Fund Me Friday: On Mars, Greetings from the Maglev & Starweed
New comics crowdfunding projects to check out!
Some of the latest news on comics crowdfunding projects including:
A deluxe set of On Mars.
A second issue from Invader Comics.
And the complete series of Starweed.
On Mars
A unique box set with On Mars - award-winning authors Sylvain Runberg and Grun tell a taut tale of hope and violence on the red planet in a deluxe graphic novel set.
Who is really in control? And can anyone truly claim a planet on the verge of forced evolution?
From celebrated graphic novel publisher , comes the campaign for ON MARS, now live on Kickstarter.
Brilliantly visualized by artist Grun, this explosive sci-fi prison drama by writer Sylvain Runberg (Warship Jolly Roger, The Millennium Saga) is available in three premium formats including a trade paperback, a campaign-exclusive hardcover, and a limited die-cut slipcase set complete with a gorgeously illustrated exclusive art book.
In 2132, Life on Earth has reached the limits of sustainability. Colonizing Mars has become our only option, and the construction of such a significant enterprise has required massive resources and manpower. The most cost-efficient solution to this requirement is conscripted labor provided by convicted felons – early access to humanity’s future homeworld, but in exchange for the back-breaking and perilous work of constructing the damn thing.
Officer Jasmine Stenford is sent to Mars and sentenced to conscripted labor for a wrongful death committed on her watch. With little defense against the corruption on Earth, she has no idea what sort of nightmare awaits her on the red planet...
“Grun and I are very inspired by American science fiction, from Philip K. Dick to Ray Bradbury and William Gibson,” said Sylvain Runberg. “On Mars allows us to talk about the past, the present and a possible – but not really desirable – future, and that’s what science fiction is about: exciting imaginary tales that also open doors to reflection on our future, and to perhaps allow us to exorcize our fears."
The Premium Hardcover Edition will be printed on 120gsm matte coated paper and bound section-sewn between two 3mm cover boards with Magnetic Press’s signature curved corners.
Exclusive to the campaign, The Deluxe Limited Edition Slipcase Set will contain the premium hardcover edition with an exclusive, limited-edition 64-page hardcover art book featuring a wealth of design sketches and concept art by Grun, produced in the making of On Mars. Presented as a combination of an art book and an in-world sketchbook diary kept by one of the prisoners, this unique hardcover reveals features and corners of this universe unseen in the main graphic novel.
The premium hardcover and trade paperback will also be available in shops in Summer of 2025.
Greetings from the Maglev
Invader Comics has a new issue of Greetings from the Maglev with digital and catch-up rewards!
The Maglev is more than just an elitist roadway. More than the gangs that hack their way through it. It's solar-powered ANARCHY!
THE STORY SO FAR:
The Maglev is more than just an elitist roadway. More than the gangs that hack their way through it. It's solar-powered ANARCHY!
Gasoline is a thing of the past. Once it was revealed that the government had been withholding how desperately depleted our resources were, society seemed to dismantle overnight. In an effort to keep our country moving forward, our nation’s corporations united and created ‘The Maglev.’
Using revolutionary technology, The Maglev is a massive, solar-powered superhighway utilizing magnetic roadways. Unfortunately, the only ones capable of using it are those who can afford to... and those who hijack their way in. The rich and the wild. But, who cares about all of that? This is a story about good old fashion ‘revenge!'
THE HERO:
Chris Miles was a 'Highwayman.’ A privatized police force used to patrol and protect The Maglev. (um, she’s one of the best.) She was told this would be her last assignment. All she had to do was babysit the son of the Maglev’s founder, Victor Heines, on a 'humanitarian’ mission across the legendary roadway. That bit actually goes pretty smoothly. It’s when she refuses to play by their rules that she finds herself thrown into prison for a crime she did not commit.
Starweed #1-3 Complete Comic Book Story- Let's End on a High
Now you can get the complete three-issue series of Starweed on Kickstarter.
In a future where people smoke the remains of their favorite dead celebrities, we heist the corpses...
Get madcap and smoke it!
It’s the follow-up to Starweed #1: Full Spectrum Comic Book and Starweed #2: For Recreational Comic Book Use Only…
Now live on Kickstarter, STARWEED: THE COMPLETE SERIES, including the final installment of the three-issue zany sci-fi noir adventure, STARWEED #3: THE END IS HIGH, from co-creators Eisner nominated and Eagle Award-winning writer Lex Wilson (Pinocchio is Punching You, Life is Strange: Before the Storm) and acclaimed comics artist, Tony Gregori (The Worst Dudes, Rick & Morty)!
DNA acquisitions agent (or "graverobber") Digs steals famous corpses for druglord Hooper, who relies on her for the raw material he "soaks and smokes" into vapeable Starweed. Digs would prefer to not rely on anybody, and justly feels that her adventures would be less chaotic if she didn't have to clean up the mistakes of her intern Taj every mission.
But when Hooper scapegoats Digs to the Feds and Taj gets caught in the crossfire, she has oodles of time in spacejail to reflect on what's important in life. Things like killing Hooper in the face. Or in the gut. Or maybe getting a cat.
Will Digs escape her orbital prison even if she has to take the "long way" around the sun? Will a rival drug lord exact revenge on her before she can exact revenge on Hooper? Will she figure out how Hooper's Starweed supply is doing just fine without her? And isn't a herd of dinosaurs kind of like a cat?
“Starweed was so fun to write and collaborate on,” said Lex Wilson. “Over three issues and a hundred pages, Tony would take my ‘Is this too much?’ script and go ‘not yet, how about this?’ He, Claudia, and Lauren just kept surprising and delighting me with their trippy but grounded choices. Each issue covers tons of ground—multiple planets in some cases—but in their hands it never felt rushed or too dense. As a reader and as a writer, comics can offer cannabis-like joy and euphoria, seriously the same silly grin on my face when new pages arrive in my inbox. Also, as with actual drugs, the experience is so much better when shared. Digs might never admit that, but I will. I’m gonna miss these characters, and the people who brought them to life.”
“With Starweed we hoped to create a fun comic that readers would enjoy, without the use of intoxicating substances,” said Tony Gregori. “Alex’s script was a blast to draw, with varying set pieces and snappy dialogue. And Claudias’ psychedelic colors truly bring it all together. From Red Square, to The Bieber Space Prison, then Earth 2, and finally back to the o.g. 3rd Rock From the Sun, this book goes on a journey that I hope folks enjoy reading as much as we did making it.”
This campaign drops swag including sticker art from Sarah Stern as well as prints by EJ Han, and the chance for backers to be immortalized as celebrities or weed strains in the Starweed universe!
Join Digs as she fills that Taj-shaped hole in her heart with hugs instead of drugs, and revenge instead of hugs. Also we'll probably see her on drugs. Colors by GLAAD Award and Will Eisner Award nominee, Claudia Aguirre (Lost on Planet Earth, Morning in America), letters by Lauren Norby, and variant cover by Daniel Irizarri (Cemetery Kids Don't Die).
To learn more, visit https://starweed.com
.