Q&A: Writer Justin Jordan Discusses the Folk Magic and Looming Dread of New Comic Book Series MINE IS A LONG, LONESOME GRAVE

After serving twenty years in prison, Harley Creed is ready to just move on with his life, but his cursed hometown has other sinister plans in store for him in writer Justin Jordan and artist Chris Shehan’s new four-issue comic book series Mine is a Long, Lonesome Grave. Combining eye-piercing horror, violent crimes, and Appalachian folk magic for one hell of a ride for readers, the first issue of Mine is a Long, Lonesome Grave will haunt comic shop shelves beginning tomorrow, and Daily Dead had the pleasure of catching up with Justin Jordan in a new Q&A feature to discuss working with the wonderful team at Oni Press, the importance of setting his story in the Appalachian countryside, and pairing his prose with Chris Shehan’s excellent artwork to capture a sense of brooding darkness that permeates each page, with the comic’s eerie atmosphere also amplified through coloring by Alessandro Santoro and lettering by Micah Myers!

You can read our full Q&A with Justin Jordan below, and we also have a look at preview pages and the chilling cover art for the anticipated first issue of Mine is a Long, Lonesome Grave.

Thanks for taking the time to answer questions for us, Justin, and congratulations on Mine is a Long, Lonesome Grave! How and when did you initially come up with the idea for this story?

Justin Jordan: I think about a year ago, give or take since time is irrevocably broken and may never have existed to begin with, Hunter Gorinson, just after getting the Oni gig, told me about a podcast about a man who believed he’d been cursed and had seven days to live. He did not, in fact, go on a blood-soaked rampage, but then, that’s why this is fiction.

Mine is a Long, Lonesome Grave takes place in a small town nestled in the Appalachian countryside of West Virginia. How important was it for you to authentically set this story in that particular region?

Justin Jordan: Well, I’m from Appalachia, albeit from Pennsylvania, although I’m only half an hour or so from the West Virginia border, and I think it’s an area we don’t see much of in fiction. I also think it’s a pretty good example of the state of rural America which is, sadly, largely one of ignored decay. We’re becoming an urban society, but people do still live in the in-between places, even as it gets harder and harder to do so.

Reminiscent of compelling stories such as the Rectify TV series, Mine is a Long, Lonesome Grave follows an ex-con reacquainting himself with the outside world after serving 20 years in prison. How much time did you spend fleshing out the backstory of Harley Creed, who makes for an intriguing main character who is haunted by his past?

Justin Jordan: For me, the interesting thing is that for the most part, Harley only regrets the one specific thing which, ironically, is maybe the one good thing he ever did in his life as it turns out. I think rather than regret he just sees a waste. He doesn’t have any particular aspirations of being a better person, those days are long past, but he doesn’t see the point of being a bad one either. He wants to survive.

Your poignant prose pairs wonderfully with Chris Shehan’s artwork. What was it about Chris’ visual style that made him the perfect fit for this series?

Justin Jordan: I think the sense of brooding darkness. Chris really named the feel of the story, and for something like this, getting the feel, the looming dread and decay in every image, is really important. You need to get that sense of the dark in every panel for it to work.

Folk horror is integral to the haunting story of Mine is a Long, Lonesome Grave. Do you have any favorite folk horror stories—both on the page or the screen—that influenced or inspired you while working on this series?

Justin Jordan: Oddly, this was mostly taking inspiration from real life. It had mostly died out by my generation, but people of my grandparents’ generation (and both my grandmothers are still alive, so this isn’t the distant past) believed in… well, they wouldn’t call it folk magic, I don’t think they had a name for it at all, but they had what were effectively spells and rituals. Dowsing for water, speaking a Bible verse and blowing the heat out of a burn, etc.

That said, I do quite like folk horror, and stuff like Adam Neville’s The Reddening and The Ritual are in the DNA of the story, as is stuff like The Blair Witch Project (also set relatively near where I grew up).

What has it been like to work with the team at Oni Press to bring this comic book series to life?

Justin Jordan: It’s been great. I’ve known Hunter for a long time, since back at Valiant fifteenish years ago, and I’ve wanted to work with Oni for a long time, so I was pleased that the whole experience was great. Megan Brown has been a terrific editor and the process has been remarkably smooth on my end.

Ultimately, what do you hope readers take away from Mine is a Long, Lonesome Grave?

Justin Jordan: Honestly, my first hope always is that people are entertained by my story. If I can spin a good yarn, so to speak, I’m happy. If they feel something, I’ve succeeded. But if they take away a little about how ambition and power cause the decay of people and communities, I won’t complain.

Mine is a Long, Lonesome Grave is initially a four-issue series, but do you and Chris have plans to continue this story beyond the fourth issue if given the opportunity?

Justin Jordan: No, I think that we’ve told the story we’ve set out to tell here. There’s something to be said for telling your story and getting out. I’d love to work with Chris again, though, and I’m already writing another project for Oni.

What advice would you give to writers who are just getting started?

Justin Jordan: Self-serving thing first: I’m starting a thing called Death Or Comics, which is all about comics connection and creation. So you can get my much longer thoughts about how to make comics by googling that.

But for actual advice: Write things, finish things, repeat. A lot of people get locked into either never finishing, eternally refining one thing, or both, and I think you learn by doing. Beyond that, I say start small, five or ten-page stories, and try to get someone to draw them, even if, maybe especially if, you don’t think you’re ready.

I’d also say you can learn a lot by reading about three-act structure, and just picking apart your favorite comics to see how they work. Or your most hated comics to see why they DON’T work. But mostly, you need to write, finish, repeat.

With Mine is a Long, Lonesome Grave #1 coming out on February 12th, do you have any other projects coming up that you can tease?

Justin Jordan: Oh a bunch, most of which I can’t talk about. I’ve got the second half of Zero Ghost, a VERY different take on magic and crime, Kickstarting sometime later this year. I’ve got another project from Oni eventually, and uh… six at other publishers. Plus we’re about to start up the last arc of Urban Animal at Webtoons.

I stay busy.

Thank you very much for your time, Justin!

Justin Jordan: Thanks for having me!

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Press Release: PORTLAND, OR – Oni Press, the multiple Eisner and Harvey Award-winning publisher of groundbreaking comics and graphic novels since 1997, is proud to present your first look inside MINE IS A LONG, LONESOME GRAVE #1! From acclaimed writer Justin Jordan (The Strange Talent of Luther Strode) and #1 best-selling artist Chris Shehan (House of Slaughter), this pitch-black Appalachian horror thriller will kick down the doors of comic shops everywhere on February 12th, 2025.

In MINE IS A LONG, LONESOME GRAVE #1, Harley Creed – a reformed criminal struggling to lead a straight life – finds himself unable to stay away from violence when a supernatural curse gives him seven days to live … and endless list of hateful suspects to stalk through the criminal underground of his crumbling West Virginia stomping ground where magic and murder go hand in hand. . .

Harley Creed is a bad man. He used to be worse. A violent ex-con with a string of brutal crimes in his past, he only wanted one thing when he finally walked free from prison: to leave Briar Falls, WV, behind and disappear forever. But Harley’s hometown has a strange way of swallowing people whole—call it a consequence of the low-level folk magic that has permeated its darker corners for generations. And now that Harley has returned, pent-up vengeance for his past crimes is about to come roaring back. Somebody has put a hex on him—and Harley has seven days before he dies in twisted, screaming agony.

The only way to save himself is to find and kill his unseen enemy before their curse can take effect. That should be easy enough, but in Briar Falls, there’s no shortage of suspects. With no other choice, Harley is coming for them all. If can’t have peace, at least he can have revenge.

“Sad old men, revenge, witchcraft and Appalachian folk magic – just know I’ll be drawing all of this with a smile on my face the entire time,” said series artist Chris Shehan.

“I don’t get an opportunity to do as much crime as I want…” says author Justin Jordan. “Wait, no, I mean I don’t get a chance to do as much crime FICTION as I would like, so getting to do a crime book that is also a horror book, my other favorite genre, has been awesome. And getting to set it in Appalachia, where I’m from, is just icing on the very brutal cake.”

MINE IS A LONG, LONESOME GRAVE #1 kicks off its rampage on February 12, 2025 in comic shops everywhere – featuring bare-knuckled covers by Chris Shehan (House of Slaughter), Matthew Roberts (Battle Pope), Kelsey Ramsay (Moon Dogs), Jeffrey Alan Love (Absolute Batman), and Jason Shawn Alexander (Killadelphia)!

Plus: Alongside MINE IS A LONG LONESOME GRAVE #1, don’t miss the complete line-up of genre-colliding new titles coming from Oni Press for Spring 2025:

• MINE IS A LONG, LONESOME GRAVE #1 by Justin Jordan & Chris Shehan | February 2025

• OUT OF ALCATRAZ #1 by Christopher Cantwell & Tyler Crook| March 2025

• FREE FOR ALL #1 by Patrick Horvath | March 2025

• PLAGUE HOUSE #1 by Michael W. Conrad & Dave Chisholm | April 2025

• THE GODDAMN TRAGEDY #1 by Chris Condon & Shawn Kuruneru | May 2025

MINE IS A LONG, LONESOME GRAVE #1 (of 4)

WRITTEN BY JUSTIN JORDAN

ART BY CHRIS SHEHAN

COVER A BY CHRIS SHEHAN

COVER B BY MATTHEW ROBERTS

COVER C (RETURNABLE) BY KELSEY RAMSAY

VARIANT COVER (1:10) BY JEFFREY ALAN LOVE

FULL ART VARIANT (1:20) BY CHRIS SHEHAN

VARIANT COVER (1:50) BY JASON SHAWN ALEXANDER

ON SALE FEBRUARY 12th, 2025 | $4.99 | 32 PGS | FC

Mine is a Long, Lonesome Grave #1 Interior Art by Chris Shehan:

COVER A BY CHRIS SHEHAN:

COVER B BY MATTHEW ROBERTS:

COVER C (RETURNABLE) BY KELSEY RAMSAY:

VARIANT COVER (1:10) BY JEFFREY ALAN LOVE:

FULL ART VARIANT (1:20) BY CHRIS SHEHAN:

FULL ART VARIANT (1:20) BY CHRIS SHEHAN: