CONTENT WARNING: The preview pages below feature a graphic depiction of human dismemberment.

What's going on in Shipwreck? Jonathan Shipwright doesn't really know, he's just traveling this endless road that's risen up to meet him since the mysterious shipwreck he was involved in. And in this preview, he meets a man who's just finished burying a body in the sky.

Sky burial is one of those things I only know about because of comic books, and I'm guessing I'm not the only one. It was explained in detail by Neil Gaiman and Shea Anton Pensa in Sandman #55, the story about the Necropolis Letharge. Sky burial is a process that involves cutting up and preparing a body to encourage birds to eat as much of it as possible, until there's basically nothing left.

We don't get nearly as much exposition about how it works in this comic as we did in that one, but what we do get is an extremely grisly series of pages in which Phil Hester depicts the man slicing up a body, and then the birds tearing what's left to pieces. It's extremely gory, even though what's being portrayed is meant to be an act of respect rather than violence.

As for how this connects to Shipwright himself, that remains mysterious as well. This road that he's on seems to have things to teach him, and this mysterious man's unique perspective on death and tradition is apparently a part of that.

Shipwreck #2 is written by Warren Ellis, with line art by Phil Hester, inks by Eric Gapstur, and colors by Mark Englert. It's available November 9 from AfterShock Comics.

 

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Here's the official word from AfterShock:

SHIPWRECK #2 / $3.99 / 32 pages / Color
Writer: Warren Ellis
Artist: Phil Hester
Colorist: Mark Englert
Inker: Eric Gapstur
Cover Artist: Phil Hester

Item Code: SEP161218
In Shops: 11/9/2016

Jonathan Shipwright learns about death on the endless road he's trapped on, and that more people know his final secret than he believed. He's going to be hunted for the very thing that trapped him on the road - and on this planet.

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