The Gimmick - Paperback

by Joanne Starer (Author), Elena Gogou (Illustrator)

Welcome to THE GIMMICK, a Coen Brothers-style dark comedy from AHOY Comics, writer Joanne Starer (Sirens of the City; Away From Here) and artist Elena Gogou (Quests Aside).

The Undertaker. Danhausen. El Santo. Every wrestler needs a good gimmick: a colorful in-ring persona that dazzles the crowd. Then there's wrestling champ Shane Bryant. Shane's a "nice guy" who floats through life with no repercussions and a forgettable gimmick. But Shane's been keeping a life-changing secret: he has super strength. And when he loses control of that strength, punching his fist straight through his opponent's brain--in front of 2.4 million horrified viewers--everything changes. Now Shane needs a new gimmick--and a new life.

The now fugitive Shane Bryant flees to Tijuana, where he begins a career as a masked wrestler. But Shane's life has too many loose ends to make a clean escape possible. His manipulative mother, his ex-girlfriend, his child, the friends he left behind, and the daughter of the man he killed all want a piece of him....

Author Biography

Joanne Starer has worked with Marvel, Image, King Features, and Walter Foster Publications, among others. At Marvel, she was part of the team that launched the now-legendary Marvel Knights line. She has served on the board of the Editorial Freelancer's Association and holds a master's degree in Media Studies as well as a certificate in Digital Film Editing from The New York Film Academy.

Outside of her publishing pursuits, Joanne owned and operated a women's wrestling promotion in 2002, championing equality in pro-wrestling a decade before it became a nationwide trend.

Elena Gogou is a freelance comic artist and illustrator living in Patras, Greece, who made her US-comics debut with Vault's Quests Aside, written by Brian Schirmer. She holds a very cool degree in Mechanical Engineering and Aeronautics that she never uses but likes to mention.