The Expeditions of Atlas Clarke
A thrilling treasure hunting story set against the backdrop of a colorful and expansive space opera.
Welcome to Kishar — the new home for humanity.
It’s been only 50 years since the “The Greatest Migration” began. The scars left after fleeing the dreaded Krall and abandoning Earth are still fresh. Still, humanity is trying its best to move on and make Kishar their new home.
Atlas Clarke, a malfunctioning mechanical man, wanders the landscape of this alien world with a progressively failing memory and functionality. While others seek out Kishar’s many mysteries, adventures, and treasures, Atlas finds himself on his own personal expedition — to find out who created him and why.
The search for the clocktower begins.
Created & Written by: Cory Lahue
Illustrated by: Brandon Gorski.
Get Introduced to the World of Kishar
When the Shepherds first came to Earth, warning humanity of the looming threat known as the Krall, our world leaders thought they were just ghost stories. They weren’t.
Dark, colossal titans who left a trail of dead planets in their wake, the Krall were a galactic threat that had decimated countless planets before. Now, they were coming for Earth. Fortunately, the Shepherds offered salvation.
The concept was simple. The Shepherds would ferry humanity to the Cyllo Cluster, a hidden “safe-harbor” galaxy inhabited by other rescued, Krall-fleeing civilizations. As long as humanity was willing to play by the rules, they could claim and settle a planet of their own — the planet of Kishar.
And so The Greatest Migration began.
In an instant, entire countries uprooted their lives and travelled across space and time to settle the new alien world. Most of civilization’s needs were met with the abundance of doctors, scientists, lawyers, engineers, tradespeople, and teachers who migrated. However, settling a new home world called for other skills that had long been absent in human society — explorers. It needed people were willing to venture out into the alien frontier and discover Kishar’s many mysteries.
In true human nature, the call for adventurers, treasure hunters, explorers, and the like, was answered by private industrialization. Overnight, the private adventuring and expedition industry exploded and everyone from global corporations with limitless funds to small time freelancers rushed to capitalize on the opportunity. Soon, conquering the unknown was nothing more than market demand, taming the wilderness was a premium white glove service, and buried ancient treasure was taxable income.
Preview Pages
Cory Lahue
Creator and Writer
While Cory Lahue’s career is in digital marketing, his passion has always been storytelling. In the Shade Publications is an attempt to combine the two skills in order to bring his stories into the open for the first time. He is the creator of The Expeditions of Atlas Clarke, a forthcoming collection of short stories, and hundreds of other half-done projects . When he’s not spending his free time writing, watching, listening to, or playing different kinds of stories, you can find him hanging out with his wife, Danielle, and their close friends and family.
Brandon Gorski
Illustrator
Brandon Gorski is a graduate of MassArt’s Illustration program in 2009. Since graduating, Brandon has been freelancing, attending comic conventions and making work for gallery shows centered around native culture and shamanic experiences. Brandon has recently started self publishing creator owned comics under the imprint, In The Shade Publications. Brandon lives on the Northshore of Massachusetts with his family.