NPCs: Myth, Magic, & Retail #1

NPCs Linework COMPLETED + LAST CHANCE to Back SWZA #5 + HIGH END MERCH FLASH SALE Up To 50% OFF
9 months ago – Wed, Apr 17, 2024 at 04:54:11 PM

Hey Folks!

INSANELY quick update as I'm racing to the post office. Before I left I wanted to let you know: Juan reached out to me today. He's finished his work on NPCs #1!

Color is coming next! Then Lettering! Then Production!

IN the memetime (Heh):

LAST CHANCE TO BACK SWZA #5: 

If you're into fantasy, comedy, and the occasional bit of *blood curdling horror* and you somehow HAVEN'T gotten yourself a copy of Snow White Zombie Apocalypse...what are you doing with your life? :p

I know we've got some furries in the audience, and if that's you, SWZ's newest artist is Adam Bryce Thomas who did that badass "Record of Price War's" cover. He is ALSO the illustrator of IDW's Sonic the Hedgehog comics. (Wait...are furries into sonic? Shit I dunno. Help me Zacq! Oh Jeeze! Oh f*ck! Did I invoke the wrong fandom? QUICK go into internet panic mode and post UwU! Is it serious? Is it ironic? Who knows?! UwU )

Anyway, WE DID IT!

As luck would have it (Thanks in large part to a decent number of you) we're funded for an unprecedented FIFTH ISSUE (6th if you got Scout Comic's 2023 Run):

We are now going for stretch goals, and are so close to a LEGITIMATELY cool one:

You guys know about those badass magic coins I make? 

Those of you who follow SWZA and Durruti know that  these are NOT your regular kickstarter coin: these are REAL CHALLENGE COINS are HEAVY, FULLY 3D, and Hyper-detailed . IF we can get this campaign to at least $1400 I will be releasing a THIRD.

The coin will be bonze, and feature Queen Sküld Half-Elven. The design of the coin will be based on historic viking coins (including that of Eric Bloodaxe) and Icelandic Krónur:

I REALLY want to make these. Like I could've just gone with a digital or card-based stretch goal, but I'm just so excited ABOUT this coin that I'm doing some legitimately insane things to try to break $1400. Including:

 SWZA FLASH SALE

To hit this goal, for just TWELVE HOURS I will be offering these big-ticket pledge levels and unique one-of-a-kind or highly limited add-ons for HALF PRICE:

This includes two ULTRA-RARE SWZA Printer Plates, both from SWZA #1 AND an actual honest to god painting by SWZA Variant Cover artist Dominique Kennedy. All of these are 1 of 1. I have never offered them for this low, not even at cons. and YOU can grab them for a song:
 

Remember! if you pledge just $5 and comment "Claddigar's" on the page, you get a FREE SWZA Vol. 1 Deluxe Hardcover PDF for just $5. That's a whopping $20 value! On top of that if you give just $10 (+$8 S/H) you ALSO get a Free LIMITED EDITION NPCs print by Adam Bryce Thomas.

Anyway, if this goes well enough, I may even offer a CLADDIGAR'S coin with NPCs #2. Sound off in the comments if you want one. 

Cheers!

-Brent 

>>>CLICK HERE TO SUPPORT SWZA #5<<<

NEW NPCs Pages + SWZA #5 ALMOST funded! Exclusive KS Price Drop!
9 months ago – Fri, Apr 05, 2024 at 04:14:22 PM

Hey NPCs folks, got some new pages back from Juan and just...holy sh*t:

These are SO much fun and the little details and meme references are absolutely perfect:

And of course, because it's me, these hilarious moments are punctuated by sudden gut-wrenching horror:

I've always been really lucky when it comes to landing exceptional artists that just knock it out of the park, and not just in terms of the art itself but also just phenominal panel composition:

SPEAKING OF WHICH:

SWZA #5 is 85% Funded!

So, last time we spoke SWZA #5--or #6 if you're going by the Scout Comics release (long story)--is officially over the hill with just $1700  left to go, in order to hit goal. 

Remember: kickstarter is all or nothing. While I can put out an incredible comic, I still need your help to do so. While I think the prospects of us being fully funded before our last 12 days are out is high, I never rest on my laurels. As such I have a number of items and levels marked WAY down, starting with:

SWZA Pressworks Printer Plates

If you don't know what this is: when a comic gets an offset print run of 1000 copies or more (which is incredibly rare on kickstarter) the printing is done on massive aluminum plates, each with one of four colors (Cyan, Yellow, Magenta, and "Key" ie: Black ) hence CMYK color, for you graphic design nerds out there.

This means that when an issue is printed, we're left with one of each utterly unique plates, with the original ink dried in any number of configurations.

Because we can't control HOW each plate will come out, once the ink is set, you have an irreplaceable and utterly unique plate that can never be replicated, even if we did a reprint! There is literally NO rarer piece of comic merch, and YOU can get them for up to 20% off!

There are still three which haven't sold. They are:

AND

You're getting each of these with a similar markdown of more than $20-$25 LESS for absolutely irreplaceable art by award-winning artist for a price even better than the ones I offer at cons...AND they come with a signature and certificate of authenticity! Grab one IMMEDIATELY. (Or all three, It's a great deal, and I won't stop you.)

So please, click below, and pledge what you can. Those aren't the only serious discount either, but I'll leave YOU to find the best deals on the page, which are the best deals I've ever offered!

SWZA #5 50% Funded! SWZA Vol. 1 Misprint 50% OFF!
10 months ago – Thu, Mar 21, 2024 at 01:43:07 PM

We're doing it folks!

Thank you all so much for all the enthusiasm you have showed. I have a very quick update that I'm writing before leaving for Indiana Comicon. If you're in the area come by and see my editor Andrea Molinari at the Scout booth!

Very quickly, while the response on day 1 was phenomenal, things slowed a bit. As I am not one who lets speeping zombies lay, I'm introducing an incredible deal: you can get the SWZA Vol. 1 Delux Hardcover MISPRINT for just $35 as a level OR you can add one onto you order for just $30!

Can you believe that?  I won't even be charging additional shipping to add it on to orders within the United States and only $20 additional for European orders (The weight of the book increases the cost of shipping internationally considerably) 

We are essentially giving the book away at-cost, so the books are limited to only 100 (50 as a level and 50 as an add-on) Pledge/add them on NOW so you don't miss out in this incredible deal, and give the campaign the shot in the arm it needs to raise the remaining $5500!

-Brent

>>>GET THE SWZA VOL. 1 MISPRINT + SWZA #5 (50+% OFF)<<<

NEW NPCs Pages + Snow White Zombie Apocalypse #5 Trailer Reveal!
10 months ago – Sun, Mar 17, 2024 at 07:08:46 PM

Hey Folks!

Thanks so much for supporting my work, and helping to bring NPCs to comic readers nationwide!

So first off, Enon Films (The folks behind the Durruti movie and the Wanderer's Feast prequel) have made an awesome trailer for the upcoming Snow White Zombie Apocalypse #5. Please check it out, it's got new music by Crüxshadows as I think it's one of the best ones I've done yet. And when you do make sure you watch PAST the end:

I'm going to be launching SWZA #5 this coming Tuesday 3/19/24 at 7:30 AM EST. 

The campaign will run for 30 days. We have a very ambitious $12,000 goal, so I'm gonna need all your support to make it work. If we get overfunded, the additional money will be rolled into NPCs & Durruti. Plus, the book is just absolutely breathtaking:

So even if you aren't able to back SWZA right now, or want to wait for NPCs, you can still help out with just a few seconds of your time. Pre-Follows help immensely with the Kickstarter Algorithm:

Also, to make it worth your while, if you pre-follow, then back at "The Book" level or higher and comment "NPCs" on the page, I will send you this as a free, limited edition print:

We need at least 250 pre-follows before launch and at the moment we have 217. There's nearly 300 of you, so if everyone helps out, we'll be in a VERY good place to launch on Tuesday 3/19/24. So please, take a few seconds to:

Click here & then click "Notify Me." 

New NPCs Pages!

I am getting some truly incredible stuff back from Juan Francisco Mota (Who also draws Durruti: Shadow of the People #2+) 

What I think is so wonderful about this, is he's the rare artist who not only can deliver action & horror:

But also he's got some genuinely funny panels even without my dialogue. I mean, just LOOK at Steve here:

Thanks again for your support, and please remember to pre-follow SWZA #5. It is critical that this campaign goes well and when it does, that will give me some real room to work towards getting NPCs #1+ to you guys sooner rather than later. 

Cheers,

-Brent

NPCs #1 + SWZA #5 + New Series: The Shepherd!
11 months ago – Sat, Feb 17, 2024 at 02:48:44 PM

Hey folks,

So right off the bat, I want to thank everyone who has given to this series. Juan and I are hard at work getting the book together. In the meantime, I want to give you a closer look at the colored art we're getting back:

Abby here is one of my favorite characters. Zacq created her initially and right off the bat, after just her first few lines of dialogue we were laughing our asses off:

Obviously, we're pulling from Bloodborne and Darksouls, and a large part of the way we find drama and humor is incongruity between reality and fantasy...or in Abby's case, between FANTASY and fantasy.

She's kinda perfect for this and though she took a back seat to Gwen's original party in the intro, she's one of our favorite characters to write and Juan has a blast drawing her so you'll see quite a bit of her as the series continues.

And ON that note, here's someone who we saw in the background of many of our trailer shots, I give you Dragonguy:

Dragonguy is every early game Skyrim sociopath: mismatched armor, low level weapons, and relying on petty larceny and desperately in search of a waifu:

Expect to see more of him as the series continues. Skyrim's potential for humor is matched only by the lengths the developers went to in crafting a game that's full of books no one reads.

I'll let you know how the series continues to develop and also let me know if you enjoy the character spotlight to whet your appetite.

Now, in the meantime:

Snow White Zombie Apocalypse #5:

If you're new to my work, you may not be aware of my flagship series. The fulfiment for the first graphic novel of which is in its final stretch, which means I'm going to be launching the NEXT installment, so while you wait on NPCs #1 Consider pre-following the campaign, because it's gonna be AMAZING

Adam Bryce Thomas of IDW's Sonic the Hedgehog and Samurai Jack (who did the Record of Price War's cover for NPCs) is beginning his run on the series, and he's basing it on Berserk:

For the fairytale this time, I'm pulling from The Saga of Hrolfr Kraki and His Twelve Berserkr Bodyguards and our antagonist is a literal Drauger:

And because it's me...yeah I couldn't resist turning this into an honest-to-god Dungeoncrawl:

Bottom line is: if you like NPCs you will LOVE Snow White Zombie Apocalypse So,Please click this link, then click "Notify me". even if you don't plan to get the book, the more pre-followers we have on the campaign, the better kickstarter's algorithm will treat us!

There's never been a better point to come onto the series and you 1000% don't want to miss this historic new issue. So what are you waiting for? Please click here to pre-follow SWZA #5:

Now, one last thing:

The Shepherd:

So, ONE of the people who is most responsible for SWZA being as good as it is, is my editor Andrea Molinari:

He has been a HUGE champion of my work, and has directly contributed to NPCs by being a trusted second set of eyes on everything I write, ensuring that whatever I'm creating has its maximum impact.

And the thing is, he's currently running a kickstarter for a series all his own:

It is decidedly NOT a comedy...it's a heavy and tragic story right from the beginning, but also humor and horror tend to pair well together.

The book is about the titular character: "The Shepherd" A recently deceased professor tasked with rescuing souls from hell...which in this imagining functions less like a prison, and more like a hospital. It's a shifting spiritual landscape where the souls of the restless dead join forces to battle against their own inner demons:

Isn't that an incredible premise? Andrea has created one of my favorite kind of storytelling: worlds where, like Dr. Who, the writer can go anywhere and do anything from moving beyond the siren song of Wrath and Vengeance (Vol. 1), to collective redemption (Vol. 2) to the more intimate & traditional ghost stories revolving around those The Shepherd has left behind (Vol. 3):

As I said, some of the stories are quite heavy (It's a horror book...and not a "funny" horror book like SWZA), but if you're intrigued or just want to help out, please pop over and pledge and/or share the campaign. A ton has gone into this and you'll be returning to Andrea all the mutual aid he's given to NPCs, SWZA & Durruti over the years.

>>> Click Here to Support The Shepherd on Kickstarter<<<