Rachel Rising
Rachel Rising | |
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ISBN 1892597616 |
Rachel Rising is a 42-issue American
The story follows Rachel Beck, a young woman who wakes up in a shallow grave after being strangled. She does not remember the circumstances of the attack, but begins trying to solve her attempted murder with the help of her Aunt Johnny and close friend Jet. Their investigation soon gets put on hold when they learn of a plot to destroy their town through witchcraft and demonic spirits.
Publication history
Moore initially had the idea for Rachel Beck, then called "deadgirl", while he was writing
The first issue was released on August 3, 2011,[2] and quickly sold out at the distributor level, prompting Moore to announce a second printing eight days later.[3] A third printing of the first issue was released for the 2014 Halloween ComicFest.[4] New issues were released approximately six weeks apart.[5]
During a Twitter conversation with fellow comic writer Joe Hill in 2013, Moore mentioned sales of Rachel Rising had fallen and he may have to cancel it if they fell any further.[6] Concerned fans responded by using the #SaveRachelRising hashtag in an effort to show support and promote the book.[7] Afterwards the sales stopped falling, but they did not increase.[6] Moore ended the series at issue #42 in May 2016.[8] In addition to low sales, the constant dark themes in Rachel Rising left Moore feeling drained, and he wanted to move on to projects that were more fun, like Motor Girl.[9]
Rachel Rising has been collected into a series of
A French translation of the series was published in France by Delcourt.[13]
Plot
Rachel Beck wakes up in a shallow grave in the woods with rope burns on her neck and no memory of how she got there. She hitchhikes to her house in the fictional town of Manson, Massachusetts, where her friends and family do not immediately recognize her. Her Aunt Johnny, who is a mortician, examines her and determines that Rachel should not be alive. With the help of Rachel's friend Jet, the three decide to find Rachel's attacker. Meanwhile, two other women in Manson are killed; one by Lilith, and one by a 10-year-old girl named Zoe who is possessed by the demon Malus. When Rachel's group coincidentally meets Zoe, Lilith causes a car accident that injures Aunt Johnny and kills Jet. Rachel accompanies Jet's body to the morgue, where Jet comes back to life in a condition similar to Rachel. Lilith traps Zoe and confronts Malus, whom she summoned 300 years prior to take revenge on the city of Manson for killing her followers during a witch-hunt. He tells her he is close to bringing about the End times, which will also destroy Manson. During their conversation, Zoe slits her wrists and Malus leaves her body to find another host. Zoe is taken to a hospital, where her life is saved and Rachel and Jet find her.
Lilith reincarnates two of her followers into the bodies of the other two dead women, and the three begin to terrorize Manson through plagues and violence. Rachel learns she is also a former witch who was resurrected by Lilith, but her memories are confused with the real Rachel Beck. Jet was brought back to life by the spirit of James, Rachel's boyfriend from her past life. Rachel, Jet, and Zoe kill the two resurrected witches and stop Lilith's plan to destroy Manson. James' spirit moves on to the afterlife, leaving Jet herself again. Rachel heals Jet and Aunt Johnny's wounds using her knowledge of witchcraft, and they resume the search for Rachel's killer.
Zoe is taken in by a
Lilith tells Rachel that she was murdered by a serial killer. When Rachel confronts him, she finds he is bedridden due to an unrelated injury caused by Malus months earlier. She kills him, but he is able to shoot her before he dies. Rachel dies next to his bed, hoping she will finally stay dead. She awakens in the morgue, where Zoe is watching over her.
Critical reception
The series debuted to mostly positive reviews,[14]earning an average score of 8.6/10 from critics according to the review aggregation website Comic Book Roundup.[15] Writing for Comic Book Resources, Kelly Thompson praised the first issue's balance of humor and dark elements.[2] The series continued to receive favorable reviews,[16] but critics frequently note the story's slow pace.[17] Rachel Rising appeared on numerous "best of" lists during its run[18] and the omnibus collection received an average rating of 8.5/10 at Comic Book Roundup.[19]
Awards
Rachel Rising was recognized by multiple industry award programs. It won the
Sequel
In 2017, Moore said Rachel Rising is set in the same fictional universe as his other works, Strangers in Paradise, Echo, and Motor Girl.[24] In 2017, Moore discussed plans to do a second volume of Rachel Rising after completing his 2018 series Strangers in Paradise XXV, saying the story was unfinished.[9] The characters from Rachel Rising appeared in Strangers in Paradise XXV. In May 2019, Moore started publishing Five Years, a 10-issue series which unites the casts from his previous works and resolves plots from Rachel Rising. His 2021 series Serial followed Zoe on a quest for revenge.
Television adaptation
Ben Roberts, a senior vice president at Alcon Entertainment, was interested in adapting Moore's previous comic, Echo, but the rights to it had already been sold.[25][26] Instead, Moore suggested Roberts adapt Rachel Rising, which was not yet being published.[26] Roberts agreed, and in April 2013, Alcon Television Group announced plans for a Rachel Rising television adaptation.[27] Roberts is the series producer, and Moore, Lloyd Levin, Andrew Kosove, Broderick Johnson, and Sharon Hall are executive producers.[26][27] A showrunner wrote a spec script, but Moore said it "just wasn't right" and, after renegotiations, Moore was given more creative control and was allowed to write the pilot script in January 2015.[28][29] In April 2016, the script was still being shopped around Hollywood.[11]
References
- ^ Ash, Roger. "Interview: Terry Moore on Abstract Studios' Rachel Rising". Westfield Comics. Retrieved January 1, 2016.
- ^ a b Thompson, Kelly (August 4, 2011), "Rachel Rising #1", Comic Book Resources (accessed January 9, 2016)
- ^ Moore, Terry (August 11, 2011). "Rachel Rising 2nd Printing". Terry Moore Art. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
- ^ "Halloween ComicFest 2014 Comic Book Lineup" (Press release). Diamond Comic Distributors. n.d. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
- ^ Bradley, Drew (February 11, 2015). "Small Press Spotlight: Rachel Rising". Multiversity Comics. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
- ^ a b Bradley, Drew (February 11, 2015) "Small Press Spotlight: Abstract Studios", Multiversity Comics (accessed January 10, 2016)
- ^ Goulet, Tyler (December 19, 2013), "Save Rachel Rising Archived February 15, 2014, at the Wayback Machine", All Comic (accessed January 10, 2016)
- ^ Garcia, Matthew (January 25, 2016) "The Rundown: "Rachel Rising" Ends at Issue #42", Multiversity Comics (accessed February 4, 2016)
- ^ a b Burlingame, Russ (7 Things We Learned About Terry Moore's Strangers in Paradise Revival", ComicBook.com. Retrieved March 15, 2018
- ^ Burlingame, Russ (March 13, 2012), "The Walking Dead 95 will feature a preview of Rachel Rising", ComicBook.com (accessed January 9, 2016)
- ^ a b Johnston, Rich (April 11, 2016), "Terry Moore To Announce Something New At San Diego Comic Con – But First Rachel Rising TV?", Bleeding Cool (accessed April 12, 2016)
- ^ "PreviewsWorld – Rachel Rising Omnibus HC", Previews (accessed June 7, 2016)
- ^ Moore, Terry (July 5, 2014), "Rachel Rising in France Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine", Terry Moore Art (accessed January 9, 2014)
- ^ "Rachel Rising Death Trending: Who Is Rachel Rising?". Celebs Pilot. Archived from the original on 16 January 2024. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
- ^ "Rachel Rising #1 Reviews Archived January 19, 2016, at the Wayback Machine", Comic Book Roundup (accessed January 9, 2016)
- ^ "Rachel Rising series info – 8.4/10 Archived January 18, 2016, at the Wayback Machine", Comic Book Roundup (accessed January 9, 2016)
- ^
- Jeff (October 29, 2014), "Comic Book Reviews for October29, 2014", IGN (accessed January 9, 2016)
- Eloi, Jeremy, "Rachel Rising #30: Death", Infinite Comix (accessed January 9, 2016)
- Jeff (February 12, 2015), "Book Reviews For February 11, 2015", IGN (January 9, 2016)
- ^
- Parkin, JK (January 2, 2012), "Our Favorite Comics of 2011", Robot 6 (accessed January 10, 2016)
- (December 28, 2011), "The Best of Independent Comics", IGN (accessed January 10, 2016)
- Harper, David (December 7, 2011), "2011 in Review: Best New Series", Multiversity Comics (accessed January 10, 2016)
- (December 20, 2012), "CBR's Top 100 Comics of 2012, #24 – 11", Comic Book Resources (accessed January 10, 2016)
- ^ based on 105 votes, "Rachel Rising Omnibus Reviews Archived October 6, 2016, at the Wayback Machine", Comic Book Roundup (accessed December 19, 2016)
- ^
- (July 12, 2012), "2012 Harvey Awards Nominees announced Archived July 29, 2012, at the Wayback Machine", Baltimore Comic-Con (accessed January 10, 2016)
- (July 15, 2013), "2013 Harvey Award Nominees Announced", Comic Book Resources (accessed January 10, 2016)
- (September 7, 2014), "Your 2014 Harvey Award Winners", Comics Reporter(accessed January 10, 2016)
- (September 26, 2015), "The 2015 Harvey Award Winners", Tech Times (accessed January 10, 2016)
- (July 5, 2016), "2016 Harvey Awards Nominees Announced", Newsarama (accessed July 15, 2016)
- ^
- (April 4, 2012), "Nominees announced for 2012 Eisner Awards", Comic Book Resources (accessed January 10, 2016)
- (April 14, 2014), "2014 Eisner Award Nominees Announced", Comic Book Resources (accessed January 10, 2016)
- ^ Moore, Terry (June 14, 2014), "British Fantasy Society Award, Talking Rachel Rising, How To Buy SiP Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine", Terry Moore Art (accessed January 9, 2016)
- ^ "The 2012 Bram Stoker Awards final ballot", Horror.org (accessed January 10, 2016)
- ^ (November 2, 2017), "Interview: Terry Moore on Abstract Studios’ Strangers in ParadiseXXV", Westfield Comics. Retrieved February 9, 2018
- ^ "Ben Roberts", Variety (accessed April 19, 2016)
- ^ ComicBook.com(accessed April 12, 2016)
- ^ a b Kit, Borys (April 17, 2013), "Terry Moore's Horror Comic 'Rachel Rising' Heading to Television (Exclusive)", The Hollywood Reporter (accessed January 9, 2016)
- ^ Molina, Melissa (August 13, 2014), "SDCC: Terry Moore Revisits On "Strangers'" Past, "Rachel's" Future", Comic Book Resources (accessed April 12, 2016)
- ^ Burlingame, Russ (January 20, 2015), "Terry Moore catches us up on writing Rachel Rising", ComicBook.com (accessed January 10, 2016)