You Can’t Go Home Again: First Look At Star Pig From Dawson, Gaston, And IDW

Thomas Wolfe famously wrote that you can’t go home again, and this seems to be theme picked up by New York Times bestseller Delilah S. Dawson and illustrator by Francesco Gaston in their new book, Star Pig from IDW. Although, this new series seems to be more optimistic in tone, even if it does start off with a moment of tragedy as you can read – and see from the unlettered preview pages we have below. Certainly a book for all ages from what I can see.

Like many late-21st-century teens, geeky 16-year-old Vess gets packed off to spend her summer at Space Camp — which is literally in space. Tragically, a shuttle accident sends her and the rest of the passengers careening into the vacuum. But when a gigantic, space-faring water bear miraculously rescues Vess and her beloved retro Discman, it’s the beginning of an extraordinary friendship and an incredible journey, all set to the tunes of Vess’s 1990s-heavy playlist.

It’s a nostalgia laced comic book and Dawson fleshes out the series some more:

Star Pig is the story of a lost girl and a giant space tardigrade, just trying to get back home. No, Star Pig is actually a love song to nostalgia and growing up, to the bone-deep knowledge that you can never go back to the way things were. NO! Star Pig is really about what happens when the rest of the universe is as obsessed with American Earth culture as we are, and the first human to make contact with aliens finds that they’re cloning Laika, collecting pogs, jamming out to Weezer, and using words like tubular. It’s a mish-mash of the ‘80s, ‘90s, and ‘00s through the lens of a teen girl who never really felt at home in her own time – but who might yet find her place among the stars.

Star Pig #1 will be out this July.