NEWS

Internationally renowned publisher Humanoids announced today SEOUL BEFORE SUNRISE, a brand new original graphic novel painted in watercolor by critically acclaimed artist Samir Dahmani, about a young woman named Seong-Ji—haunted by a lost friendship—who makes an unlikely connection with a mysterious stranger during nocturnal explorations of Seoul. Available in Spring 2024.

Longtime friends Seong-ji and Ji-won are excited to begin university in Seoul, swearing to stay close in the big city but from the moment they arrive, they begin to drift apart. Her focus split between her rigorous accounting program and her overnight job at a grocery store, Seong-ji tries to make peace with the loss. It’s during her overnight shifts that she encounters an enigmatic young woman who spends her nights entering the empty homes of other people to paint and photograph these places. 

Now, the normally rational Seong-ji finds herself swept up in a dreamlike otherworld, made up of freedom and creativity. As she explores these quiet places with her newfound acquaintance, she uncovers not only an intimate portrait of strangers, but perhaps even of herself.

Samir Dahmani was born in Montbéliard in the early 1980s. In 2008, he enrolled at EESI in Angoulême, graduating in 2012 with a master's degree in comics. Following discussions with Korean students, he was inspired to produce a comic strip about the country, and to travel there to document his experiences. Returning to Angoulême in January 2016, he and his wife, author & illustrator Yun Bo, developed Je suis encore là-bas, a project about French and Koren expatriation, featuring the way each person looks at the other's society. Since then, he has adapted L'Extraordinaire voyage du fakir qui était resté coincé dans une armoire Ikea and written several short stories about rock legends for Petit à Petit. 

 SEOUL BEFORE SUNRISE will be available in bookstores everywhere (bookshop.org)  and in comic shops (comicshoplocator.com) in February 2024. Digital copies can be purchased from comiXology and other digital platforms.