Free Comic Book Day's special one-shot starting The Bone Orchard Mythos.

NOTE: Named per indicia.

The Bone Orchard Mythos

An original horror comic franchise created by Jeff Lemire, Andrea Sorrentino and Dave Stewart. This franchise features self-contained graphic novels and limited series based on a similar lore.

Publication History

The Bone Orchard Mythos franchise is a series of graphic novels by Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino. As of March 2022, there were no plans to include any other writer or artist. While the stories will be influenced by a shared mythology, each story is intended to be standalone. "You don’t need to read one to understand another, and you don’t even need to read them in publication order," Lemire stated in a March 2022 newsletter. However, they also hope that the dedicated readers will be able to piece together the larger mythology.

As of May 15, 2024, the Bone Orchard Mythos was going on hiatus. Jeff Lemire said of it:

And, for Bone Orchard, what Andrea and I planned as the first “cycle” of Bone Orchard books ended with Tenement and we both needed a break. As much as I’ve enjoyed doing the books, I personally just feel totally burnt out on the horror genre right now. And Andrea wants to explore some other projects as well, so we don’t have a definite plan for the future of Bone Orchard yet. But when we do, I’ll be sure to let you know.

The Dogma

The Garden of Eden was an illusion that masked the darkness, which came first. Eve had learned of the darkness and fought hard to keep it from her children. Unfortunately, one of her sons, Cain, was infected by it anyway. When he could no longer take it, he killed his brother, Abel, forcing his mother to run away. She was never heard from again, but Cain wandered into the world of man. There, he influenced people in service of the darkness, especially seven devotees. Through these seven, Cain grew in power and became something more than just a god. As a result, he was punished by the light, who chained him in paradise. However, the light was too late. Cain had infected The Seven with his darkness, and they continued to spread its influence, so they may overwhelm the light and free Cain.

The Seven

• K'ur, The Crow King
• Moloch, The Dragon. The Destroyer.
• Resh-Arsay, The Oracle
• Labishi-Marduck, The Deceiver
• Jakdalah, The Enslaver
• Unknown Sixth
• Us'uuul, The Void. The Nothingness.

Reading Order

1. Prelude (FCBD one-shot)
2. The Passageway (OGN)
3. Ten Thousand Black Feathers (5-issue series)
4. Tenement (10-issue series)
5. Starseed (TBD, on hiatus)