Halo and Sprocket Return in July

[ENGLISH] It’s a perfect « strange bedfellows » concept: a young woman shares her house with an angel and a robot. The young woman and angel are charged with teaching the robot what it means to be human. This was the premise of Halo and Sprocket by Kerry Callen, a comic published by Amaze Ink in 2002 through 2003 that became a hit with readers and critics for its clever humor and clean, expressive art. After a five-year hiatus, Katie, Halo and Sprocket are returning to the printed page in Callen’s new graphic novella, Halo and Sprocket: Natural Creatures, published by Amaze Ink, the all-ages imprint of SLG Publishing. It will be released in July.

Callen regretted having to take a break from his comic. « The original series was building a somewhat impressive fan base, but I had to stop a while for physical reasons, » he said. « I can’t tell you how happy I am to be returning to these characters! My goal with this new book was to produce more of the same quirky stories, but crank up the art a little bit.”

Natural Creatures retains the same format as the Halo and Sprocket comics — short stories that depict Halo and Sprocket exploring the questions that behavior of humans raises in even the most simple situations while Katie holds her own for human nature against a robot’s logic and an angel’s divine knowledge. The trio visit Katie’s bathroom (why do women shave their legs but not their arms?) and a pet store (why are kittens cuter than lizards?). Sprocket briefly experiences what it is to be human, and Katie learns that it’s no easy thing to play a practical joke on an angel.

Halo and Sprocket: Natural Creatures is 72-pages long, available now for pre-order from comic book stores with the Diamond Code MAY083549. A preview of the graphic novel is available at SLG Publishing’s website, www.slgcomic.com.