Imagine waking up one morning and realizing that fifty years have gone by and you hardly noticed, let alone aged. Thats what happens to Calpurnia Crisp, a humble schoolteacher from Hillsborough. Agent Odell of Homeland Security is convinced Calpurnia was the victim of magic, and wants her to join him in his crusade against what he sees as a conspiracy undermining the country. Odell recruits her as an undercover asset to infiltrate the world of Courtney Crumrin, the mysterious teenager who left a trail of unexplained horrors in Hillsborough, and Courtneys younger brother Will, the strange boy who appeared out of nowhere. But as she penetrates the world of the Crumrins, Calpurnia begins to suspect the gap in her memories is due to her magic being erased. She must ultimately decide between the world of magic or helping the reactionary agent determined to eradicate it.
Ted Naifeh first appeared in the independent comics scene in 1999 as the artist for Gloomcookie the goth romance comic he co-created with Serena Valentino for SLG Publishing. After a successful run Ted decided to strike out on his own writing and drawing Courtney Crumrin and the Night Things a spooky childrens fantasy series about a grumpy little girl and her adventures with her Warlock uncle. Nominated for an Eisner Award for Best Limited Series Courtney Crumrins success paved the way for Polly and the Pirates another childrens book this time about a prim and proper girl kidnapped by pirates convinced she was the daughter of their long-lost queen. Over the next few years Ted wrote four volumes of Courtney Crumrin plus a spin-off book about her uncle. He also co-created How Loathsome with Tristan Crane and illustrated two volumes of the video game tie-in comic Death Junior with screenwriter Gary Whitta. More recently he illustrated The Good Neighbors a three volume graphic novel series written by New York Times best-selling author Holly Black published by Scholastic. In 2011 Ted wrote the sequel to Polly and the Pirates and illustrated several Batman short stories for DC Comics. In 2012 to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Courtney Crumrin he wrote and illustrated the final two volumes of the series. Currently you can find Ted everywhere: from the pages of Batman 66 to his newest original series for adults Nights Dominion. Ted lives in San Francisco California because he likes dreary weather.