'Persia Blues' new project for CCAD Alumnus

CCAD alumnus Brent Bowman has teamed with Columbus writer Dara Naraghi to produce the first book in a graphic-novel trilogy, Persia Blues, to be published by NBM Publishing of New York.

Bowman (CCAD 1994), who says he’s been drawing since he was old enough to pick up a pencil, has known Naraghi, a graduate of Ohio State University, since 2006 through the Columbus comics collective PANEL. Persia Blues is their first collaboration.

The first book of the series, Leaving Home, tells of Minoo Shirazi, a young woman who emigrates from her native Iran to Columbus, OH, to pursue a graduate degree. But in another thread, Minoo is also a free-spirited adventurer in ancient Persia, which melds history, mythology, and Zoroastrianism into a fantasy landscape.

Promotional material for the trilogy says, “The mystery of these two intertwined settings will ultimately lead Minoo to an important discovery of her true self.”

Bowman says, “We felt that grounding our books in real settings like our hometown of Columbus, OH, would add a layer of realism and depth to the complex, modern fantasy story of ’Persia Blues’.”

Bowman, who majored in Illustration, has had work in publications from Image Comics and Caliber Press. He has been nominated for the small-press SPACE prize in 2008, 2010 and 2011. He remains a contributing member of PANEL.

Bowman and Naraghi have also hitched Persia Blues to the Pinterest social media site to offer extra features on the settings, food, and themes in the novel.