August 05, 2025
Provided image/Nelson Vicens/Greg Klein
'The Furnace' tells bizarre and nightmarish stories inspired by real Philadelphia events, like the 2019 party at a vacant lot in Fairmount. An alternate cover by Greg Klein is pictured above.
Nelson Vicens got the idea for his forthcoming graphic novel six years ago, when he received a typed letter inviting him to a meeting in a vacant lot about a steel furnace. "Do attend," the cryptic writer instructed.
Like hundreds of other Philadelphians, he did. The viral 2019 furnace party in Fairmount felt like a bizarre short story to Vicens, the kind he had to jot down immediately. Then in 2020, as "the world was even getting crazier," he said, he went back and turned it into a comic. Now, it's the centerpiece to his over 200-page graphic novel "The Furnace," an anthology billed as "Twilight Zone with a Philly accent" seeking funding on Kickstarter.
The titular story is somewhat similar to the party as Vicens remembered it — "a surprisingly great community event" — with a twist. The furnace that never materialized at 27th Street and Girard Avenue does in this alternative comic universe. Philly comic artist Pat Aulisio illustrates the bizarre plot.
Two other stories were ripped from real Philadelphia experiences. The tale of an old woman trying to get her water pipes insured was based on a friend's neighbor, Vicens said. And the Philadelphia Parking Authority officer in the story "Violation" came from a place of personal loathing.
"I wrote that when I was probably paying the salary of someone there because I was getting parking tickets every other day," Vicens said. "It actually drove me so mad that I started keeping track of my expenses, because I was like, how often am I getting ticketed? It led me to creating an Excel sheet and keeping track of all the money. ... I was spending hundreds every month. And so I kind of wanted to tell a story where I just torture a PPA officer."
That backfired, however, when Eisner Award-winning artist Box Brown illustrated the story.
"When he actually did the art and brought this thing to life, I actually felt bad for the PPA guy," Vicens said. "And I was like, oh, no. Like, wait a minute. I humanized the PPA, this is the opposite of what I was going for. But I guess that's good storytelling."
Eisner Award-winning comic artist Box Brown drew the PPA officer in the anthology's story 'Violation.'
Philadelphia isn't the star of each story in the 16-piece anthology. But many of the artists involved grew up in the area or now call the city home. They include not just Brown and Aulisio but Jodi Faber and Greg Klein, who made the advertisements for fake products scattered throughout "The Furnace." Other illustrators hail from Argentina, Brazil and the Philippines. Vicens met some through Reddit and others through connections he built at Philly comics shops like Partners and Sons, which has already pledged to buy copies of the finished product.
The Kickstarter campaign, Vicens says, will help him cover the printing costs. Hours after its launch Monday, he'd already made about half of his $6,000 goal. If he reaches the finish line, Vicens is hoping to get "The Furnace" to readers by October or November.
The author has other projects in the pipeline. A filmmaker by trade, Vicens has worked on M. Night Shyamalan projects like "Servant," "Knock at the Cabin" and "Trap." Though he can't say much about the director's new movie, "Remain," he thinks it'll appeal to fans of the Penn Valley native's earlier work.
"I think people are gonna love this," he said. "In a lot of ways, I think it's going back to the old school M. Night, and it's gonna be a good one."
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