“A Reverse Indiana Jones Story” – ‘The Horizon Experiment: Finders//Keepers’ One-Shot Announced

Writer Vita Ayala (New Mutants, Static: Season One) and artist Skylar Patridge (Absolute Power: Ground Zero, Supergirl) are producing the one-shot The Horizon Experiment: Finders//Keepers, for the The Horizon Experiment line of one-shots. These one-shots, covering a variety of popular genres, focus on characters from marginalized backgrounds and overseen by creator Pornsak Pichetshote (The Good Asian, Infidel) and award-winning editor Will Dennis (SOMNA: A Bedtime Story, Gideon Falls).

“The Horizon Experiment: Finders//Keepers is a reverse Indiana Jones story that follows Puerto Rican archeology grad student Ines Guarua, who plans to steal an important cultural artifact from a famous museum in order to bring it back home to where it belongs, in the heart of the rainforest. If she fails, then a curse may bring about the destruction of Puerto Rico. This leads Guarua on a quest to smuggle other artifacts from museums and institutions to return them to their native cultures. Finders//Keepers flips the script on traditional action-adventure tales in a fun and exciting way, opening up a new path for protagonist Guarua for potential future stories.”

Speaking about this “reverse Indiana Jones” story Ayala said:

“I’ve always loved action-adventure stories, but the archetypal protagonist and most of the traditional setups weren’t really ever going to work for people like me,” said Ayala. “Working on The Horizon Experiment, I knew I found a way to open that world up to anyone who wanted a shot of being the hero! What a thrill to get to be on such an amazing team, on one of the most fun projects of my career!”

Pichetshote added:

“Out of all the projects announced as part of The Horizon Experiment, Finders//Keepers has generated the most anticipation, and I’m not surprised. Nothing has made me want to come back to comics editing more than the prospect of working with Vita Ayala, so I just crossed my fingers and hoped they’d be interested in joining in. Skylar Patridge is a superstar that still manages to grow in exciting directions with every new high-profile project, so I knew their working together was going to be special. They delivered and then some.”

Patridge concluded:

“Finders//Keepers is a dream project—narratively, artistically, and thematically—and The Horizon Experiment has provided a much-needed stage to tell stories like this. It’s rare that a project aligns so perfectly, and working with Vita, Pornsak, and Will to build and shape this world has been both gratifying and deeply inspiring. Add to that the incredible work of colorist Jason Wordie and letterer and designer Becca Carey, and it truly feels like hitting the creative lottery.”

Like the other titles in The Horizon Experiment, if successful it could well lead to a creator-owned series with The Horizon Experiment: Finders//Keepers #1 out on Wednesday, January 15th with the following covers:

• Cover A by Patridge
• Cover B by Tula Lotay (connecting)
• Cover C by Tula Lotay (1:25 foil incentive, connecting)
• Cover D (blank sketch)

The Horizon Experiment: Finders//Keepers #1 will also be available across many digital platforms, including Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, and Google Play.

Pichetshote will be discussing The Horizon Experiment on the Image Comics Presents: Breaking Ground panel at New York Comic Con this Sunday, October 20, from 11:00 a.m–12:00 p.m. EST in Room 406.2. Pichetshote will also be at booth I32 during the event.