Cartoonist Jeremy Bastian's Cursed Pirate Girl is an intricate work of art that follows, as promised, a cursed pirate girl who travels the seas engaging in adventures, in a piratical Alice in Wonderland kind of way. Illustrated like a late-19th century fever dream, it's a book that rewards repeat reads. The first graphic novel was released as a hardcover in 2012 by Archaia to great critical acclaim after a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2010. And now, a new Cursed Pirate Girl story is on its way from Archaia this summer.

In June, Archaia will release Cursed Pirate Girl Annual #1 for $9.99. It includes 52 all-new pages of story and is the first annual installment that will eventually make up Cursed Pirate Girl Volume 2.

Art as detailed as Bastian's takes time, and in 2012, he told LA Weekly:

 

I think my biggest challenge is time. If I were working for a mainstream comic company there's no way they'd put up with how slow I am. The only way I'm able to handle that problem is because of Tom Negovan of Century Guild. He acts as my patron and gives me the financial freedom I need to work on the book and not have to cut corners or speed up my production rate. I want to create something that is totally free of compromise and to the best of my ability.  If I'm putting out a comic it has to be the best I can do and so I'm always trying to improve.

 

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In order to not leave readers hanging, Bastian and his publisher have opted to give fans the story bits at a time, somewhat like the traditional single-issue comics model. Not only does this keep readers interested, it also helps break up some of the challenges of working on a graphic novel for the artist.

The annual follows the Cursed Pirate Girl and young Apollonia as they search for the Pirate Girl's father --- who is, of course, a pirate captain. Based on the artwork, it promises to be more of the same weird goodness.

 

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