Dark Horse reveals SKATE ALI

Dark Horse Comics has revealed Skate Ali, a sci-fi skateboarding series written by Kelly Sue DeConnick and Sam Humphries, with art by Natacha Bustos, and lettering by Josh Reed. Debuting in June, the five-issue comic takes place in a near-future Los Angeles, where skateboarding has become illegal, and follows a young rebellious girl as she competes against a clan of rivals — who are armed with magic.

Welcome to near-future Los Angeles — a neon-scorched city where skateboarding has been ruthlessly outlawed. But nothing stops Skate Ali. By day, she’s just another student dodging detention. By night, she’s a rebel on wheels, an enigmatic loner defying the law on the Los Angeles streets. But when Ali slams headfirst into the infamous world of underground skateboarding, she comes face to face with a crew of outcast skaters called the LA Skull Clan, and their masked leader, Skull Queen 9.

Fueled by a magical force called the Rush, the clan pulls off explosive moves and defiant acts of resistance. Faced with the opportunity to level up her game, but afraid of actually being perceived by others, Ali must decide: will she play it safe, or kickflip straight into a revolution?

Humphries states, “Kelly Sue and I first came up with Skate Ali over ten years ago. She’s been living in our heads ever since, demanding to come out, skating the inside of our skulls like they were empty swimming pools. It’s noisy and we needed the relief, but there’s also something about her heart, smartass vibes, and banged up ankles that has made her impossible to ignore. Getting Natacha to join us as artist and co-creator was the perfect fit to make Ali finally come alive. We can’t wait for everyone to meet the best and worst skater in the history of Los Angeles.”

Bustos adds, “Working on this project has been fun from the very beginning. I was immediately captivated by the scripts and the spokon spirit at the heart of the story, with its peculiar and incredibly smartly written characters. Of course, Ali is the soul of everything, and Sam and Kelly’s description of her made me fall in love with the character at first sight. Designing her was a joy, just like bringing to life all the characters who orbit around her. I hope readers enjoy a comic that’s fun, clever, and full of heart.”

Issue #1 will be released on June 10, with a number of covers by Bustos, Joe Quinones, Sweeney Boo, Emma Rios, Jamie McKelvie, and Rosemary Valero-O’Connell. It will mark DeConnick’s second book at Dark Horse in as many years (after FML), Humphries’s second in total (following Sacrifice), and Bustos’s first with the publisher. In the meantime, you can check out the variant covers below, and read three exclusive preview pages at Graphic Policy.