People Can Still Support Legends of Indie Comics On Kickstarter

Indie comics fans, have you ever wondered what happened to such great characters as Concrete, Grimjack, Jon Sable, Badger, Whisper, and Flaming Carrot? They set the comics world on fire in the 1980s, then left the spotlight…and we need them now more than ever to remind us of how fun and exciting comics can be.

That’s why we’re bringing them back for another set of thrilling adventures written by their original creators, collected in the prose fiction book Legends of Indie Comics: Words Only. Together with modern-era heroes Luther Strode and El Muerto, they will give us an old-school indie comics kick that leaves us all shouting for more.

Rewards will include digital, softcover, and hardcover editions of the new book…but perhaps the coolest reward of all is the Secrets of Indie Comics All-Star Course. Just imagine: learning the secrets of creating indie comics from a team of superstars who created some of the most successful and beloved comic series of all time! Back this reward tier, and you’ll be invited to a series of lectures delivered by Mike Baron, Donna Barr, Bob Burden, Michael T. Gilbert, Steven Grant, Mike Grell, Javier Hernandez, Justin Jordan, Donald Simpson, Joe Staton, and Mark Verheiden. Whether you’re dreaming of creating comics of your own, or you just want to discover how these professionals handle their creative endeavors, you’ll love this incredible and one-of-a-kind course. It’s exclusive to this campaign and will not be offered anywhere else in quite the same way…so don’t miss out!

Just imagine! A full house of top indie comics characters, reunited in this volume of prose fiction tales by the genius creators who first breathed life into them in the 80s and beyond! Whether you lovingly remember these heroes and creators or are meeting them for the first time, you are in for a wild ride with this star-studded cast.

Strap in for a lineup unlike any you’ve seen before, crashing together old school indie pioneers and the new school trendsetters who continue to build on the revolution they started. Get a load of this dream team:

Note: All characters are copyright their creators. All illustrations are copyright their original artists and/or copyright owners.

Norbert Sykes is a man of many personalities, and one of them is the masked vigilante known as Badger. Together with a 5th-century Druid named Ham, Badger got in one wild scrap after another, starting with his self-titled series from Capital Comics. Badger’s special brand of martial arts madness never went out of style, moving to First Comics, then Dark Horse and Image. His creator, Mike Baron, also co-created Nexus and went on to write loads of stories, including notable long runs on The Flash for DC Comics and The Punisher for Marvel. Dude can write.

Conceived by Canadian genius Dave Sim, Cerebus the Aardvark entertained comics readers and changed the world for 300 wildly inventive, indie-published issues running from 1977 through 2004. The character went through many changes–from a savage barbarian to a scheming prime minister to a brazenly greedy pope and beyond. The series itself joined elements of adventure, satire, humor, political and religious commentary, and stylized literary fiction, elevating the comics medium with its very existence. The word “masterpiece” gets thrown around a lot these days, often without due justification…but this thrilling, hilarious, thought-provoking, and intellectually engaging graphic novel is just that.

Abducted by aliens, speechwriter Ron Lithgow ended up with his brain transplanted into a hulking, powerful body. Escaping his captors, he went on to a life of globetrotting adventure as Concrete, a soulful titan in search of meaning and contact with the natural world. Creator Paul Chadwick won Harvey Awards for this masterpiece from Dark Horse Comics that captured the imaginations of multitudes of readers. Finally, Paul and Concrete are back for more excitement in tales more inspired than ever.

Sacrificed by the Aztec gods of death and destiny, Diego de la Muerte returned one year later as a zombie with supernatural powers. Now, he fights a war against evil while trying to make sense of his second chance at making a difference in the world. Though the roots of El Muerto are rooted in the 1990s, not the 80s, he embodies the indie DIY ethos and the energy of diverse storytellers joining the endlessly growing tableau of modern comics. Creator Javier Hernandez is committed to keeping Diego in the spotlight, bringing attention to the culture and importance of Mexican-Americans and all unique voices. The film version starring Wilmer Valderrama continues to bring new interest to this very personal yet universal project.

Who or what lurks behind the fiery mask of Flaming Carrot? Only his creator, Bob Burden, knows for sure, and he’s not telling…yet. He is bringing the Carrot back for a new prose tale in Legends of Indie Comics: Words Only, though, finally reviving this bizarre hero for another turn in the spotlight. Bob also dreamed up the Mystery Men, who were featured in a movie with a star-studded cast including Ben Stiller and William H. Macy…but the Carrot will forever remain his greatest and most brilliant claim to fame. What other hero would dare challenge Death himself…to a game of wiffleball?

Anything can happen at any moment in the pan-dimensional city of Cynosure…and John Gaunt is just the man to keep a lid on it. An accomplished mercenary and private investigator, Gaunt takes on the toughest of assignments while navigating the nexus of all realities that is Cynosure. From his headquarters in Munden’s Bar, he tackles every challenge that comes his way as the larger-than-life figure they call Grimjack. After popularizing this character with artist Timothy Truman in his self-titled series at First Comics, creator John Ostrander went on to a long career writing comics like Suicide Squad, The Spectre, and Hawkworld for DC, X-Men for Marvel, Hotspur for Eclipse, Magnus, Robot Fighter for Valiant, and many others.

It’s impossible to overstate the impact of Jon Sable, Freelance when the series debuted from First Comics in 1983.  Created, written, and illustrated by Mike Grell, Sable took the comics world by storm and set the template for indie-published, creator-owned projects featuring the work of superstar artists. It also spawned a TV pilot starring Gene Simmons of the rock band KISS and a seven-episode TV series that aired on ABC. The stories of freelance mercenary Jon Sable, who applied the hunting skills he learned in the jungles of Africa to high-stakes contracts in the concrete jungles of the Western world, resonated with readers who appreciated the pulp-fiction influences and stylized art that Grell brought to bear on each carefully crafted page of every issue.

And many more creators

Robert Jeschonek is a USA TODAY-bestselling author who has scripted comics for DC, AHOY, and other publishers. He has also written official STAR TREK and DOCTOR WHO fiction, and his prose stories have appeared in CLARKESWORLD, PULPHOUSE FICTION MAGAZINE, ESCAPE POD, and other publications around the world. His young adult slipstream novel, MY FAVORITE BAND DOES NOT EXIST, won the Forward National Literature Award and was named one of BOOKLIST’s Top Ten First Novels for Youth. He also won an International Book Award, a Scribe Award for Best Original Novel, and the grand prize in Pocket Books’ Strange New Worlds contest. Visit him online at www.bobscribe.com or www.piepresspublishing.com.

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