From the creative minds behind California, Inc., a powerhouse indie team returns with a gripping new crime saga. Writer Justin Giampaoli (Rome West, Starship Down), illustrator Dave Law (The Space Odditorium, Wolf Punks), and Studio 12-7 publisher and variant cover artist Arthur N. Ebuen (Systemic, Disrupted Tales) invite you into the world of Westside.
This 52-page neo-noir crime drama plunges readers into a volatile crossroads where race relations, car culture, and crime collide. Drawing from deeply personal, autobiographical roots, Westside: Volume 1 is both a hard-hitting crime story and a haunting elegy to Justin’s hometown in California’s Central Valley.
Bringing the world to life is veteran indie artist Dave Law, whose bold black and white storytelling is layered with dramatic ink washes, and creates a stark, atmospheric landscape where every conversation hides a secret and every choice has consequences.
If you’re a fan of the slow-burn tension of HBO’s The Wire or the gritty crime comics of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips, Westside: Volume 1 will feel right at home on your shelf. Think True Detective, but set in the sun-bleached streets of California’s Central Valley.
The Kickstarter Campaign is live and has already earned the coveted “PROJECT WE LOVE” badge! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/arthurebuen/westside-volume-1
Justin Giampaoli‘s sharp voice and insightful commentary earned him acclaim as an award-winning critic at Thirteen Minutes for over a decade. As a versatile writer and editor, Justin’s portfolio includes genre-defying work at DC/Vertigo, Dark Horse, Boom! Studios, Madefire, Image, and Studio 12-7. His standout creations are the self-published crime caper The Mercy Killing, introductions and bonus content for New York Times bestseller DMZ at DC’s Vertigo imprint, the alt-history epic Rome West and the sci-fi drama Starship Down, both with artist Andrea Mutti at Dark Horse. Justin recently brought his editorial touch to California, Inc. and the new horror anthology Disrupted Tales at Studio 12-7.
Dave Law is the cover artist of Dungeon Crawler Carl, artist and co-creator of California, Inc. and the ongoing sci-fi space opera The Space Odditorium, artist on the mind-bending Thoughtscape 2319, and cyberpunk horror Wolf Punks. He’s contributed to anthologies Wrong Magnetic Poles and the eclectic Paranoid American History 101. He focuses on visually exploring the unknown and dreaming up alternate, often dystopian worlds within his illustration, sequential art, and concept design. His style is bold and adventurous with a good dose of humor and lightheartedness. His happy place is at his desk combining crisp pen and ink with explosive watercolor and digital elements to create cinematic page layouts.
Jacob Anthony Ramírez is an educator, artist, and poet. He completed his PhD in Creative Writing at Lancaster University in 2025 and is a distinguished graduate of Lancaster University’s Creative Writing M.A. In 2022, Oxford Brookes University’s Ignition Press released Kitchen Boombox, his debut poetry chapbook. His poetry appears in The Breakbeat Poets – LatiNEXT, The Best New Poets 2022, Latino Book Review, San Joaquin Review, Santa Fe Writers Project Quarterly, and Wet Grain, among others. His work has also been featured online by Terence Winch at The Best American Poetry. His debut collection, Reverb, is forthcoming. In his first foray into comics, Jacob contributed reflective chapter break poems in each volume of Westside.
Arthur N. Ebuen started as an animator for Futurama and The Simpsons. Over the last two decades, he’s since moved on to tell other brands’ stories as an Associate Creative Director in advertising and as a Writer/Producer/Director for video and film production. He’s written and published the geo-political thriller California, Inc., the sci-fi anthology Systemic, and is working on the new horror anthology Disrupted Tales, all through Studio 12-7.
Frank Cvetkovic is a comic book letterer who hates when people assume that all he does is put words inside bubbles. There’s a little more to the job than that. For instance, sometimes he puts them in boxes. His work can be seen in Blink, Count Crowley, and Cyberpunk 2077.
SOLRAD is made possible by the generous donations of readers like you. Support our Patreon campaign, or make a tax-deductible donation to our publisher, Fieldmouse Press, today.
Leave a Reply