Coda is getting a sequel comic, to blast the eyeballs out of your skull with more fantasy art

By James On Jun 20, 2023

Contrary to the title, 2018 code was as much a beginning as an end. The bang! Studios fantasy comic from writer Simon Spurrier (Away from X) and artist Matías Bergara (Hellblazer) acted as a kind of epilogue for Under the spell of the Ringin which we explore the aftermath of a great battle that wiped out the magic and left hordes of Urk soldiers behind (code‘s version of orcs) with no mission.

The book delivered a stunning spectacle and earned Bergara an Eisner Award nomination for Best Artist, balanced with a deeply personal story about the dysfunctional relationship between a wimpy former bard, Hum, and his Urken Berserker wife, Serka.

The couple and their turbocharged pentacorn (i.e., a unicorn that’s been exposed to so much weird magic it’s mutated four more horns), Nag, seemingly found peace at the end of code‘s first series, but like so many fantasy storytellers before them, Spurrier and Bergara can’t resist the urge to return to this world. Therefore code is back for a follow-up series debuting in September, reuniting the team to explore the next phase of the couple’s relationship while ushering in a new era of magic.

Image: Matias Bergara/Image Comics

Hum walks away from the viewer and towards a strange, huge T-shaped object sitting in the middle of a weird pond on a variant cover art for Coda #2 (2023).

Hum leads Nag, his mutated pentacorn, through a dark forest, while large images of his wife Serka and a golden crown appear behind him on a variant of Coda #1 (2023).

“It is an absolute pleasure and privilege to welcome back one of BOOM!’s groundbreaking titles,” said BOOM! Studios executive editor Eric Harburn. “In 2018, Si and Matías built a postmodern fantasy masterpiece that was years ahead of its time; in 2023 they will be back to do it again with a new chapter in the lives of Hum, Serka and the Nag.”

Spurrier and Bergara’s creative rapport has only grown stronger since the first codewhile working on DCs together Dreaming as well as that of Image Step by bloody step, a silent miniseries that pushed Bergara’s visual storytelling to even greater heights. That makes it new code even more thrilling, and Bergara’s seemingly limitless ability means Spurrier can be as ambitious as he wants with his script.

“Are code. It’s Matias. It’s about what happens after the magic wears off,” Spurrier said. “It’s about muddling through and giant crabs and cursed moons and love and religion and kamikaze messenger fairies and wide-mouthed unicorns trying really, really, really hard not to go on quests. It’s the funniest and most poisonous and best thing ever written, and I think it might be our best work yet.

Hum is fishing and reading a book by a weird lake with a big T-shaped SOMETHING in the middle in textless art from Coda #1 (2023). Then he looks over his shoulder.

Floating on the jetty behind Hum and his fishing rod is a glowing, open-mouthed, ugly fairy, rictus-like in textless art from Coda #1 (2023).

A fairy explodes in a red splat and Hum sits on a scaffold, in textless art from Coda #1 (2023).

Hum rises from the doctor and walks his fishing rod through several panels of a lush, strange fantasy setting, only to discover that something has burst from his stable, in textless art from Coda #1 (2023).

These exclusive sample pages from code #1 shows off that kamikaze messenger fairy, highlighting how his explosive energy interrupts Hum’s serene new life. There’s plenty of humor here beyond words, most notably in Hum’s dismissive IDGAF response to a fairy who blows up right next to him. He’s obviously trying very hard not to go on a quest, but like everyone else who’s played Tears of the Kingdom can tell you, there is no escaping the search.

From the creature designs to the character expressions, environmental details and vibrant colors, Bergara’s passion for this project is evident in every panel. “code has been my absolute favorite book I’ve ever worked on,” Bergara said. “I prefer to call it a place, a dimension – one in which a part of me lives day in and day out in a state of curiosity and discovery. My greatest joy is to see people read and enter this dimension with us.”

code #1 will hit comic shops on September 27th, and for anyone who missed the first series, the whole thing will be released in a deluxe hardcover collection on June 28th, featuring Bergara’s stunning artwork in the oversized format it deserves.