‘The Little Bird’ Team Returns With ‘The Karman Blade’
Image Comics revealed The Karman Blade, a four-issue dark fantasy from writer Darcy Van Poelgeest and artist Ian Bertram, the duo behind Little Bird and Precious Metal, arriving in September.
The story drops readers into a parched, failing world where a young man living at its margins is picked by a sword born from the stars. His task is to kill the tyrant god Kalu and release the water locked away inside that god's kingdom. First, though, he has to reckon with his own fears and respond to the weapon's challenge, framed in the release as a question of whether he is the one meant to take up the blade and bring down a god.
"Yes, The Karman Blade is a dark fantasy with an all-powerful sword, and a giant wolf, and dueling deities, and all those beautiful things. But what makes it so special is that it's been made with a kind of experimentation that comes from pushing and pulling at the medium we love. We are committed to the idea of making something that requires collaboration from the readers as much as from ourselves, and that's what we've done," said Van Poelgeest. "The Karman Blade is for everyone who loves the questions as much as the answers; the weirdos, and the poets—for those brave enough to embark on a quest of their own!"
"The Karman Blade is a feral work. It's something Darcy and I made in a swamp of beautiful and festering creativity. Now it emerges, tall, and rough, and wide eyed. Glistening and set to purpose. It's a work of passion and obsession and I can't wait to finally set it free and share it with everyone!" added Bertram.
The Karman Blade #1 is on sale Wednesday, September 9, 2026, with a by Bertram and Matt Hollingsworth and a variant by Bertram.
