X-Men, Batman writer’s latest project ‘The Displaced’ sees Ontario city disappear

Best known for his work on Batman and the X-Men, comic book writer Ed Brisson has returned to his roots with his newest project The Displaced which details the complete disappearance of Oshawa, Ontario and its 170,000 residents.

Brisson grew up in the city, spending the first 14 years of his life in Oshawa before he moved down east. He now calls Halifax, Nova Scotia home. He first came to reader’s attention with his self-published crime graphic novel anthology Murder Book working with various artists.

Next, he broke into the comic’s mainstream with his Image series Comeback. After beginning his relationship with Image he went on to publish Sheltered, The Field, The Mantle and The Violent with the company.

Image has of course long been known for its focus on creator-owned works as home to Todd McFarlane’s Spawn, Robert Kirkman’s Invincible and The Walking Dead, Brian K. Vaughan’s Saga, Erik Larson’s Savage Dragon and many, many more.

He later moved to publisher Dark Horse where he wrote the comic book adaptation of Sons of Anarchy. He’s since moved to writing for the “Big Two” publishers Marvel and DC for numerous projects. He wrote Old Man Logan, Canadian superhero team Alpha Flight, the “Dawn of X” relaunch of the X-Men, Secret Avengers, Ghost Rider and Predator at Marvel. At DC, he wrote several Batman series and Deathstroke.

His work has garnered him several nominations for the Joe Shuster Best Canadian Writer award, named after the Toronto-born artist who co-created Superman.

The Displaced is set to debut in February from Boom Studios. It details the complete disappearance of all of Oshawa. No one in the story even remembers the city existed. “As the survivors of the incident start to become forgotten as well, they must seek each other out if they hope to have any chance of surviving in a world where no one believes they ever existed at all,” the announcement reads.

“The Displaced is a project I’ve been trying to bring to life for more than 15 years now and I am eyond thrilled to finally tell this story, as much a Twilight Zone-style sci-fi mystery as it is a tale about my own personal connection to the city of Oshawa,” Brisson said.  “It’s a story about the churn of media and the victims who quite literally become forgotten as the world moves to the next big story.”

Brisson is joined by Italian artist Luca Casalanguida, best known for his work on James Bond and Dylan Dog. “I’m very excited to be working with Ed here,” Casalanguida said, “I loved being part of this choral story of people fighting for their memories in a world that is forgetting them.”

The first issue of The Displaced hits comic store shelves on Feb. 14. Oshawa’s comic shop Worlds Collide said they were “supremely stoked to see this formally announced.” They said Brisson would attend the store in future for a launch event with details to come shortly.