With successful Kickstarter campaigns already under their belts, and all of them ones I have backed, I am pleased to announce the next issue in the ARKS universe: ARKS PROXIMAN #2. With the details below, there are also details on how to get some secret rewards, too!
Read through to discover what is next, when to back it and how to get these special rewards for this excellent science fiction series.
Launch: April 21st, 2026, 5PM GMT
A dying boy must cross 7,483 miles of radioactive wilderness on his tidally locked exoplanet to resurrect his parents… while feeding himself and his animals to his backpack.
The groundbreaking science-faction comic series Arks , from writers Rory Collins ( Children of Men, The Bourne Ultimatum, Never Let Me Go ) and Natalie Malla ( Taboo ), returns with Issue #2 of the bio-punk odyssey Arks Proximan , with art by Andrew Morris .
The issue will launch this year alongside an unusual companion book titled Burp: The Reclamation Bag , which explores the real science behind the strange biotechnology seen in the story.
The Story
In Arks Proximan #2, Audie and Anna-Mae Bluford are dead. Their colony on Proxima has been destroyed, and all of it happened because their son Odd pinched a girl - the messenger they found in a beam of light.
But as Odd shelters from radioactive fallout in a cave with his companion A.I Stella, they uncover the truth.
The girl was not a messenger.
She was a bomb sent from Earth.
Now they have only one option.
Odd must set out on a desperate mission across the treacherous, irradiated surface of Proxima B to find a Synth Well on the far side of the exoplanet - in the vain hope that it contains bacteria capable of resurrecting copies of his parents.
The journey will take the rest of Odd’s childhood, and the cancers he’ll develop along the way will likely kill him.
Luckily, he’ll not be alone.
Odd travels with a herd of transplanted animals, two frogs, a snake-like A.I… and Burp - a grotesque, burping backpack that keeps him alive by recycling his own skin and faecal matter.
Because to survive the 7,483 miles of radioactive wilderness, Burp will have to eat- Him. The animals. Everything.
What is Arks Proximan?
Creator Rory Collins describes Arks Proximan as:
“A bio-punk odyssey - the hero’s journey run amok mixed with the real consequences of the unexplored sciences of science fiction.
It’s part eldritch horror, part Oedipus Rex , and part Forrest Gump , told by a teenage boy at the edge of the universe.”
Collins explained how the project came together with writer Natalie Malla and artist Andrew Morris .
“I grew up on nasty 80s science fiction and there isn’t a lot of it around now,” said Collins.
“ARKS PROXIMAN is about what happens when a child learns the universe doesn’t care if he survives.
It’s inspired by films like Aliens and The Terminator , where the protagonist comes face to face with true nihilistic evil. Natalie and Andrew are phenomenal collaborators. I had the incredible good fortune of knowing them before they become megastars. Without them this story might not have been told for another decade.”
Writer Natalie Malla added:
“ ARKS PROXIMAN is a story of survival - not just of a single family, but of an entire species.
I would never attempt science fiction again without a clear and inspired creative vision like Rory’s at the helm. The scope of that vision pulled me into the Arks universe.
It will entertain you with the brutality and terrifying reality of building new worlds on a planet that doesn’t want you, show you how it might be done, and question whether it should be.”
The Origins of ARKS
Collins originally wrote Arks fifteen years ago as an independent science-fiction screenplay.
“Two people running around in the woods,” he explains. “A police procedural set in the Garden of Eden. Hard sci-fi. No bullshit.”
Since adapting the project into comics during the Covid lockdowns, the story has grown into a planned 55-book science-fiction pantheon exploring humanity’s future up to the 37th millennium.
Odd’s story in Proximan marks the beginning of “The War of Light,” the central saga that will ripple across the entire Arks universe.
Publishing Plans
Publisher Clicky Sprout Wife plans to release five books over the next twelve months.
Arks Helices #1 has already shipped, with issues #2 and #3 planned for Kickstarter later this year.
Arks Proximan #2 will ship in August, with Proximan #3 planned for early 2027.
Fans of the original Arks storyline, for which the last instalment is still pending, needn’t worry about this departure, as Arks Issue Six will be coming next year.
Collins assures:
“Arks Issue Six is likely to be our biggest book to date, so we need to grow the audience before we attempt it.”
Arks Helices and Proximan have a slightly more mainstream appeal, so they are being produced first before the nastier events of Arks Issue Six.
Exclusives for Backers
A number of Kickstarter-exclusive rewards will be available when Arks Proximan #2 launches.
Readers who join the Arks mailing list before launch will receive a secret reward link on day one of the Kickstarter, allowing them to download Burp: The Reclamation Bag as a free digital PDF.
The campaign will also feature a range of catch-up bundles for new readers , available in both print and digital formats, making it easy to jump into the expanding Arks universe.
You can join our mailing list here:
Arks Proximan #2 launches on Kickstarter April 21st and runs until May 19th.
To continue the bio-punk-odyssey head to the Arks Proximan Prelaunch here. For more information visit: https://www.clickysproutwife.com/
