Gene Ha
MAE Vol. 1
(Roar/Lion Forge, June 2018)
A YA fantasy series by Gene Ha, an Eisner Award-winning and New York Times bestselling artist, about two sisters and a rift between worlds.
Mae’s sister Abbie has been missing for seven years. So when she just shows up in a bar one night, Mae is more than a little shocked. Even more shocking is where Abbie has been—a parallel world in which she was queen of a talking cat army and battled monsters of seemingly infinite variety.
And this is just our story’s beginning. When other impossible creatures start making their way to our world, and abduct the girls’ father, Mae joins Abbie in a strange and fantastical universe in which everything they thought they knew—about themselves, their family, their world—is challenged.
Praise for MAE
“A beautiful and riveting work of comics art that I would recommend to anyone.”
—Mark Waid
“Well worth a read for anyone who enjoys seeing fantasy and reality clash.”
—IGN
“The art is jaw-droppingly good.”
—Adventures in Good Taste
“The actual reading of the story was pure joy…[Gene Ha] is an expert storyteller.”
—Bill Willingham
“Ambitious and remarkable.”—AV Club
“Gene Ha has nothing but magic to offer his readers.”—Comicosity
“Ha has obviously been paying attention and honing his skills while working alongside comics luminaries like Moore, Meltzer, and Morrison, enough so that Mae, his first foray into solo long-form story construction, reads like anything but. Timing and pacing is excellent throughout, and the Fortell sisters’ characterization and their wonderfully (frustratingly) complex relationship serves as the comic’s cornerstone… Ha’s exuberance for the material is barely contained in these beautiful pages. This glorious positivity makes for a comic that wears its heart on its sleeve, which, fittingly enough, makes it Midwestern as heck. Warm-hearted and immersive, Mae already feels like a comic series I’ve been reading, voraciously, for years and years.”—DoomRocket
“The artwork is vibrant, with colors as bright as the main characters. It looks like a great all-ages cartoon at times and also brings weight, because this is a story about consequences and adjusting to unforeseen events.”—The Mary Sue
“Could very well be today’s comic book form of The Wizard of Oz. Highly recommended.”—Fanboy Nation
“Fantastic…Visually it’s a feast for your eyes, plus the story carries the art with a wonderful grace. Gene Ha has the start of something wonderful that can appeal to all ages…It reminds me of a time in my childhood when I believed anything was possible and like Alice; a simple looking glass could lead you down the rabbit hole into a glorious new world.”—TM Stash
MAE and Gene Ha part of the 2018 ALA iREAD Summer Campaign
Read the coverage of the MAE announcement on Newsarama, Bleeding Cool, Comicosity, and Graphic Policy
Watch Gene Ha’s interview with MI Geek Scene at the Cherry Capital Comic Con 2018
Read PopCultHQ.com‘s interview with Gene Ha
Read PopCultHQ.com‘s review of MAE
Listen to Wayne’s Comics‘ interview with Gene Ha on Major Spoilers‘
Listen to Gene Ha’s interview on the (a)muse podcast
Gene Ha has worked since 1992 on books such as Fables, Justice League, Cyclops & Phoenix, and Oktane. He won three Eisner awards for his collaboration with Alan Moore on Top 10 and one Eisner with Brad Meltzer for JLA #11.