Film producer Aron Warner has signed with Sea Lion Books for the publication of his twelve-book graphic novel series Pariah, which is scheduled to debut this summer. The series will be written by Phillip Gelatt and illustrated by Brett Weldele.
Sea Lion’s Publisher, Derek Ruiz, offers this description of Pariah: “A pariah is an outcast, a rejected soul ostracized by ‘society.’ Aron has captured the essence of being a Pariah as seen through the eyes group of scientifically created teens. They are a Petri dish of innocent souls infinitely more intelligent anyone else on Earth. Yet their creation and existence has left them shunned and condemned.
“The first four books of the series will introduce the main characters, each of whom represents the many ways these kids adapt to being different. The books will also reveal the how the rest of humanity ultimately decides to deal with these kids. And it isn’t pretty.”
Warner said, “I came up with Pariah after reading an article about in vitro genetic manipulation. The idea of curing something when you don’t fully understand the outcome is scary, but it happens every day. In this case, you snip out one gene that cures something awful but has unintended side effects. What would really happen if we faced versions of ourselves that could out think us at every step? Not superhuman or super powered just us, but way smarter.”
Warner won an Oscar for Shrek in 2002, and was a producer on the entire series. His other genre production work includes: Minority Report (2002), A.I. (2001), Antz (1998), Independence Day (1996), Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare (2001), Ghoulies (1985), and more.