for younger readers. What I especially loved about these magical teens is that they could seamlessly transcend from classic-Archie stories into more mature, even horror stories. I was eager to start developing their world with a modern sensibility, taking cues from the great work of Kelly Thompson and Veronica Fish on our SABRINA THE TEENAGE WITCH series, and Sarah Kuhn and Carola Borelli on our recent DARKLING one-shot. Inspired by series like Charmed and films like The Craft, I knew there was so much potential to build up this coven in a story that beautifully blends magical fantasy with horror.”

Writer Sam Maggs previews, “Real witches writing real witches—that’s how we do things over at Archie Comics! I was named after a famous witch—Samantha from Bewitched—and so I grew up absolutely obsessed with everything witchcraft, devouring every book series I could about teen witches. That makes WICKED TRINITY a dream project for me. The power and energy of teen girls is absolutely unmatched (just look at the engine behind fandom culture) and being able to harness that metaphorically for a story like this is such a delight. Everything I write focuses on the power of female friendship, and this story is no exception. And what’s better than a morally grey female character? I struggle to think of anything. Cat familiars, maybe? Also, I’m totally a practicing witch now. So maybe if you read this, you’ll find yourself imbued with magical powers, too.*

Artist Lisa Sterle adds, “I can’t wait for people to be re-introduced to The Wicked Trinity! Witches, fashion, and Archie Comics; this is truly a magical trifecta and I’m so happy to have the opportunity to put my own personal stamp on this. I love to create stories in which girls find their own power, both from within themselves and through their friendships and coven. If you’re a fan of my Modern Witch tarot, you’ll find this comic just as magical.”

Exclusively check out the two covers for The Wicked Trinity one-shot comic below!

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