Welcome to The Beat’s crowdfunding round-up: a collection of some of our favorite campaigns from the week including one-shots, on-goings, anthologies and everything in-between! This week, we’re checking out a trippy adventure on Mars in MAWRTH VALLIIS, a cyberpunk/vampire mystery called Talyn, and more.
Let’s get started!
HELM GREYCASTLE #1
Creators: Henry Barajas (author/co-creator), Bryan Valenza (colorist/co-creator), Rahmat M. Handoko (artist), Gabriella Downie (letterist), Tristan J. Tarwater (RPG author), Jen Vaughn (RPG artist)
Goal: $10,000
End date: December 10, 2020
Goodies: Grab a digital copy for $6, grab a physical version for $10, or pledge more for variants, your own set dice, and more.
The creator of “La Voz De M.A.Y.O. Tata Rambo” Kickstarts new Latinx fantasy series: HELM GREYCASTLE #1.
Helm Greycastle is an all-new Latinx fantasy series and one-shot RPG. This 32-page first issue introduces the alternate history world in which Mexica is a ruling power, and class divides its people. The game takes place in this world, too, and is a hack of Dungeons and Dragons, making it fairly accessible to most RPG players. Check out a short preview of this sword and sorcery book on the campaign page, then find out how comrades come together to overthrow a dictator when Helm Greycastle arrives in March 2021.
TALYN: Seed of Darkness – Issue 1
Creators: Banished Shadow (artist), Caspian Darke (writer/director),
Goal: $27,332
End date: December 9, 2020
Goodies: Grab a PDF for $7, get a paperback for $21, or pledge more for wallpapers, posters, and more.
A new comic book series: A fighter searches for her missing sister and unveils the secrets of a nightmarish conspiracy in the process.
Cyberpunk vampires meet dark fantasy for an enticing – and gorgeously illustrated – new series: Talyn. The eponymous protagonist is a street-fighter in the grungy streets of Remnant, whose mischievous sister has been abducted. When this first issue picks, up, we follow Talyn investigating that mystery and tracking down a ghost-like entity. This comic is 32-pages, and is the first of eight planned entries in volume one.
MAWRTH VALLIIS
Creators: EPHK (author)
Goal: $9,458
End date: December 9, 2020
Goodies: Grab a digital version for $11, get a physical version for $18, or pledge more for a signed wraparound dust cover, an extra print book, and more.
A fast-paced, sci-fi super adventure graphic novel from Mars.
MAWRTH VALLIIS is the next project from Berlin-based artist EPHK (AKA Nicolas Peyronnet, AKA Clandestine Republic); a trippy sci-fi adventure inspired by ‘70s Mexican Historietas, and told entirely in Martian. Ironically, its illegibility makes it readable for just about anyone. Although major narrative details are sparse to keep up an air of mystery, MAWRTH VALLIIS promises weird machines, fast planes, and a dark secret, rendered in an analogue digital style across 128-pages.
The Princess and the Jester by Sarah Jolley
Creators: Sarah Jolley (author)
Goal: $20,000
End date: December 11, 2020
Goodies: Grab a PDF for $10, get a hardcover for $40, or pledge more for wooden bookmarks, patches, prints, and more.
An Illustrated Hardback Storybook.
The Property of Hate creator Sarah Jolley is heading to Kickstarter with another of her webcomics, The Princess and the Jester. This modern fairy tale is a love story of mutual pining between the two title characters – in spite of the disapproval of most kingdom officials, and subsequent efforts to dispose of the jester entirely. Jolley works in a sketchy watercolor style, and the book itself will be a solid hardcover with glossy pages. For an idea of what to expect, read the story free here.
Menagerie: Declassified Anthology
Creators: Myth Division
Goal: $5,000
End date: December 13, 2020
Goodies: Grab a digital version for $20, get a physical version for $25, or pledge more for variant covers, and more.
Nine thrilling stories detail classified encounters with extra-solar life told by writers for film, television & comic books.
Previously funded a few years ago, Menagerie is back with an all-new anthology of eight-page short stories, created by a variety of pros. It’s a sci-fi universe focusing on the first contact with non-human intelligent life across the galaxy – and although this anthology follows the cast of the original series, anyone should be able to pick this up and have a good time. If you do want to catch up, though, this campaign has you covered. Check out more rewards, and a huge section of previews, on the campaign page.
Lastly, if you’re a fan of classic Image comics – or you know someone who is and they’re in need of a holiday gift – check out the 2021 The Maxx calendar, created by Sam Keith. It features art from the original run, as well as covers from its stint at IDW. It’s already funded, and rewards include postcards, variant covers, and more.
- And don’t forget to check out last week’s projects:
- Decimation Earth #2: Lovecraftian Afro-futuristic Thriller
- Ghosts Are People Too
- Crimson Blood: Issue One
- Simon Blood Volume 1
- THE FEW AND CURSED: Crows of Mana’Olana TPB
