In a land blighted by conflict, where the soil gives little and the seas less, a struggling, small village fisherman chances upon a sealed box. When his hopes of untold riches turn into a deadly game of wits against an otherworldly three eyed monstrosity, he figures this maybe, just isn’t his lucky day.
Introducing The Palace of Tears, a 120 page graphic novel reinvention of a Jewish folktale of the same name. Stuffed full of classic middle eastern mythological tropes, it also explores a symbolically rich love triangle between a king, his queen and her lover; turning the tale into a deeper, darker deconstruction of the controlling male psyche, fear of unconstrained female sexuality and existential dread.
Echoing the sumptuous golden age illustrations of Arthur Rackham and Edmund Dulac, with a twist of contemporary psychedelic horror, The Palace of Tears is the latest creation of Michael Lomon, creator of the Blind Detective Blake comic and winner of the inaugural 2023 UK Caliburn Prize, recognising new and unpublished comic creators. Seven years in the making and traditionally pencilled and inked, this is an ambitious and uncompromising visual work.
Digital and physical versions of the book will be available to purchase here in the summer of 2025