It was one of the Tokyopop implosion's most loudly lamented casualties: East Coast Rising, the promising post-apocalyptic pirate series written and illustrated by Demo artist Becky Cloonan. Only the first volume of the OEL epic made it to shelves before the series was itself shelved by the publisher, likely never to return. This despite the second volume being 75 percent finished, with some 120 pages completed. And as Cloonan herself puts it, "the worst part [was] that Volume 1 ended on a cliffhanger!"

Well, Cloonan's taking matters into her own hands to right this wrong. Throughout this week, she'll be posting three unpublished pages of East Coast Rising Vol. 2 per day, until the sequence that continues from the cliffhanger is wrapped up -- starting here. Cloonan notes that the pages are unfinished, with no tones or lettering, but even still, if you've ever wanted to know how that scalawag Cannonball Joe escaped the tentacles of the Suffocating Death, now's your best shot.

Actually, it seems like it's your only shot: Sadly, Cloonan flatly states in the comments for her post that Volume 2 in her series "[will] never be finished," so it sounds as though there's no hope of a Brandon Graham/King City-style resurrection at some other publisher. Alas and alack, this is one cool comic that's making Davy Jones' Locker its permanent home.