“Hell is other people.” It was true when Jean-Paul Sartre coined the phrase in 1944, and it’s still true today. Sartre’s brilliant play, No Exit has been loosely adapted by writer and artist Koren Shadmi in The Abaddon.
And by “loosely,” I mean very, very loosely. This is more of a thematic adaptation of No Exit rather than something that follows the story of the play beat-for-beat. Instead, The Abaddon focuses on Ter, a young man who ends up trapped in an enigmatic apartment building with highly dysfunctional roommates. To make matters worse, everyone in The Abaddon appears to be missing critical memories about who they are, including Ter. And the laws of physics and nature are more like suggestions than rules in this strange building.
CraveOnline is proud to present an advance look at The Abaddon as Ter encounters an artist named Noa, and Shel, the woman whom Noa pines for.
Like the lead character of No Exit, Ter’s backstory includes a stint in the military and he will be forced to face the consequences of his actions when he was on the front lines. Before Shadmi became a professional illustrator, he served three years in Israel’s military, which informed his creative choices in The Abaddon. The appartment building in The Abaddon also has a basis in reality. Shadmi was inspired by an apartment complex in Brooklyn which is home to several cartoonists like himself.
The Abaddon hits comic book stores on Wednesday, October 28, and it will become available on Amazon on November 12.
