Arthur pled to a silent god. Something else answered.
Arthur Bryne's child is dying. He begs heaven for help and gets nothing - until something ancient opens its eye and takes an interest.
Bestaat does not bargain. Bestaat does not promise. Bestaat demands service, suffering, and obedience - and offers only this: each dawn is its own. Sam's life, one earned day at a time.
Marked with a half-demon face, bonded to a sardonic parasite with opinions, and sent out nightly as an ancient god's executioner, Arthur becomes the kind of monster who tells himself the victims deserve it. His best friend refuses to leave. His marriage bleeds out in a handwritten letter. And Sam - the kid he'd burn the world for - may have learned something in the dark that no god wants known.
Structured in the stages of a healing wound - hemostasis, inflammation, proliferation, maturation - Bargains is a story about grief, rage at silent heavens, and the terrible math of what a father will trade.
112 pages of stark black-and-white horror for readers of Wytches, Gideon Falls, and Something Is Killing the Children.
Written, illustrated, and lettered by Stephen Fox.
About the Author :
Stephen Fox writes and illustrates horror and dark fantasy comics - most recently Scar Tissue: Bargains, a 112-page black-and-white graphic novel about grief, monstrous gods, and the terrible math of a father's love. He spent over a year on the book, completing it in spring 2026, every panel passing through one set of hands.A middle-aged father who has been making comics his whole life, Fox has been publishing independently since 2012 under his Fox Storytelling imprint, with additional work for independent comic and role-playing game publishers. His previous books include Bobby's Super Squad, a story about small-town superheroes, and The Path: Rae's Crusade, an illustrated novella-length fantasy storybook. He also served as letterer and designer on the sci-fi epic graphic novel Exit: Rebellion.He is drawn to stories about imperfect people loving each other stubbornly in the face of things too large to fight.Find more at foxstorytelling.com.
Review :
"One of the goriest, weirdest indie horror comics we've ever had on the show. This one grabs your guts and tears them out." -Christian De Matteo, comics writer and host of the Fugitive Poems podcast
"An emotional and intense story about a man who would do anything to save his daughter. Very well-written - and the art is amazing." -Owen Grimenstein, author
