Grammy Award Winner Shaggy Inspires New Graphic Novel “The Port ”— See the Cover! (Exclusive)

A pirate captain, modeled after reggae icon Shaggy, leads a ghostly revenge mission in The Port.

The forthcoming graphic novel — a collaboration between comic book writer Rodney Barnes, artist Jason Shawn Alexander and Shaggy himself — spins a supernatural adventure that blends history, fantasy, music and suspense.

The Port, set to debut in 2026, meets zesty pirate Artemis Slay — based on Shaggy’s “unmistakable swagger” — and his ghostly crew as they exit the death realm and descend upon the wickedest city on earth in Port Royal, Jamaica, “where buried sins and restless souls collide in a tale of redemption, rebellion and rhythm,” per the book’s synopsis.

The debauchery-filled city, famed for the pirates and revelers it attracted, met its end in 1692 when an earthquake left two-thirds of the settlement underwater, but has since been a popular locale for storytellers to revive.

“I love the concept and story of The Port. It’s an unpredictable adventure that takes place in the Caribbean, but not how you might expect,” says Shaggy, whose real name is Orville Richard Burrell, adding that working on the graphic novel has been “scary and fun.”

“The story of Port Royal is both intriguing and terrifying, and no place on earth is more interesting than the island of Jamaica,” Barnes says of the setting behind The Port. And of the creative process, the writer adds, “Nothing makes art better than making it with friends.”

The Port is the first step in a “creative alliance” between Barnes, Shaggy and Martin Kierszenbaum, the CEO of CherryTree Music Company (which represents Shaggy), per the release. The graphic novel will be published by Zombie Love Studios, of which Barnes is the founder.

Barnes and Alexander previously teamed up for the 2022 comic Killadelphia, a horror-thriller read about a small-town beat cop and his quest to stop an undead former President John Adams from staging another American Revolution. Killadelphia was later nominated for the Eisner award, and has been cited as one of the best comics currently in print, per Zombie Love Studios.

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The Port will debut in 2026, wherever books are sold.