October | 2016 | Without Fear

October 26, 2016

EIR – Meet Your Next Comic Cover Team

EIR is an all ages sci fi one shot comic from Alfie Gallagher and myself coming to Kickstarter Nov. 01 – all basic details here.

In our bid to raise a little capital for all of us in the EIR Corp Building, we are offering a very special pledge level, exclusive to 1 [one], and it’s of particular interest to those making their own DIY comics. Yes:

Meet Your Next Comic Cover Team

For $180 [Aussie dollars], you can work with Alfie Gallagher on inks and Triona Farrell on colours, to get a gorgeous cover for your own comic, and Alfie will even send you the OG inked artwork in the mail.

Putting together a DIY comic is hard, then getting it noticed is sometimes harder. Having a legit A+ cover helps that, and you can see from above, Alfie/Tree are a dream team. Need more convincing? here’s a cover style pin up they’ve also done for EIR:

There are other opportunities to buy or request art from Alfie through the campaign, so scope his style here.

Our Kickstarter launches Nov. 01 @ 4pm EST [Australia] so set your alarms for that moment because I know this pledge will not last long, and it’s the sort of thing that will take your comic to the absolute next level, and also gets your office wall a superb slice of ink featuring your own character.

To consider Alfie’s level of cover game, just feast your eyes below. And prepare your November budget, because you will want this one, and want to get it quickly.

EIR – all ages sci fi comics for everyone, on Kickstarter, Nov 01.

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October 25, 2016

EIR – An Affordable All Ages Digital Comic

I believe in cheap digital comics. With my Kickstarter campaigns, I only ever try and ask for what I would personally pay myself.

As such, all through November, you’ll be able to buy EIR, our all ages sci fi one-shot comic from Alfie Gallagher [artist], Triona Farrell [colourist], Ryan Ferrier [letterer], and myself [writer] at the spectacular prices of $1 or $3.

Why are there two prices for the PDF of this comic? Simple.

$1 EIR = a PDF of the story, and that’s it.

Read it, love it, print it off to roll it up and put it in your back pocket while you trundle off to play stick ball. This is all you need to enjoy the story, and it’s only a dollar [and not only that, an Aussie dollar – no doubt pennies on your end if you are overseas/intergalactic].

No matter what other pledges or prices I offer, I know I’m not gouging because if the story interests you, well, there’s that dollar entry. Whereas:

$3 EIR = a deluxe mammoth PDF of the story, art process, pin up material, the script, extra character bios – everything for the process junkie looking for more, and looking to score.

This PDF is, in my opinion, still crazy affordable, but I know it’s not for everyone. And if it is for you, man, you are going to love it, and love that price.

My hope is that people want to peek enough behind the curtain that they’ll drop the trio of coins for us, and help get Alfie Gallagher paid even more, but if not, just that $1 pledge helps.

Every pledge sends emails to your followers instantly, every person who follows up with a backing response on social media helps push things forward. And those things do generate clicks and more pledges. Kickstarter is a glorious snowball like that.

So set the alarm clock you wear around your neck for 4pm Tuesday November 01 [Aussie EST] and get in on this great all ages comic, and by backing in the first 24 hours open yourself up to 4 more free instant downloads that night [READ ABOUT THE FIRST 24 HOUR BACKER REWARDS HERE] and we hope to see you on the trail in November. It’s going to be fun.

And if looking over Alfie’s amazing art in this post gets your excited, then hit the link here to discover the phenomenal art opportunities Alfie is opening up to everyone through this campaign. I’m so crazy excited to see what you are able to pledge for.

SCOPE THE ALFIE ART POST

October 24, 2016

EIR – First 24 Hour Backer Rewards

Oh, wow, do we have some good news for you! You like free comic PDF downloads of stupendously fantastic all ages comics, right?

EIR is our all ages sci fi one-shot comic from Alfie Gallagher and me, launching on Kickstarter Nov 01.

Remember that day, because for every backer that comes in for the first 24 hours at the $3 pledge level or higher, well, we’ve got a crazy treat for you – there are going to be some amazing bonus downloads given to you that very night.

We believe in EIR, and we believe in all ages comics, and we believe in the power of Kickstarter [this is my fourth rodeo], and so we believe in support. Most importantly, supporting those who support us.

EIR is the story of Sasha, a young girl who wakes up with a sentient sci fi helmet in her room who promises intergalactic adventures, as well as a moment’s peace away from her hectic family. You should totally buy it for yourself, but maybe also buy it to give to a little friend, email it to your kids, or tell an extension writing group that it’d make good reading and they should get their pledge on. This book is for everyone, with wild and weird aliens as well as some super-grounded emotions and themes.

You need this book in your life, so to make the decision quick for you, we’re going to offer one day only downloads for the following comics for the grand people who back the campaign in the first 24 hours at the $3 pledge level or higher – and the $3 level means you are getting the deluxe and massive EIR PDF with art process, the script, a mammoth essay, and lots of other fun stuff. And then you will now also get access to the PDFs of:

THE INTREPIDS #1 from Scott Kowalchuk and Kurtis J. Wiebe

CAPTAIN ULTIMATE #1 from Boy Akkerman, Ben Bailey, and Joey Esposito

ORC GIRL, a one-shot, from Thomas Boatwright and Paul Allor, and

CLOWN FIGHT, a one-shot, from Ger Curti and Rob Harrington

This means just $3 in the first day and you’ll get 4 whole comics that night, as well as our deluxe/huge one-shot at the end of the month, too. And these 4 downloads are here for a reason, because they represent some of the best of what I think has come out in all ages comics in a while. These are Certified Awesome. And all yours, just for being punctual.

C’mon, that’s a bargain you can’t ignore, right?

Set your alarm klaxons for Tuesday November 01, 4pm EST [Australia] and get ready to have your week’s reading sorted just because we love you. You have one week to be prepared.

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October 20, 2016

EIR – Meet Alfie Gallagher

EIR exists because Alfie Gallagher came on board and made it the magic that it is.

This all ages sci fi one-shot comic is a pure collaboration between me and Alfie, and we are so excited to bring it to Kickstarter across all of November.

To learn more about the EIR Kickstarter campaign in general, CLICK HERE

To learn more about Sasha and Eir, the young female lead and her sentient sci fi helmet, CLICK HERE

I can remember, a while back, discovering Alfie’s art – probably on twitter. I can remember being blown away by it, and so starting a conversation with the man. A conversation that eventually led to this collaboration. I could see from Alfie’s expressive, fluid, and welcoming style, that’d he would quite simply crush it on an all ages book. And the script for EIR, then just titled with the stand-in HELMET, was coming along nicely and I knew he’d be the perfect partner in crime for this.

To say that Alfie has exceeded expectations on this book is an understatement. He brought the galactic funk when needed, he laid down the sass and the cool to always build character, and he completely annihilates those moments of emotional gravity where we want you to feel. Alfie is every reason this book succeeds, he is the champion behind it all. And he’s so ably aided by Triona Farrell on colours that you could forgive a writer for feeling like he isn’t needed – they do all the heavy lifting.

During our Kickstarter, it gives me great pleasure to share Alfie with you in exciting ways where you can pledge to receive original art from him. Just consider some of his artwork here to get a taste of his style and wild talent!

We launch on November 01 at 4pm EST Australia, so look closely below and work out what you want because I can’t imagine much of it will last long.

$80 will get you an ink sketch of Sasha in the helmet from Alfie

$90 will get you a bespoke ink sketch of whatever you want

$100 will get you 1 of 3 interior ink pages from the book – samples coming later

$115 will get you the inks for the EIR pin up

$130 will get you the inks for the EIR cover

$[affordable mystery price] will get you an inked cover for your own book by Alfie – a great opportunity for someone nascent putting together a comic and wanting it to look amazing on the shelf – so please consider quality assurance samples below.

I mean, simply behold that beauty above. Imagine that on the front of your own comic. Wild, right?

So, I suggest you set an alarm for November 01, 4pm Aussie EST, because all these art pledges go live, and they are a steal, and a great thing for your wall, and for your life.

EIR is a $1 all ages sci fi one-shot comic. We hope you dig. And in the wait time, Alfie is running a Kickstarter campaign right now for a gorgeous sketch book and you most likely need it in your life.

CHECK OUT ALFIE’S SKETCH BOOK KICKSTARTER HERE – LINK

Thank you.

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October 19, 2016

EIR – Meet Sasha and Eir

Sasha is the young female lead character of the $1 all ages sci fi one-shot coming to Kickstarter in November with Alfie Gallagher on art, Triona Farrell on colours, Ryan Ferrier on letters, Dan Hill on edits, and me writing.

Eir is the eponymous sentient helmet she wears.

You can get all the entry level details for the campaign here – click link

Today, we want you to meet Sasha:

Sasha wakes up one morning to find a sentient sci fi helmet on her windowsill. It’s offering to facilitate a little fun, and she’s looking to get away from her family downstairs.

Naturally, she’s instantly zooming across the galaxy into all kinds of mischief.

For an all ages sci fi story, I wanted to create an interesting female lead to guide us through the wilds of space. I wanted a character who could handle everything that was thrown at her, and want to dive into more. Sasha’s sense of adventure is a guiding light, but it’s her sense of higher purpose that really shows who she is through her actions.

Considering this romp is also a deconstruction of personal acceptance, exploration of self, and understanding of place with others, it made sense for us to create a flawed hero who wasn’t going to stop when things got tough. Sasha is determined and hilarious and committed and still a child.

She’s the sort of thing I want my two children to read in a comic, so here she is. I hope they dig her.

As for Eir, well, it’s a sentient helmet. Who likes to offer adventure. And advice. It was always going to be more than just a central prop, or a narrative conceit. Eir is something you come to know, and appreciate, and also feel for.

Eir might be the boss paint job and white wall tyres, but Sasha is the chassis forged in fire, and the engine that doesn’t know how to stop.

EIR comes to Kickstarter on Nov. 01 and we hope you check us out, and maybe snag a copy for the kids in your life, too.

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October 17, 2016

EIR is coming to Kickstarter in November

I’m heading back to Kickstarter in November with EIR

This all ages sci fi 24 page one-shot comic is rocking Alfie Gallagher on art, Triona Farrell on colours, Ryan Ferrier on letters, Dan Hill editing, and me writing the script, all through my DIY imprint Four Colour Ray Gun.

The campaign launches on November 01, and there will be a sweet offer coming for those who back in the first 24 hours [more exciting info being released soon].

We’ll be starting the PDF of the comic at $1 – and we hope this lures in everyone who is, or has, a kid with a mobile device and who loves great genre fiction that doesn’t pander or talk down, has something important to say, and does it through insane intergalactic adventuring and a great young female lead in Sasha.

The campaign will expand to more pledge levels:

a $3 PDF absolutely full of extras – process material/sketches/designs, the script, an essay about other great all ages comics, etc.
the chance to get some Alfie commissions @ $90, or a cover from him @ $110 [all crazy bargains, he’s just so good]
an Audio Commentary from me

At present, there won’t be any options to buy the book in print through the campaign [see my usual complaints about the Australian postal system/costs], though perhaps exclusive opportunities could become available throughout the campaign [and extras could come with those rare print copies]… :]

This will be my fourth Kickstarter campaign, after raising over $10,000 for DEER EDITOR with Sami Kivelä across 3 years, and I’m excited to launch something new, and completely standalone.

Also a reminder that you can VIEW THE EIR TEASER TRAILER HERE

The whole team at Helmet HQ is keen to get this book out into the world because it means so much to us, and we completely believe in it and love it.

screenshot-2016-09-06-22-13-07

And we hope you do, too. DIY comics are fun to make, scary to make, and beautiful to get into the right hands. We hope you help us in November find all the people who need this and get us funded, and beyond.

THANK YOU, and stay tuned for more news in the coming weeks to see all the reasons to get excited and how this campaign can also work for you.

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October 7, 2016

DEER EDITOR: HACK Pin Ups

Always humbled when artists step up to drop some ink on a gorgeous Deer Editor pin up for our campaigns and some high quality peeps didn’t disappoint with the latest crop for the HACK Kickstarter campaign.

Below are the gorgeous pin ups provided, and what a bunch of backers will have to choose from for me to letter on a captions or balloon or something and email them the ghastly results.