8 years I pitched Calista Brill at First Second Books a graphic novel about a world where the Roman Empire never fell, but where panem et circenses is still the name of the game—only here the gladiators are enslaved teenagers racing monster trucks on reality TV. A few weeks later (after Calista had emailed with the second-greatest sentence an editor can send a writer: "what happens next?!") they made me an offer.
6 years ago, I sent the first draft of the script off for notes.
5 years ago, Calista told me about this amazing young artist she'd found named José García.
A year and a half ago, José sent in the final art files to First Second. Truckus was done.
But unlike the world of mainstream comic books—where it's often only a matter of weeks from when the artist is done to when the comics are on the shelves—book publishing works at a whole different speed.
So it's only now, 18 months later, that the 280-page behemoth that José and I worked on so closely for so long has really entered the world. José and I got our copies a month or so back, and that was an incredible thrill. But it's only now, when we can walk into any local bookstore or comic book shop or go to a massive internet store and find a copy that it's really real.
So. Here's hoping you pick up a copy via your favorite online or brick-and-mortal store and here's hoping you love it. José and I certainly loved (almost) every minute of making it.
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