* 2022 Golden Comic Award
The world is threatened by horrific monsters entering through mysterious Hellgates – and humanity’s most powerful sorcerer is a disillusioned teenager with no interest in being a hero. What will it take for this young man to finally let go of his difficult past, and realize that even a world as dark as his own is still worth saving?
In the distant future, werewolves, vampires, and sorcerers live openly in human society, and our current technologies have largely been replaced by magic. However, civilization’s dependence on magic comes at a cost, and the government must contract teams of specialists to deal with the disastrous consequences. Most prominent among these contractors is an organization of elite sorcerers known as the Sunset Squad.
Still in his teens but endowed with powerful magic, Eli is one of the youngest sorcerers to ever to join the Sunset Squad. However, most of the time this troubled youth can barely stir himself from his world-weary listlessness. Even the momentous task of saving the world elicits no more enthusiasm from him than that of a government bureaucrat considering his next pile of paperwork. And who can blame Eli when he already knows first-hand that his world is a dark place that may not be worth saving?
As the magical catastrophe worsens, Hellgates begin appearing with greater frequency, bringing horrific monsters and demonic energies into the world, and turning the far north into a region known as the Hellscape. National governments begin hiring mercenaries to defend their northern frontiers from the encroaching Hellscape, and Eli is eventually sent by the Sunset Squad to join the fight. How will his journey north, and his experiences on the frontlines of battle change him? What will it take for Eli to finally decide that even a cruel and unjust world might not be deserving of destruction?
Artist/writer Buke spent three years completing this sci-fi/fantasy epic. The richly conceived world and disillusioned anti-hero Eli immediately resonated with readers, earning Hell Parade the adoration of Taiwan’s comic book community, and making it a true contemporary classic of the medium.
