Synopses & Reviews
An Afrofuturist horror-comedy about gentrification, hip hop, and cultural appropriation.
Once a thriving working class neighborhood on Chicago’s south side, the “Bottomyards” is now the definition of urban blight. When an aspiring fashion designer named Darla and her image-obsessed friend, Cynthia, descend upon the neighborhood in search of cheap rent, they soon discover something far more seductive and sinister lurking behind the walls of their new home. Like a cross between Jordan Peele’s Get Out and John Carpenter’s The Thing, Daniels and Passmore’s BTTM FDRS (pronounced “bottomfeeders”) offers a vision of horror that is gross and gory in all the right ways. At turns funny, scary, and thought provoking, it unflinchingly confronts the monsters — both metaphoric and real — that are displacing cultures in urban neighborhoods today. Full-color illustrations throughout.
Review
“BTTM FDRS drags up our culture's biggest, ugliest globs of unconscious sewage and spreads it across a white page for us to see and acknowledge.” PopMatters
Review
“Vibrantly drawn and perfectly paced, this comic is as compelling to read as the story is necessary to hear. Simultaneously delivering visceral horror, cutting satire, and a nuanced interrogation of urban gentrification.” Edie Fake, Eisner Award-Winner, Gaylord Phoenix
Review
“The story is smart, the characters feel lively and real, and the art is moody and lovely. One hell of a winning recipe. Gentrification horror at its finest.” Victor LaValle, The Changeling
About the Author
Ezra Claytan Daniels is the author of
Upgrade Soul and winner of the 2017 Dwayne McDuffie Award for Diversity in Comics. He lives in Los Angeles, CA.
Ben Passmore is the author of Dayglo Ayhole and Your Black Friend, which was an Eisner nominee as well as a Dinky and Ignatz Award winner. He lives in Philadelphia, PA.