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Heaven
Four young women investigate a vanishing strip club in this supernatural, surreal graphic novel.
Out past the edge of town, there exists a strip club called Heaven that only some can find. Some say it's a mirage. Others say you can't miss the giant neon heels lighting up the desert night skies.
Dolly can't find a place to belong. After losing her identity as a gymnast and?navigating family turbulence, she's adrift from school and friends. When a mysterious presence beckons her to Heaven, she wonders if she may just have found her place -- but just what does it want in return?
Katie Skelly's first graphic novel since her acclaimed Maids in 2020, Heaven finds out what happens when the artist's quintessential cool girl characters let their guards down and let the world in. With a supernatural strip club backdrop and an eye-popping sense of color that would make Dario Argento proud, Heaven reinforces Skelly's place as one of the most distinctive voices working in contemporary comics today.
Full-color illustrations throughout
Out past the edge of town, there exists a strip club called Heaven that only some can find. Some say it's a mirage. Others say you can't miss the giant neon heels lighting up the desert night skies.
Dolly can't find a place to belong. After losing her identity as a gymnast and?navigating family turbulence, she's adrift from school and friends. When a mysterious presence beckons her to Heaven, she wonders if she may just have found her place -- but just what does it want in return?
Katie Skelly's first graphic novel since her acclaimed Maids in 2020, Heaven finds out what happens when the artist's quintessential cool girl characters let their guards down and let the world in. With a supernatural strip club backdrop and an eye-popping sense of color that would make Dario Argento proud, Heaven reinforces Skelly's place as one of the most distinctive voices working in contemporary comics today.
Full-color illustrations throughout
100 pages, Hardcover
First published July 7, 2026
About the author
Katie Skelly
14 books62 followersKatie Skelly is an American comic book artist, writer, editor and critic.
Skelly was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in 1985. She studied Art History at Syracuse University and then at City College of New York.
Among her works: Nurse, Nurse (2012, Sparkplug), a 'Barbarella-inspired' sci-fi comic; Operation Margarine (2014, Adhouse), for which she won the Emerging Artist Prize at the 2015 Cartoon Crossroads Columbus Festival; My Pretty Vampire (2017, Fantagraphics), a 70's exploitation-style horror; The Agency (2018, Fantagraphics), a collection of erotic stories previously appeared online; Maids (2020, Fantagraphics), a true crime graphic novel; the ongoing self-produced series Heaven.
Skelly has written about comics on the Comics Journal since 2014. She co-hosts the podcast Thick Lines with fellow cartoonist Sally Madden.
Skelly was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in 1985. She studied Art History at Syracuse University and then at City College of New York.
Among her works: Nurse, Nurse (2012, Sparkplug), a 'Barbarella-inspired' sci-fi comic; Operation Margarine (2014, Adhouse), for which she won the Emerging Artist Prize at the 2015 Cartoon Crossroads Columbus Festival; My Pretty Vampire (2017, Fantagraphics), a 70's exploitation-style horror; The Agency (2018, Fantagraphics), a collection of erotic stories previously appeared online; Maids (2020, Fantagraphics), a true crime graphic novel; the ongoing self-produced series Heaven.
Skelly has written about comics on the Comics Journal since 2014. She co-hosts the podcast Thick Lines with fellow cartoonist Sally Madden.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
August 11, 2026
una lectura rapidita antes de seguir con kaiju n8. me hubiese gustado más que explorase a los distintos personajes y sus motivaciones, pero también entiendo que en tan pocas páginas no es posible.
July 10, 2026
Fun, but slight. If I had paid retail for it rather than just reading it on Hoopla, I wouldn't feel I got my money's worth.
July 15, 2026
Pretty fun, quick stripper-vampire read! I wish it had been a bit longer, as it was mostly buildup with not a ton of payoff, but still fun !
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 11, 2026
I quite liked this. Probably the mosed PG rated "vampire run strip club" story that will ever be written. Did I have questions about the motivations of every non vampire in this story? Absolutely! But Skelly delivered a pleasant, one sitting read I was happy to give my time to.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Before the story gets going, the opening panels of the comic make you wonder, “what exactly is HEAVEN?” Then the story jumps to the true beginning.
Dolores (aka Dolly) just turned eighteen and is struggling with life and school. One day a group of friends spots her walking home from school and they invite her to IHOP for a meal. When they find out Dolly is 18, they decide to talk about their “pet project” of investigating the strip club HEAVEN, which seems to appear only to some of the people looking for it, and to others, they can’t find it at all. Those who have been to it rate it five stars and call it an amazing experience, and the girls are looking for it to find something cool in their rundown town.
They talk Dolly into going on the hunt for HEAVEN, and to everyone’s surprise, the find the strip club in the middle of nowhere (like a hilly desert).
The girls push Dolly to go inside, where she is asked if she would like to audition. Dolly plays along and things are going well until the director sees that Dolly has braces, and the door slams shut. Dolly retreats to her girlfriends, and they all head home…
Where Dolly takes a set of tools and removes her braces herself.
They make another trip out to HEAVEN and this time Dolly is determined to get an audition, despite never having danced before and not having any sexy clothing. The director/owner, Lover, hires Dolly on the spot and asks her to start tomorrow. But it’s not dancing for Dolly. She’s sort of like an apprentice to Lover, and all of her time after school is spent working at HEAVEN and trying to balance that job with school. Meanwhile, her friends can’t get into the club and they have no idea what’s going on, but they see how burnt out Dolly is and try to get her to quit.
Except that’s not going to be so easy…
I’m not going to elaborate more on the plot, but this is a fun, weird little comic with some eldritch horror and sacrificial murder mixed in with the desire to belong somewhere. There’s apparently a darkness within Dolly that appeals to Lover and that’s why HEAVEN accepted her with open arms. But things aren’t what they seem.
The artwork for this comic is really unique. I can’t compare it to any kind of style I’ve ever seen, so I can only say this must be uniquely Skelly. The use of color is brilliant, with bright vivid shades throughout. It’s a comic that catches your attention and doesn’t let you go.
While I personally would’ve loved to have seen this comic get even darker, I think that might actually detract from Dolly and her journey. So, I think the story works out well. I’m giving this four stars for a fun experience and recommend this to anyone who has some darkness or weirdness inside of them.
Dolores (aka Dolly) just turned eighteen and is struggling with life and school. One day a group of friends spots her walking home from school and they invite her to IHOP for a meal. When they find out Dolly is 18, they decide to talk about their “pet project” of investigating the strip club HEAVEN, which seems to appear only to some of the people looking for it, and to others, they can’t find it at all. Those who have been to it rate it five stars and call it an amazing experience, and the girls are looking for it to find something cool in their rundown town.
They talk Dolly into going on the hunt for HEAVEN, and to everyone’s surprise, the find the strip club in the middle of nowhere (like a hilly desert).
The girls push Dolly to go inside, where she is asked if she would like to audition. Dolly plays along and things are going well until the director sees that Dolly has braces, and the door slams shut. Dolly retreats to her girlfriends, and they all head home…
Where Dolly takes a set of tools and removes her braces herself.
They make another trip out to HEAVEN and this time Dolly is determined to get an audition, despite never having danced before and not having any sexy clothing. The director/owner, Lover, hires Dolly on the spot and asks her to start tomorrow. But it’s not dancing for Dolly. She’s sort of like an apprentice to Lover, and all of her time after school is spent working at HEAVEN and trying to balance that job with school. Meanwhile, her friends can’t get into the club and they have no idea what’s going on, but they see how burnt out Dolly is and try to get her to quit.
Except that’s not going to be so easy…
I’m not going to elaborate more on the plot, but this is a fun, weird little comic with some eldritch horror and sacrificial murder mixed in with the desire to belong somewhere. There’s apparently a darkness within Dolly that appeals to Lover and that’s why HEAVEN accepted her with open arms. But things aren’t what they seem.
The artwork for this comic is really unique. I can’t compare it to any kind of style I’ve ever seen, so I can only say this must be uniquely Skelly. The use of color is brilliant, with bright vivid shades throughout. It’s a comic that catches your attention and doesn’t let you go.
While I personally would’ve loved to have seen this comic get even darker, I think that might actually detract from Dolly and her journey. So, I think the story works out well. I’m giving this four stars for a fun experience and recommend this to anyone who has some darkness or weirdness inside of them.
Read
August 13, 2026Although I have reviewed books for over forty years, graphic novels have been something I have had sparse reviews of. But that might change now that I have gotten a taste of heaven in more ways than one. Katie Skelly is apparently a noted name in this genre, and with good cause. HEAVEN is certainly a most unique book with great images, and a storyline that comes at the reader from all directions. It is a sort of horror tale that also has mystery and characters who are learning from the world around them.
The main character is eighteen year old Dolly, a high school student who was at one time a noted gymnast. Her life is not the most exciting, as not only she experiences this, but as well her friends also think something is lacking in their lives. So what better thing to do than go exploring the world around them. It’s a discovery they make that definitely changes their lives and view of the world. They happen to run into a strip club called Heaven, which is on the edge of town. It seems to mysteriously appear and it brought to mind the movie Brigadoon, about a town that appears every 100 years or so. But this is definitely not Brigadoon. It is a mysterious establishment that gives off rather unusual vibes to anyone who enters or views it.
Dolly wants to dance, but she wants to be taken seriously. She is wearing braces and decides she has to rip them off herself with pliers, so the people in the club will think she is serious about working there. The owner is named Lover, a most unusual woman Dolly feels a kinship with. But what Dolly does not know at first is the club is a sort of slaughterhouse, where men enter and they don’t come back out. And will Dolly fall victim as well and lose her soul like so many others who entered?
This is adult-oriented, but not overly graphic, a tale where things and people are not always what they seem, and is it an analogy what we want out of life or what life wants out of us?
The main character is eighteen year old Dolly, a high school student who was at one time a noted gymnast. Her life is not the most exciting, as not only she experiences this, but as well her friends also think something is lacking in their lives. So what better thing to do than go exploring the world around them. It’s a discovery they make that definitely changes their lives and view of the world. They happen to run into a strip club called Heaven, which is on the edge of town. It seems to mysteriously appear and it brought to mind the movie Brigadoon, about a town that appears every 100 years or so. But this is definitely not Brigadoon. It is a mysterious establishment that gives off rather unusual vibes to anyone who enters or views it.
Dolly wants to dance, but she wants to be taken seriously. She is wearing braces and decides she has to rip them off herself with pliers, so the people in the club will think she is serious about working there. The owner is named Lover, a most unusual woman Dolly feels a kinship with. But what Dolly does not know at first is the club is a sort of slaughterhouse, where men enter and they don’t come back out. And will Dolly fall victim as well and lose her soul like so many others who entered?
This is adult-oriented, but not overly graphic, a tale where things and people are not always what they seem, and is it an analogy what we want out of life or what life wants out of us?
July 25, 2026
Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.
Heaven is a trippy mystery/horror/supernatural adventure graphic novel by Katie Skelly. Released 7th July 2026 by Fantagraphics, it's 100 pages and is available in hardcover and ebook formats.
The title comes from a fictive strip club which appears and disappears at the edge of a desert town. A group of young women (late teens) investigate and one of them (18+) takes a job there, working as an apprentice to the manager, Lover. It's got an off-kilter, staccato pace, and most of the actual action happens in strobe effect half panels. The color use is top notch, and the author has a great talent with contrast, especially given the very simple and direct line drawn style.
There's a simmering atmospheric dread and lots of feminine rage. There's also a strong murder mystery subplot, and although very short (100 pages), it manages a satisfying (very -weird-) denouement and resolution. Content warnings for implied sex-work (off page), drug use, violence, and bloodshed (mostly fig-leaved).
Four stars. Definitely adult content, but very well drawn and a good story. It would be a good choice for public or home library acquisition.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
Heaven is a trippy mystery/horror/supernatural adventure graphic novel by Katie Skelly. Released 7th July 2026 by Fantagraphics, it's 100 pages and is available in hardcover and ebook formats.
The title comes from a fictive strip club which appears and disappears at the edge of a desert town. A group of young women (late teens) investigate and one of them (18+) takes a job there, working as an apprentice to the manager, Lover. It's got an off-kilter, staccato pace, and most of the actual action happens in strobe effect half panels. The color use is top notch, and the author has a great talent with contrast, especially given the very simple and direct line drawn style.
There's a simmering atmospheric dread and lots of feminine rage. There's also a strong murder mystery subplot, and although very short (100 pages), it manages a satisfying (very -weird-) denouement and resolution. Content warnings for implied sex-work (off page), drug use, violence, and bloodshed (mostly fig-leaved).
Four stars. Definitely adult content, but very well drawn and a good story. It would be a good choice for public or home library acquisition.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
July 1, 2026
Genuinely so fun!
This felt like the graphic novel version of From Dusk Till Dawn mixed with Suspiria, which is exactly my kind of thing.
The story follows high schooler Dolly and her increasing involvement with a mysterious strip club after a group of former friends convince her to visit it in the middle of nowhere. She's happy to collect some money at first, but soon finds herself wanting to do better in school and reconnect with her friends. The only problem? The club may not be willing to let her leave.
I really appreciated that it never became melodramatic, which can happen in stories about teenagers. Instead, it hit all the right notes for someone looking for a spooky, slightly surreal desert horror story.
Thanks to Fantagraphics for the e-ARC!
This felt like the graphic novel version of From Dusk Till Dawn mixed with Suspiria, which is exactly my kind of thing.
The story follows high schooler Dolly and her increasing involvement with a mysterious strip club after a group of former friends convince her to visit it in the middle of nowhere. She's happy to collect some money at first, but soon finds herself wanting to do better in school and reconnect with her friends. The only problem? The club may not be willing to let her leave.
I really appreciated that it never became melodramatic, which can happen in stories about teenagers. Instead, it hit all the right notes for someone looking for a spooky, slightly surreal desert horror story.
Thanks to Fantagraphics for the e-ARC!
Read
July 14, 2026Went to meet Katie Skelly and her husband Jaime Hernandez yesterday at Floating World. I have been reading library copies of her work and they had run out of her books by the time I got there, but I had this library copy with me and now it is signed for the people of Portland. And Xaime still makes me speechless.
August 11, 2026
Odd and quirky and somewhat haunting, but not particularly compelling to me visually or narratively. Pretty spare overall, but it’s definitely got a vibe that I could see really resonating with the right reader.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
cute color combos, fashion + girls. wanted a lil more story tho
July 8, 2026
Classic Skelly graphic novel. Cute art, fun, over the top, could have used a little bit more story. Loved it though!
July 9, 2026
Not great but also not 200 pages of not great, so thank you for that.
Long shitty stories are the worst.
2.9🌟
Long shitty stories are the worst.
2.9🌟
July 24, 2026
delicious, skelly's so good
July 28, 2026
sooo cunty I wish it was longer though
August 1, 2026
A weird little story but I liked it.
August 8, 2026
Intriguing story with wonderfully expressive art! It deserves a much better grade than C+
August 11, 2026
Definitely an enjoyable experience.
August 13, 2026
Too… slight? There’s a lot of buildup but not much payoff. It’s cute; I just wanted more
August 14, 2026
Need a miniseries
July 28, 2026
This graphic novel was interested! I love the art style and the characters seemed well thought out and had some nuance despite it being a short read. I think some details were spared that I would’ve enjoyed to look more into, but the concept as a whole was intriguing. It seemed like a play on reality and it leaves you thinking a bit. Overall enjoyable.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews