Writer Trevor Fernandes-Lenkiewicz and artist Ryan Best, the creative team behind the acclaimed independent comics RISE and HEAVY, will appear together for a special signing at The Million Year Picnic in Cambridge, Massachusetts: their final signing together in the United States until Summer 2027!
For Best, the event carries an added significance: before establishing himself as an multinational comic artist, he spent four years living in Boston. Now, he returns to the city not simply as a former resident, but as one half of the creative team behind two original comic series that have taken him across the independent comics landscape and the world.
The event will give fans an opportunity to meet Fernandes-Lenkiewicz and Best, discuss the creation of RISE and HEAVY, purchase their work, and have their books personally signed by the creators.
Despite an expanding international presence, Fernandes-Lenkiewicz, a New England raised resident, rarely appears in the Northeast.
Founded in 1974, Million Year Picnic is the oldest comic bookstore in New England and has spent more than five decades serving the Cambridge comics community. The shop has long embraced independent, alternative, underground, and creator-driven comics, making it a fitting home for an evening centered on two creators building their own corner of the medium.
“Ryan and I have really poured a lot of ourselves into making these books together, so getting to bring them into a shop with this kind of history is pretty surreal,” said Fernandes-Lenkiewicz. “And for Ryan, there’s something especially fitting about returning to Boston after living here for years—except this time, he gets to come back with newfound experience to boot.”
Known for bold, creator-first, emotionally driven storytelling, Fernandes-Lenkiewicz and Best have carved out a distinct voice in the independent comics space. This event marks a full-circle moment, connecting that global reach back to the New England, where both once called home.
Known for:
This isn’t a story about saving the world. It’s about surviving the performance. It’s a superhero story told for a new generation that’s more anxious, self-aware, and justice-skeptical than ever.
RISE follows Jonathan A. Prufrock as he comes face to face with the perils of the male ego and explores the performative nature of masculinity through the elevated life of a superhero attempting to navigate the pressures of what it really means to be a good man. What does it take for the strongest man on the planet to feel deserving of being saved himself?
Blending atmospheric dread with visceral horror, HEAVY explores what happens when the burden of guilt refuses to lift, crushing its characters and readers alike.
When the collective weight of the world’s guilt reaches a fever pitch, the global population begins to vanish. In the chaos, the latch-key black sheep of the family, ATLAS, investigates the disappearance of the little brother he’d abandoned into the foster care system 16 years ago. As his search brings him closer to what he’d left behind, Atlas must find a way to counteract the mysterious force that now preys on the guilt of his past and reconnect with his memories of the boy he left behind.
How heavy is the burden of a guilty soul? This supernatural horror sets out to ask why the mire of guilt is most populated by those most capable of change.
EVENT DETAILS
Million Year Picnic
99 Mt. Auburn Street, Downstairs
Cambridge, MA 02138
[Sunday, September 27th | 1:00pm to 4:00pm]
ABOUT
Trevor Fernandes-Lenkiewicz is a comic book writer and founder of Pocket Watch Press. His work explores the darker intersections of identity, masculinity, trauma, power, responsibility, and the mythology of the superhero. He is the writer of RISE and HEAVY, both illustrated by Ryan Best.
Ryan Best is a comic book artist and the visual co-creator of RISE and HEAVY. His work combines cinematic storytelling with a visceral, character-driven approach to sequential art. A former Boston resident, Best returns to the city for this special appearance with Fernandes-Lenkiewicz.
Media Contact:
Trevor Fernandes-Lenkiewicz
Pocket Watch Press is an independent comic publisher focused on visually striking, concept-driven storytelling. With an emphasis on creator-led work, it produces original titles that blend cinematic scope with intimate, character-driven narratives.