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Before Domino was the demonic killer at the heart of Image Comics’ cult horror series Lovesick, she was… a surprisingly sweet young girl who didn’t want to grow up…? Creator Luana Vecchio is returning to the mythos of her 2023 horror storyline about the Dark Web and the secret cultures that lurk in the shadows for a prequel that pays tribute to horror stories from the turn of the century, titled Doll Parts: A Lovesick Tale.

According to Image Comics’ official description of the new series, it “follows a twelve-year-old girl called Madeleine who dreads the idea of growing up. She fears becoming like the cruel older girls or facing the contempt of her devoutly religious mother. But most of all, she doesn’t want to become a target for the monsters that are out there, hiding in plain sight. However, a stomach-churning discovery forces Madeleine to confront the harsh reality that growing up isn’t a choice—it’s survival. As she is thrust into a world of perverted killers and unsavory websites, she has to come to terms with her own dark obsessions, leading her down the shadowy road to become the infamous Mother Demon: Domino.”

"After finishing Lovesick, I knew I couldn’t stay away from Domino for long, but before going back to the Lovesick Club, I knew I had to take a step back and explore Domino's heart, dive into those sad eyes and return to her origins, back to Madeleine.” Vecchio said about the series in a statement provided by the publisher. “I’ve always dreamed of writing a coming-of-age thriller-horror set in the 2000s, the very years I was a teenager myself. Doll Parts: A Lovesick Tale explores what it means to be a young girl in a world where youth is a double-edged sword, both a strength and a vulnerability. I’m incredibly proud of what I’ve created and the themes I’ve tackled, I believe the comic world needs a character like Madeleine.”

Vecchio added that the series “won’t be an easy journey, but it’s a necessary one,” as it explores not the cannibalism and kink worlds of Lovesick, but something far more mundane… and, in its own way, more terrifying. “The horror unfolds within the walls of home, in the online world, and through the journey of adolescence,” the creator promised, calling the new series “a celebration of the comic medium and how it should remain free to tell even the most uncomfortable stories."

The first issue will be released with no less than six covers by Vecchio, as well as a variant cover from fellow Italian illustrator Jessica Cioffi (aka LOPUTYN). You can see all of those covers — as well as interior pages from the first issue, and character designs for Madeleine, in the gallery below.

Doll Parts: A Lovesick Tale #1 will be released December 11.

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