Announcing my second graphic novel with Conundrum Press: a profound collaborative project with writer/storyteller, Sea Conlin.

FULL BLEED, CONUNDRUM PRESS, 2027

A backwoods horror story of grief and ecstatic truth in the style of Flannery O’Connor.

NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER!

Full Bleed is a haunting, visually charged collaboration between creators Sea Conlin and Katarina Thorsen. Adapted from a short story by Conlin this graphic novel explores grief, truth, and the strange ways art remakes loss. Adam—a widower, father, and graphic designer—sets out on a day trip with his eccentric in-laws to an ancestral homestead in rural Nova Scotia. When night falls and the journey veers into isolation and deception, Adam confronts not only his companions’ buried secrets but the collapse of his own defences. Thorsen’s expressive fusion of charcoal, ink, and colour mirrors Adam’s unraveling inner world—tight grids giving way to full bleeds as anxiety turns to horror. Haunted by a spectral Werner Herzog urging him toward “the ecstatic truth,” Adam faces what art and grief demand: surrender, the courage to persevere, and opening up to transformation. For fans of Stephen King’s Maine stories, Full Bleed is part road novel, part fever-dream, a darkly cinematic meditation on the stories we invent to survive—and the truths that finally undo and remake us anew.

“Full Bleed is a beautifully dark and dense fever-dream. Sea Conlin and Katarina Thorsen weave a perfect meditation on grief and the transformative power of art that pulls you in and reveals itself to be one of the most powerful and immersive graphic novels you’ll read this year.” — Jeff Lemire (Essex County, Sweet Tooth)

“Full Bleed is a gripping story of love and grief, through drawings that are radiant and ominous at the same time. An ode to Nova Scotia in Autumn, capturing its beauty and its mysteries perfectly. A really impressive work that gave me chills! A must-read.” -— Aimée de Jongh (Lord of the Flies, Days of Sand)

“Sea Conlin and Katarina Thorsen have used their twinned gifts for darkness to conjure a surreal thriller with existential edges. Full Bleed is utterly compelling, with narrative and artwork moving fluidly between past and present and from terror to tenderness. This trip into Nova Scotia’s backwoods is no Teddy Bears’ Picnic – if you do go into the woods today, listen carefully for the snap of a branch and watch out for tiny flying Werner Herzog heads!”
—   Zsuzsi Gartner, (The Beguiling, guest editor of Best Canadian Stories 2026)

“What I love about Full Bleed is how Katarina Thorsen’s visual style completely matches what I see in my mind when I read Sea Conlin’s writing. The book feels almost like a film, far more immersive than comics usually are. I felt like I was watching, rather than reading. Katarina’s drawings are fully realized and cause me to dwell. The emphasis on texture and detail is exceptional and the story is propulsive. Reading Full Bleed is like being on a high-speed train–there’s no way to escape. At the same time, memories and past mysteries create beautiful, mesmerizing tangents. I love how gripping and engaging this book is –from the long, nightmarish car ride with Adam to the old women, monsters disguised as sweet, grandma comfort. I might quit knitting! A must read!” — Keiler Roberts (The Joy of Quitting)

“In Full Bleed, Sea Conlin and Katarina Thorsen, together create a weird and unnerving world. In this fascinating story set in rural Nova Scotia, gorgeously rendered in intense colours, grief and mystery meet and teach us that family is complicated and that some traditions should stay in the past. A haunting interpretation of the original short story impresses with its breadth and artistry.” – Amanda Peters (The Berry Pickers)

“Full Bleed is unforgettable: a haunting, horror-inflected meditation on grief, loss, and the ways in which history lives in the landscape.” — Kevin Chong (The Double Life of Benson Yu)

About the Author & Artist

Sea Conlin, also published as Christy Ann Conlin, lives in Nova Scotia. Her novel, Heave, was a national bestseller, a finalist for the Amazon First Novel Award, and a Globe 100 notable book. Watermark, her short story collection, was a runner-up for the Danuta Gleed Award, the Evergreen Award and won the Miramichi Very Best Book Award Short Fiction Award. Her radio documentaries for CBC include co-writing and hosting the national program Fear Itself. Conlin studied screenplay writing at the University of British Columbia and stage play writing at the University of Ottawa. Her work has appeared in The Globe and Mail, adda, Brick, Guernica, Lit Hub, Numéro Cinq, The New Quarterly, and Geist. She is a student in the Special Projects class at Chlorine Gardens University, run by comic artist Keiler Roberts. Conlin works as a death doula and grief literacy educator. Full Bleed is her graphic novel debut and is adapted from her short story from Watermark. She loves her cats and her children.

Katarina Thorsen is a Swedish-born artist, writer, researcher, and creative engagement facilitator. Her debut graphic novel, Salt Green Death (Conundrum Press, 2025), was named one of the New York Public Library’s 50 Best New Comics and Graphic Novels for Adults and was a finalist for the 2026 Doug Wright Best Book Award. Through archival research, visual storytelling, and collaborative creative practice, Thorsen explores history, memory, and the ways art can foster connection and meaningful dialogue. She has facilitated creative projects with community organizations, health authorities, restorative justice programs, custody centres, and schools, and her artwork is held in private collections in North America and Europe. Full Bleed is her second graphic novel.

FULL BLEED, CONUNDRUM PRESS, 2027

Publication Details
ISBN: 9781772621303
160 pages, 6.6 x 10.4 inches,
full colour, trade paper
May 2027