We’re thrilled to reveal the cover for graphic novel Malcolm Kid and the Perfect Song by Austin Paramore, illustrated by Sarah Bollinger! The book was designed by Carey Soucy; inked by Marika Cresta; lettered by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou; and edited by Robin Herrera, Sarah Gaydos, and Grace Scheipeter. It will be released on August 1, 2023 by Oni Press. Preorder it here.
What does the perfect song sound like?
Normally, Malcolm Kid wouldn’t give this type of question the time of day. As a straight B-student with a heart of copper, he is far more concerned with overcoming mediocrity than he is with achieving perfection. But that all changes when he stumbles across the LK-2000—a strange keyboard cursed with the soul of an old jazz musician.
Malcolm soon learns that the only way to free this musician’s soul is by performing the perfect song. With much hesitation, and the help of his lifelong friend January Young, Malcolm embarks on a musical journey across the city of New Bronzeville in the hopes of discovering the perfect song and finding himself as a musician along the way.
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Austin Paramore is an award-winning copywriter, poet, and author best known for writing the commercial that interrupted that one episode of the show you’re really into. A south side Chicago native, he grew up lugging around a cheap, student-model alto saxophone, roughly the same size as his adolescent frame. Little did he know, falling in love with the sounds and stories of jazz would one day inspire the creation of his debut graphic novel.
Sarah Bollinger is a comic artist and illustrator who moves too much to say where she currently resides with any confidence. She started making comics during her time as a student at The College for Creative Studies in Detroit, co-creating the self-published fantasy comic, Knight & Beard, and the Webtoon featured slice-of-life series, Girls Have A Blog. In addition to writing and drawing, Sarah spends her time questing for new coffee flavors, endlessly coming up with new material for that stand-up comedy routine she’s been working on since 7th grade, and taking countless photographs of her three-year-old child, Natalia.
