I’ve already read James Tynion IV’s new graphic novel, THE CITY BENEATH HER FEET, and I can’t believe how perfectly different it is from his horror stories

After reading the first issue of one of my most anticipated titles of 2024, I’m not surprised to say that James Tynion IV and the new series by Elsa Charretier The city beneath your feet definitely worth the wait. With a twisted take on classic romantic comedy tropes and stylish cartoons, DSTLRY’s the next comic asks: what if Nora Ephron made a movie about a mysterious killer?

I’m joking, but Tynion and Charretier The city beneath your feet is billed as “a bloody love letter to New York City,” so rest assured: I’m not kidding too much. The first issue – with frequent collaborators Tynion, Jordie Bellaire on colors and Aditya Bidikar on letters – follows both leads, mysterious killer Jasper Jayne and struggling writer Zaraas they go their separate ways through New York City, only for their paths to accidentally collide after Jasper is injured on one of his jobs.

THE CITY UNDER YOUR FEET #1 (2024)
Release date:	December 11, 2024
Writer:	James Tynion IV
Artist:	Elsa Charretier
Colorist:	Jordie Bellaire
Poster:	Aditya Bidikar
Cover artist:	Elsa Charretier
Variant covers:	Anwita Citriya, Tula Lotay, Annie Wu, Marley Zarcone, Elsa Charretier
A blood-soaked love letter to New York City, The City Beneath Her Feet is an action/thriller love story for a new generation, from lauded creators James Tynion IV (Spectregraph, Something is Killing the Children) and Elsa Charretier ( Room Service, Love Everlasting) . Jasper Jayne was Zara’s dream girl, but their brief relationship came and went in a blaze so intense that Zara was left thinking Jasper was just that…a dream. Years later, Zara is thrust back into Jasper’s world – unknowingly listed as his emergency contact, Zara must unravel the mystery of Jasper’s life, while being hunted by the killers who once called Jasper one of their own.

And so “girl meets girl” in a cute, blood-soaked encounter that changes both their lives – but Zara is above all. Set in a wonderfully grungy New York, from Brooklyn to the suburbs of Midtown, The city beneath your feet is as much a thriller as a romance – and as much about a woman’s dangerous search for meaning in another person as it is about killers and writers.

New DSTLRY series The city beneath your feet Embraces everything New York City can do for a story

Nothing screams “romance” more than New York

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: one of DSTLRY’s strengths as a publisher is its willingness to tackle major genre shifts, offering a home to stories that don’t fit comfortably within traditional genre boundaries and may even upend those boundaries. The city beneath your feet fits this “inverted” mold, combining a traditional spy thriller story with the familiar and even comforting trappings of romance. The “star-crossed lovers” trope is just one such trap, and they are: the rich, awkward Jasper is very different from the almost curmudgeonly writer Zara.

But New York itself has its own role to play in this story, and it’s not as a “character,” no matter what the traditional cliché might be. At this point in romance and romcom history, New York is more than a character; the city is a trope in itselfand Tynion and Charretier play with this trope as much as they play with any other genre tool in their broad tool belts. If this story is based on action and style of Kill BillIt attracts both New York and When Harry met Sally.

James Tynion IV’s comics continue to explore queer storytelling in all its possible iterations

Including romance at the heart of The city beneath your feet

In addition to how the genre narrative works, it’s a pleasure to see Tynion plays with and within a new genre, taking a step back from – or perhaps ahead of – horror and mystery which cemented his still-growing role in the comic book industry. Romance appears in his other works, of course, but it is rarely the focus of the story, making The city beneath your feet a refreshing change of pace, especially with a sublime partner like Charretier, who knows his way around mixing romance and action.

And, for what it’s worth, seeing Tynion’s postBatman increasingly, unabashedly and now openly – in all its meanings – queer body of workwithout pretense or explanation, it has been a thrill for a long-time reader. What was once subtextual in Batman characters like Miracle Molly are now pure, textual subjects in Under your feetand I can only hope it was a revelation to traditional superhero readers who have followed him into his creator-owned work over the years.

Perhaps most impressively, the strangeness of The city beneath your feet It’s almost incidental, an unquestionable part of these characters. Of course, these two women would feel immediate attraction. Of course Zara would follow Jasper home. Of course, Jasper would continue to haunt Zara, even in his absence – and that’s perhaps the strangest development of all.

What is it The city beneath your feet Really about?

Falling in love isn’t all it’s cracked up to be

If Jasper Jayne is the visual hook of this comic – with his bright smile, blonde hair and bloody knives – then Zara is your human and imperfect heart. Much of this story is about the tragic difference between dreams and reality — or, more precisely, between what we imagine about places, career paths, and other people and the harsh reality of what they are with the veneer stripped away.

New York – that classic romcom trope and home to then lots of kitsch “Irish” bars, apartments, bridges and unattainable people! – New York is more than a setting, more than a trope and much more than a real place in the world. To Beaneath your feetNew York is a metaphor: Behind what we imagine a person or thing to be is their complex and unknowable self.

What it does The city beneath your feet more than a fun thrill ride of an action/romance comic is how it embraces that metaphor – and having a mysterious killer as its co-protagonist – to question what it means to fall in love with someone else. Jasper may orbit Zara’s life, and Zara may miss Jasper when she leaves, but the twist in the final pages of the first issue offers a single question: Is it really possible to know someone else, even if — especially if — you love them? ?

Elsa Charretier and Jordie Bellaire’s art elevates even the darkest corners of New York

There is beauty even in trash cans

All this pontification means absolutely nothing without Charretier’s art, of course, and Bellaire’s genius in color. Bellaire does much of the atmospheric heavy lifting, creating a sepia-toned city that looks straight out of a late ’80s film, no matter the genre (although, again, Ephron comes to mind). The energy in Charretier’s line makes even the most innocuous scene a thrill to behold – would it be strange to say how much I loved seeing the curves of each character’s legs in motion? Or how many hours could I spend staring at Charretier and Bellaire’s full-page depiction of a dirty, overflowing New York trash can? I could almost smell it.

For the art alone, even after reading a digital copy of this edition, I can’t wait to get the massive physical book in my hands, if only to revel in Charretier’s version of the greatest – the darkest, the most ghastly, the the most tearful – with eyes turned to the street, the bloodiest city in the subway – the dreamiest city in the world. But The city beneath your feet it’s much more than just something pretty to look at, just as the romance genre offers much more than easy love stories. Tynion and the first of Charretier DSTLRY project together, like all the best romances, is about what it’s like to know someone else – and what it’s like to let yourself be known.

The city beneath your feet #1 is available December 11, 2024 on DSTLRY. It’s available for pre-order at local comic shops until Monday, November 4, 2024.